Yaya DaCosta, the runner-up in Cycle 3 of America’s Next Top Model will be on next season of Ugly Betty! According to Entertainment Weekly’s Michael Ausiello, Yaya will play Wilhelmina Slater’s daughter, Nico.
Nico first appeared on the scene in season two and was played by Jowharah Jones. There’s no stated reason for the recast, but Ausiello tells us Yaya will appear in several episodes this season and will get caught up in a new mystery!
This is great news for Yaya, as it will be wonderful exposure for her acting career. Plus, Ugly Betty is a really fun show!

Last night’s Top Models in Action segment featured Cycle 3 runner-up Yaya DaCsota. Since appearing on America’s Next Top Model, Yaya has worked hard on her acting career and has quite a few successes! She’s appeared in a few movies, did a guest stint on All My Children and has gotten a lot of praise for her off-Broadway appearances.

I love Yaya and if you think outside the box of modeling, she’s one of the most successful contestants to come from ANTM. I think it’s great Top Model highlighted her.
Next week is the season premiere of ANTM! Who do you …read more

Yaya DaCosta was recently cast in her second off-Broadway play in as many years. Yaya will read in Day of Absence, being produced by Signature Theatre Company and is their opening for the 2009 season.
The staged reading of the 1965 satirical play will run February 1 and 2, and is part of Signature’s celebration of the historical works by the Negro Ensemble Company. Sadly, tickets are invitation only as this is a special performance and not part of the regular line-up.
Day of Absence was the play that launched the historic and influential Negro Ensemble Company.
Also in the production are …read more

Black Voices profiled America’s Next Top Model Cycle 3 runner-up Yaya DaCosta this week. Yaya has been on a role, receiving critical acclaim for her turn in the Broadway play “The First Breeze of Summer.”
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Yaya has moved away from modeling since ending her run on ANTM. But her segwey into acting has been really successful. However, Yaya does recognize how much ANTM did for her and for her career.
“I’m grateful for the show because I learned a bunch of things but it didn’t have much to do what I’m doing right now,” Yaya said.
The profile is …read more

Yaya DaCosta looked stunning as she walked the red carpet of the premiere of Miracle at St. Anna with John Jelks in New York City on September 22. Yaya has been getting rave reviews for her turn in First Breeze of Summer. I think her acting career is going to skyrocket any moment now!

Image used with permission from Newscom

Has anyone seen Yaya on stage this summer? What did you think? And what o you think of Yaya’s red carpet look here? Yay or nay?

Yaya DaCosta is getting great reviews early in the run for First Breeze of Summer. Yaya plays Lucretia, a young woman who had to make difficult choices to protect her family. The play revolves around Lucretia when she’s an old woman, but there are flashbacks to points in her life that explain everything that’s happening in the present. Yaya is Lucretia during the flashbacks.

Broadway World recently caught up with Yaya and interviewed her about the role. They chat about how Yaya found out about the role, how she became interested in acting, and First Breeze of Summer and Signature Theatre. …read more

Yaya DaCosta, who can currently be seen on All My Children, was on hand to celebrate the premiere of Full Grown Men on June 25. I think she looks really cute in her fedora and mini-dress.

Image details: Premiere Party For "Full Grown Men" served by picapp.com
Image details: Premiere Party For "Full Grown Men" served by picapp.com

Yaya wasn’t in the film, which is about a man who tracks down the boy he tormented when they were growing up. Her next project is a film titled The Shanghai Hotel, which is about an illegal immigrant who buys her way into the US …read more

Today Playbill (the official news source for all things Broadway) announced the cast of the upcoming production of First Breeze of Summer, and America’s Next Top Model and current All My Children star Yaya DaCosta is on the ticket!

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The production is part of the Signature Theatre’s Negro Ensemble Company season and will run from August 5-September 20. Tickets are only $20, which is amazing, so you might want to check it out if you’re in or planning to be in NYC.
First Breeze of Summer is about a family’s struggles over …read more

Yaya DaCosta has a Youtube account and is posting all her scenes from the soap All My Children. She plays Cassandra, the daughter of Dr. Angie Hubbard, who recently comes back into Angie’s life.
Here’s her second appearance on the show, when she meets her mom at the airport after being away for several years.

There are eight other videos up, you can see them for yourself here.

Thanks to Hollywood BS, here is the Dr. Scholls commercial that Cycle 3 contestant Yaya DaCosta appeared in! Check it out:

Has anyone been watching Yaya on All My Children?