Chicago Med

Season 2 e.tv (*194) 20:30 Drama

Yaya DaCosta says that having a strong stomach makes it easier to play nurse April Sexton on medical drama Chicago Med (2015- current) because “there is blood and guts all over the place. Our make-up and special effects team do a great job of making it look so realistic that when you see it, your immediate instinct is to barf. Thankfully our stuff doesn’t smell bad because it’s mostly sugar and syrup based, so there’s this intense sweet smell”.

The 36-year-old has made a career 1 from something she wasn’t even interested in. She was runner-up in the 2004 season 3 of reality show America’s Next Top Model (2003- current) and was cast as Cassandra in soapie All My Children (1970-2013) within two years. Before modelling, she made sure 2 that she had a fall-back plan: she earned her degree in Africana Studies and International Relations in 2003 from Brown University in her home state New York. Her degree gave her insight into 3 her own heritage, which Yaya calls “spectacular”. She is of Brazilian, Nigerian, Irish and Native American Cherokee descent, “With a little Jamaican thrown in for good measure,” adds Yaya. She was born Camara DaCosta 4 Johnson and but prefers the nickname her paternal granny gave her. Yaya also prefers her Chicago Med 5 role to so many others she’s had in the past because of the minimal hair and make-up time, explaining “there is no focussing on what she’s wearing for this scene. It’s scrubs. Simple and easy”. She was sexually assaulted by her 6 film director ex-husband Joshua Bee Alafia and divorced him in 2015 after three years and son Sankara.