Uzo Aduba is officially a toddler mom. “She just started walking, she just started talking, and that’s been amazing,” the Orange Is the New Black actress said of her nearly 15-month-old daughter, Adaiba Lee Nonyem, in an exclusive interview with Parade at the SCAD TVfest last week.
“It feels like a doll coming to life. I’m not joking—I see where the inspiration for Chucky came [from],” she added with a laugh. “No, it’s amazing. It’s the best thing that ever happened to me.”
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The first-time mom welcomed Adaiba, whom she shares with filmmaker husband Robert Sweeting, on Nov. 23, 2023. “I’m a Mommy you guys,” she wrote on Instagram. “My daughter. I’ve never been in love so quickly, so deeply in my entire life. I really don’t know what to say, guys. My heart is full.”
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Speaking with Parade, Aduba praised her daughter for being “a light in my life.”
“My greatest gift that I feel that I could give her is showing her how to be a full and complete woman in the world and do everything that she wants to, aspires to be, and to find that and make her happy,” she said.
Related: Uzo Aduba Shares Frank Opinion on Breaking Away From Her ‘Crazy Eyes’ Identity (Exclusive)
Aduba will next be seen in Netflix’s The Residence, a Shondaland mystery in which she stars as Cordelia Cupp, an eccentric detective tasked with solving a murder at the White House residence.
“Cordelia doesn’t suffer fools,” she said of her character. “She is very to the point. Direct.”
The show was shot on about a dozen soundstages, Aduba says, which made for a stunning replica of the White House. “It was so elaborate, so well detailed, so gorgeous,” she told Parade. “You felt like you were in the White House. In the beginning, the first couple of days walking on the set, you kind of didn’t want to sit down because it felt like you were being disrespectful … then you’re like, ‘Wait, this isn’t real.'”
The Residence arrives on Netflix March 20.
Related: The 100 Best TV Shows on Netflix Right Now
