Nana Mensah (born August 26, 1988)[citation needed] is an American actress, writer, and director known for her roles in 13 Reasons Why, An African City, New Amsterdam, Bonding, and The Chair.
[3] After earning a Bachelor of Arts degree in French and sociology from the University of Pennsylvania, her parents wanted her to attend law school.
[10] In 2017 she played Tamyra in Man from Nebraska, for which she earned an Outer Critics Circle Award nomination for Outstanding Featured Actress.
[12] In 2021, Mensah premiered Queen of Glory, a film about a Ghanaian-American academic who inherits a Christian bookstore after the passing of her mother.
[14] She cited Zhang Yimou's Raise the Red Lantern, Wong Kar-wai's In the Mood For Love, films by the Duplass Brothers, Kevin Smith's Clerks, and Lena Dunham's Tiny Furniture as influences.
[19] In 2021, The Chair premiered on Netflix, in which Mensah portrays Yasmin "Yaz" McKay, a popular English professor.
[14] She was a staff writer on Random Acts of Flyness, Amazon's The Power, and the second season of the Netflix series Bonding.
[20] Mensah has a recurring role on The Diplomat, which premiered on Netflix in 2023, portraying Billie Appiah, the Chief of Staff to the President of the United States.