Nana Mensah

Biography:

Nana Afiah Mensah grew up in the Farmington Valley after being born in New Haven, Connecticut. In the 1970s, her parents left Ghana to live abroad. Chemical engineers make up her father. She only has a brother. She went to the exclusive boarding school Loomis Chaffee School. Brian Kosanovich, her theatre instructor in high school, inspired her to pursue a career in acting.

Her parents wanted her to go to law school after she graduated from the University of Pennsylvania with a Bachelor of Arts in sociology and French. In 2009, she relocated to New York City to pursue her career as an actress after working in the legal industry. She worked in childcare, retail, restaurants, and administration to make ends meet. She received training at the Shakespeare Lab, the Public Theatre, LAByrinth Theatre Company Master Class, and the now-closed Actors Centre.