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American actress and filmmaker (born 1989) From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Anna Kay Napualani Akana (born August 18, 1989)[2] is an American actress, comedian, filmmaker, musician, and YouTuber. She has appeared in TV series, films, and music videos that include Awkward (2011), Ant-Man (2015), Hello, My Name is Doris (2016), and Dirty 30 (2016).
Anna Akana | ||||||||||
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![]() Akana at VidCon Amsterdam in 2018 | ||||||||||
Born | Anna Kay Napualani Akana August 18, 1989 | |||||||||
Occupations |
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Years active | 2011–present | |||||||||
YouTube information | ||||||||||
Channel | ||||||||||
Genre(s) | Music, comedy | |||||||||
Subscribers | 2.85 million[1] | |||||||||
Total views | 365 million[1] | |||||||||
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Last updated: 02 April 2024 | ||||||||||
Website | annaakana |
In 2015, she launched a clothing line Ghost & Stars. She is the author of So Much I Want to Tell You: Letters to My Little Sister (2017), in which she describes her struggles and experiences.[3]
Akana's father was an officer in the United States Marine Corps, including during her childhood.[4] Her father moved every few years to a new state or country.[5] In a 2020 interview, she said that she loved Sailor Moon, Inuyasha, and Ranma ½, expressing her surprise that her dad would make them watch Tenchi Muyo! with him despite its "perverted" nature.[6] Her father stated that she loved shows like The Powerpuff Girls, animation in general, and anime, the latter especially because she spent "four years growing up in Japan".
On February 14, 2007, Akana's younger sister, Kristina, died by suicide aged 13.[7] Several months after, Akana watched Margaret Cho perform on a Comedy Central special and laughed for the first time since her sister's death. She began to see laughter as a means of trying to move on with her life and decided to seriously pursue comedy.[8] Akana has been vocal about her sister's suicide and is a strong advocate for suicide prevention. In 2013, Akana uploaded a YouTube video, "please don't kill yourself", in which she explains how it felt for her to have a family member die by suicide.[9] In that same year, she released a book Surviving Suicide which contains her journal entries from the two years after her sister's death.[10]
In October 2018, she came out as bisexual.[11]
In 2019, she stated that she had undergone an abortion when she was twenty and felt it was one of the best decisions she had ever made.[12] She later presented her story as a movie for YouTube titled "Take Your Birth Control".[13] Akana is of Japanese, Filipino, Hawaiian, Spanish, French, Irish, German, and English descent.[14][15]
Akana first started performing comedy at age 19 but switched to YouTube video performances in 2011 after experiencing panic attacks and anxiety before going on stage.[8] She later resumed performing stand-up onstage.
In 2014, Akana formed a comedy music duo, Cat Benatar, with fellow comedian and writer Megan Rosati.[16] (The duo's name is wordplay for the pop singer Pat Benatar.)
Akana creates both comedy and documentary YouTube videos.[17] In 2014, Akana was listed on New Media Rockstars Top 100 Channels, ranked at #72.[18] In that same year, Akana decided to focus more on her skills as a director and attempted to make one short film a month.[19] While she did not reach her goal of twelve short films, she did make six short films which were received well by her YouTube audience. Akana starred in all of her short films and has starred in various other short films, and she has since continued to create short films.[20]
One of her short films, Miss Earth, was partially financed by Brian Grazer and Ron Howard's production company, New Form Digital. It was part of the 2014 Incubator, a series to showcase and produce original stories by YouTube Creators and filmmakers.[21][22][23] Miss Earth was later adapted into a web series, Miss 2059, and released on Verizon's go90 app in June 2016, with a second season released in late 2017.[24][25][26][27][28]
Akana executive produced and starred as the lead role in the original comedy-drama web television series Youth & Consequences, created by Jason Ubaldi and released in March 2018 on YouTube Red. She is also the host of the web series Crash Course Business: Entrepreneurship beginning in August 2019.[29]
On October 10, 2019, she was featured in a 30-minute YouTube documentary created by SoulPancake in collaboration with Funny or Die wherein a variety of comedians discuss mental health called Laughing Matters.[30]
In 2011, Akana appeared in the TV series Awkward. In that same year, she also appeared as an extra in Katy Perry's "Last Friday Night" music video.[31]
In 2015, she appeared in the films Ant-Man and Kids vs Monsters.
Akana starred in Snapper Hero, a scripted video series distributed via Snapchat.[32] The series was sponsored by AT&T.[32]
In 2016, Akana appeared alongside Sally Field in the indie comedy film Hello, My Name Is Doris, written by Michael Showalter.[33] That same year, she also appeared in a short Star Wars fan film, Hoshino[34] as well as the comedy film Dirty 30.
She has a recurring role in the Comedy Central show Corporate.[35]
She also has supporting roles as Gloria Sato in the Disney Channel show Big City Greens and Sasha Waybright in Amphibia.
In 2019, she announced on Ryan Higa's Off the Pill podcast to be part of the Netflix original Jupiter's Legacy.
Akana also hosts the podcast Explain Things to Me with fellow comedian Brad Gage where the two interview experts in various fields about their work.[36]
In 2021, Akana was announced as starring alongside Emma Roberts in the romantic comedy About Fate.
In 2015, Akana released a clothing line, Ghost & Stars, which features several cat-themed designs as well as formal dresses, leggings, and a variety of T-shirts.[37]
In 2017, Akana's book So Much I Want to Tell You: Letters to My Little Sister was published. The book describes Akana's struggles and experiences growing up and offers advice to her late sister.[3]
In 2019, Akana transitioned from comedy into music, and released her debut single, "Intervention". Its music video was directed by Auden Bui.[38][39] She has since released two more music videos, one for "Pretty Girls Don't Cry" in July 2019 and "Not My Proudest Moment" in August. She continued to release music videos for songs named "Alone Together", "Disappointment", and "Let Me Go". Her debut album, Casualty, came out in October 2019.[40] Her follow up project came out early 2021 called No Longer Yours.[41][42]
In reviewing her video, "Why Guys Like Asian Girls" (which references "Yellow Fever", a term for an Asian fetish),[43] Cate Matthews of The Huffington Post wrote: "A step-by-step takedown of 'yellow fever' or the desire to date Asian women often accompanied by bizarre, offensive attempts to do so, could start the healing. Luckily for us, YouTuber Anna Akana was more than up to the video-making task."[44]
In reviewing her video, "How to Deal with a Breakup", MTV wrote: "In this sketch, comedian Anna Akana envisions the flurry of activity inside the cranial command center of a newly single dumpee."[45]
Deadline referred to Akana as "a prolific online creator whose channel boasts 60 million views and 900,000 subscribers, and last year wrote and starred in her own narrative feature Riley Rewind, scoring a none-too-shabby 20M views online."[33]
Year | Title | Role | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
2013 | Inappropriate Comedy | Student driver | |
2014 | Here She Is | Miss Hawaii | Also writer |
2015 | Ant-Man | Writer in Luis' story | |
Kids vs Monsters | Daisy | ||
2016 | Hello, My Name Is Doris | Blogger | |
Dirty 30 | Ashley Driscoll | ||
2017 | You Get Me | Lydia | |
2018 | Next Gen | Ani | Voice[46] |
2019 | Go Back to China | Sasha Li | |
2019 | Let It Snow | Kerry | |
2020 | Hooking Up | Elizabeth Carthright | |
2021 | So Much | TBA | Television film, pre-production |
2022 | Blade of the 47 Ronin | Luna | Netflix Original Film |
2024 | Big City Greens the Movie: Spacecation | Gloria Sato, Additional voices | Voice[47] |
Year | Title | Role | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
2011 | Awkward | Asian girl | Episode: "Knocker Nightmare" |
2012 | Shake It Up | Tomoka | Episode: "Made in Japan" |
The Beauty Inside | Alex #29 | 5 episodes | |
2013–2014 | The Fosters | Lily | 2 episodes |
2016 | Adam Ruins Everything | Female Shopper | Episode: "Adam Ruins Shopping Malls" |
2017 | Stitchers | Amanda Weston | Recurring role; 7 episodes |
2018–2020 | Corporate | Paige | Recurring role |
2018–present | Big City Greens | Gloria Sato | Voice, recurring role[46] |
2019–2022 | Amphibia | Sasha Waybright | Voice, main role[46] |
2020 | Magical Girl Friendship Squad: Origins | Daisy | Voice, main role |
Magical Girl Friendship Squad | |||
Into the Dark | Julie | Episode: "My Valentine" | |
NCIS: Los Angeles | Rhea Moretti | Episode: "Murder of Crows" | |
2020–2023 | A Million Little Things | Dakota | 5 episodes |
2021 | Jupiter's Legacy | Raikou | 2 episodes |
Home Economics | Lindsay | Episode: "Chorizo with Mojo Verde and Chicharrón, $45" | |
2023 | Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur | Odessa Drake | Voice, episode: "Today, I Am a Woman"[46] |
Year | Title | Role | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
2011 | Breaking Los Angeles | Herself | 9 episodes; also producer |
10 Second Traumas | Various | 8 episodes;
also writer, executive producer and director | |
2012 | Pointy Teeth | Anna | Episode: "Pilot" |
2013 | Riley Rewind | Riley Brown | 5 episodes; also writer and producer |
Runaway Thoughts Podcast | 85 episodes, also writer and producer[48][49][50] | ||
2015 | 52 Ways to Break Up | Anna | Episode: "#24 and #25- Compare Notes" |
Command Center | Commander | Also writer and director | |
Broken People | Pinches | 2 episodes | |
Last Moments of Relationships | Fay | Episode: "CRAZY DATING STORIES" | |
Stunted | Nora | ||
Oscar's Hotel for Fantastical Creatures | The White Spirit | Episode: "Art Attack" | |
Wrestling Isn't Wrestling | Batista | Short film | |
Adult Wednesday Addams | Mackenzie Mae | Executive producer (2 episodes) | |
Rough Day | Detective Mah-jong | Also executive producer | |
MisSpelled | Stella | Episode: "#HotlineWing" | |
#Cybriety | Ellen | Episode: "Neighbor Ellen" | |
2016 | Hipsters | Jane | 3 episodes; also director |
Tiny Feminists | Ms. Applebaum | Episode: "Linda" | |
This Isn't Working | Nicole | 5 episodes | |
Transformers: Combiner Wars | Victorion | Voice, 4 episodes[46] | |
Single by 30 | Grace | 6 episodes | |
12 Deadly Days | Judalina | Episode: "Coffee Cups" | |
Go-Go Boy Interrupted | - | Co-producer (10 episodes) | |
Miss 2059 | Victoria Young | 24 episodes; also creator, executive producer and director | |
2017 | Drive Share | Driver | Episode: "Garbage Mommy" |
Search Bar | Various | 12 episodes; also creator, executive producer and director | |
2018 | Youth & Consequences | Farrah Cutney | 8 episodes; also creator and executive producer |
2019 | Crash Course: Entrepreneurship | Self (Host) | 18 episodes |
Title | Details |
---|---|
Casualty |
|
Title | Details |
---|---|
No Longer Yours |
|
Title | Year | Album |
---|---|---|
"Intervention"[53] | 2019 | Casualty |
"Alone Together"[54] | ||
"Pretty Girls Don't Cry"[55] | ||
"Not My Proudest Moment"[56] | ||
"Disappointment"[57] | ||
"Let Me Go"[58] | ||
"Casualty" | ||
"Bad News | ||
"Spoken For" | ||
"Selfish | 2020 | |
"Quicksand | ||
"Pick a Fight" | ||
"Swim"[59] | No Longer Yours | |
"Pink"[60] | ||
"Run"[61] | 2021 | |
"I Feel Nothing" | ||
"Wanted Woman" (featuring Macedo) |
2021 | TBA |
"Sunshine" | 2022 | |
"Good Girl" (featuring Macedo) | ||
"Until Further Notice" | ||
"Your Girlfriend Is Not My Problem" | 2023 |
Song | Year | Album |
---|---|---|
"Sunroof" (Macedo featuring Anna Akana) |
2022 | TBA |
Title | Year | Album |
---|---|---|
"Screw You" | 2012 | Non-album promotional singles |
"Mad Love" | ||
"Against the Darkness" | ||
"Lost Dreams" (featuring Jesse Cale) |
2013 | |
"Need You Now"[62] (from "A Million Little Things: Season 2") |
2020 | |
"Everything's Gotta Change"[63] (from "A Million Little Things: Season 2") | ||
"You Can't Always Get What You Want"[64] (from "A Million Little Things: Season 3") |
2021 |
Title | Year | Other artist(s) | Album |
---|---|---|---|
"Heartstomper" | 2021 | — | Amphibia: Battle of the Bands |
"No Big Deal" | Brenda Song, Haley Tju | ||
"Euthanasia" | 2022 | Daemon | Blade of the 47 Robin |
Title | Year | Director |
---|---|---|
"Screw You" | 2012 | Will Akana[65] |
"Intervention" | 2019 | Auden Bui[66] |
"Alone Together" | Maggie Levin[67] | |
"Pretty Girls Don't Cry" | Maggie Levin[68] | |
"Not My Proudest Moment" | Jackson Adams[69] | |
"Disappointment" | Hazel Hayes[70] | |
"Let Me Go" | Auden Bui[71] | |
"Casualty" | [72] | |
"Bad News" | [73] | |
"Spoken For" | Auden Bui[74] | |
"Selfish" | 2020 | [75] |
"Quicksand" | Kantu Lentz[76] | |
"Pick a Fight" | [77] | |
"Swim" | Anna Akana & Auden Bui[78] | |
"Pink" | [79] | |
"Run" | 2021 | Auden Bui[80] |
"I Feel Nothing" | Auden Bui[81] | |
"Wanted Woman" | Maggie Levin[82] | |
"Sunshine" | 2022 |
Year | Artist(s) | Title | Role |
---|---|---|---|
2011 | Katy Perry | "Last Friday Night (T.G.I.F.)" | Extra |
Year | Association | Category | Nominated work | Result | Ref. |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
2014 | San Diego Asian Film Festival | Digital Pioneer | Won | [83] | |
2015 | Streamy Awards | Best Actress | SnapperHero | Nominated | [84] |
2018 | Streamy Awards | Acting in a Drama | Youth & Consequences | Won | [85] |
2019 | 46th Daytime Emmy Awards | Outstanding Digital Drama Series | Youth & Consequences | Nominated | [86] |
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