Ito Aghayere (born 12 October 1988; age 35) is a Nigerian-Canadian actress who played Guinan in the Star Trek: Picard second season episodes "Watcher", "Monsters", and "Mercy".
She was born in Edmonton, Alberta to Nigerian parents and raised in Toronto, Ontario and Rochester, New York. She grew up in a strict conservative family where Star Trek: The Next Generation was among the very few television programs her parents allowed her to watch, which made her a Star Trek fan from an early age.
According to Aghayere, details about Picard were kept in such secrecy, that she auditioned for a non-descript project, reading a scene between two characters named "Gwen" and "John", and was only told that she would play Guinan in Star Trek after she was chosen for the part. [1]
She earned a BA degree in Political Science at Duke University while minoring in Theatre Studies, then received her MA diploma in Fine Arts at Columbia University. She appeared in several stage productions, as well as in guest roles on various television series.
Her television credits include episodes of Orange is the New Black (with Kate Mulgrew and Lori Petty), Forever, Elementary, The Blacklist, Doubt (with Tom Wright, Jacqueline Kim, and Rob Brownstein), Master of None, and Instinct (directed by Douglas Aarniokoski). In 2019-20, she co-starred in the comedy series Carol's Second Act, which guest starred Kelsey Grammer and Scott Lawrence.
She appeared in a minor role, playing an FBI agent in the 2017 action film Logan Lucky, which also featured Seth MacFarlane and Jack Quaid in the cast.