Folake Olowofoyeku

Nigerian-born actress Folake Olowofoyeku has won the heart of critics and audiences alike with her title role in the CBS half-hour comedy "Bob Hearts Abishola." In this comedic examination of immigrant life in America from a creative team led by Chuck Lorre ("The Big Bang Theory," "Two and a Half Men"), a middle-aged, divorced medical sock salesman (Billy Gardell) from Detroit suffers a heart attack and falls for his cardiac nurse (Folake), an immigrant from Nigeria and young single mom. “Olowofoyeku bewitches as the delightfully gruff and straightforward Abishola,” applauds the Hollywood Reporter, recognizing the “surprising level of nuance” in the series which renders it “nothing short of groundbreaking.” Audiences seem to agree, tuning in to make it one of the highest rated among the network’s series.

She received the 2019 Breakout Actress in TV Award for her work on the series on behalf of the Sync Con Honors. Her additional television credits include a recurring role on "Transparent" and guest roles on "The Gifted," "Modern Family," "How to Get Away with Murder," "Westworld," "Law & Order," "Law & Order: Special Victims Unit" and "Law & Order: Criminal Intent," among others.

Olowofoyeku’s feature film credits include When They Could Fly, which earned her a Best Actress award at the prestigious ReelHeART International Film Festival in Toronto, Central & Broadway, for which she won Best Actress in a Fashion Film at the CinéFashion Film Awards, Female Fight Club, The Bride, The Child Within and Hellbenders-3D, among others.

As a voiceover artist, Olowofoyeku voiced the Priestess on the video game “Vader Immortal: A Star Wars VR Series – Episode 1.” Olowofoyeku’s other passion is music – she sings, plays guitar and piano and enjoys DJing. In 2019, she released her single, “Happy, Happy (Money Dun Come)” under the moniker ‘Fọlákẹ́’.

Olowofoyeku grew up in Lagos, Nigeria and spent time in London. Her native language is Yoruba. Growing up in Nigeria, the youngest of twenty children, Folake always dreamt of being in the arts, a dream that went squarely against the wishes of her parents, Chief Babatunji and Chief Mrs. Felicia Olowofoyeku, who insisted on the family profession of law and politics. During a summer vacation in New York City, unbeknownst to her family, Folake began to pursue her goal as a student at City College of New York, where she would earn her B.A. with honors in theatre and a diploma in Audio Engineering from The Institute of Audio Research (IAR), also distinguishing herself on the basketball court where she competed with CCNY's Beavers in the NCAA. She subsequently moved to Los Angeles to earn success in the film and television industry.