Birgundi Baker is a multi-talented American actress, singer, and dancer well-known for her role in Lena Waithe’s drama series The Chi, Showtime’s Heathers, and Fox’s Empire. The performance she has been dishing out has set her apart in the acting world as one of the talented emerging black actresses.
The mother of two developed a passion for acting at a young age, but her breakthrough didn’t come early until sometime in 2015/16 when she landed her first role in Empire. Since then, her character has continued to improve her career in both TV and film.
While she is doing exceptionally well in her career, people want to know whether she is married, and the identity of her children’s father. Here is everything about her.
The Chi Actress Is Not Married, But She Is A Mother
At the moment, Birgundi Baker is not married. Her attention and energy are focused on building and taking her career to the highest level possible.
Since she is all about her career, the actress has not revealed whether she is seeing any man at the moment. What she seems comfortable letting out of the bag is her status as a mother.
A thorough investigation of her Instagram page reveals Baker is a mother of two. Her first child is a girl named Blaiz Baker, while the identity of her second child who was born in January 2021 is uncertain.
Meanwhile she uploaded the image of her baby bump on Instagram on 16 February 2021 which sugggested the baby was born a month earlier. The image draws various reactions from her fans with the majority speculating about the identity of her baby’s father. The speculations went as far as linking the pregnancy to a guy she acted with in The Chi.
She on her part has not revealed who is responsible for it. Therefore, the identities of her kids’ father (s) is under wraps. From all indications, she is a proud and happy mother.
These 10 Facts Will Tell You What You Don’t Know About The Actress
1. How Old is She?
She was born on the 6th March 1992 in Raleigh, North Carolina, The United States. She is currently 32 years old. While growing up, she fell in love with acting.
Years later that dream became a reality when started landing roles. She landed roles on TV in Empire, The Chi, Black Lightning, Station 19, and 30 Miles From Nowhere.
2. Birgundi Baker Grew Up in a Family of Art Enthusiasts
It was not by chance or coincidence that Baker’s dream was to be an actress. Her interest was influenced by the family she grew up around. Her family were in love with arts.
Thus, her aunt went to Juilliard and her mother sent her to New York where she can watch the student shows and plays. She was put in dance and that attracted her to the theater world.
3. She Started Shooting Ads at the Age of 8
The Ralegh native started showing her prospects in front of the camera and tested what acting is all about at a young age. And at the same time she became one of the best dancers in her class because of her moves.
Later on, she started taking chorus and acting lessons and went on to enter a contest with Kraft Macaroni & Chess, and won. At eight, she tasted what being a working actor is- flying to Florida to shoot adverts and also other nitty-gritty of acting like punctuality, rehearsals, and standing before the camera.
It was at this point that she realized what she wanted to become- an actress.
Also See-Where In God’s Name Is Ruby Barnhill? 10 Facts About The Child Actress
4. She Earned her University Degree in Theater Program
In order to develop the skills for her acting passion, the Raleigh native gained admission into Howard University’s Musical Theater Program. She majored in dance because she dreaded musical theater since she was an excellent dancer.
After her graduation, Birgundi Baker moved to Chicago and joined an organization known as the ‘The Launch Model & Talent Showcase’. The organization helps place talents with agents in big regional markets.
5. What Was her First Role?
It seems the 32 year-old came to Chicago to pursue her dream. But it wasn’t easy for her to get an agent, and when she finally got one, the roles started landing. Her first audition was Empire, and she got to play the role of Young Carol Hardaway.
She also appeared in other Chicago-based TV shows like Chicago P.D. and Chicago Med. According to reports, the actresses’ first major role was in Heathers where she featured as Lizzy Jackson.
While the role she landed in Empire is her first, the actress said her role on Heathers is significant. Her reason for Heathers being the big thing for her was because she was flying all the way from Chicago where she was living to L.A for filming.
Heathers also had a musical rendition in it, and this for the first time allowed her to use her background in musical theater on TV.
6. The Character she Played in The Chi Resonates with her
The Raleigh native played a supporting role in the first two seasons of The Chi, where she mostly appears in scenes with her little brother or boyfriend. Subsequently, she went on to became the main character of the show.
Baker said the character of ‘Kiesha’ represents a sister, a daughter, a girlfriend, a student, and a runner. She loves the fact that everyone can identify with the character.
7. She Did a Little Research on How Best to Play the Role of Kiesha in The Chi
In order for her to play the role of Kiesha William perfectly, Baker said she had to prepare herself mentally, spiritually, and physically. Spiritually, she emersed herself in prayers and meditation to seek guidance. While on the mental and physical level, she researched real-life cases of missing girls and women, so she could do justice to the character she is portraying and women who have gone through this ordeal.
8. Refinery29 Listed Her as One of the Big Actresses to Look Out For in 2018
In 2018, Baker was listed as one of the under-30 breakout actresses of 2018 by Refinery 29, a digital media and entertainment platform. She made it to the list including 13 others for her role in Paramount Network’s Heathers and Showtime’s The Chi.
Others that made it to the list include; Francia Raisa, Sydney Sweeney, Auli’i Cravalho, Kathryn Newton, Sonoya Mizuno, Melanie Field, Holliday Grainger, Nafessa Williams & China Anne McClain, Kim Matula, Annaleigh Ashford, Emma Kenney, and Jane Levy.
9. She Has Teamed Up With a Non-profit Foundation to Help Find Missing Black Girls
The role she played in Lena Baithe’s drama series triggered an emotion in her on the number of girls that have been taken. Baker revealed that the experiences she had while filming have made her become more aware of the real-life experiences missing girls go through in the hands of the captors. Also, it has helped her to discover what really interests her.
As a result of this, The Chi actress has teamed up with a non-profit called ‘Black Missing Foundation’ to help with cases of missing black girls.
10. What Is Her Next Target?
She loves drama and acting. This is what she wants the whole world to know her for. Apart from that, her next goal is to do a movie. However, she would like to write and direct.
