The Lincoln Lawyer season three saw the main cast back together again for the Netflix hit but what is there to know about the star behind Andrea Freeman away from the show?
Netflix subscribers were over the moon to see Mickey Haller (played by Manual Garcia-Rulfo) and his team return for the legal drama’s third outing and are awaiting news of a possible fourth series.
Among those who starred in season three was attorney DaCosta’s character Andrea Freeman and viewers are curious to know all there is about the 41-year-old.
America’s Next Top Model
DaCosta was one of four siblings born in New York to her Brazilian and Nigerian parents, with her mum working as a Montessori teacher and her dad a professor of sociology.
She studied International Relations and African Studies at Brown University and
While DaCosta is best known nowadays for her acting work, her career in the entertainment industry launched when she starred in season three of America’s Next Top Model with host Tyra Banks.
Just 21 years old at the time, she made it all the way to the final and was declared the 2004 runner-up.
During her stint on the reality show though, DaCosta had been accused of coming across as arrogant and cocky both by her fellow contestants and the judges which left its mark on the star.
“I was introduced to the public, which is a very different thing, in 2004 when I participated in a reality show.
“That was really difficult for me because I only realized afterward that … they were leading us to places that felt inauthentic to ourselves in the moment.
“After such a period of feeling lost, of confused, betrayed, I definitely had to tap into my tools and then gather more tools, prioritize my self-love, prioritize forgiveness of myself for having made that choice and allowing myself to kind of get taken, but also forgiving others who I felt had wronged me at the time.
“And [I gathered] the courage to show up repeatedly in front of that same public—not as Yaya, but as whatever elements of my being showed up in different characters that I embodied.”
Acting success
DaCosta had previously said it was her “dream” to become an actress and following her stint on America’s Next Top Model, she was able to make this into a reality.
She went on to star in All My Children as Cassandra Foster, Ugly Betty, House, The Butler, Unforgettable and played music icon Whitney Houston in the 2015 TV movie biopic Whitney.
Her biggest role to date came in 2015 when she joined the cast of NBC’s Chicago Med as April Sexton but she left at the end of season six in 2022.
It was her decision to leave the show behind, candidly telling Deadline that she “fell in love with Our Kind of People ,” a Fox drama where she portrays Angela Vaughn.
Yaya added: “The show is a dream in so many ways and it’s saucy and so much fun!
“And there’s so much about my character that I felt was really important to bring to the forefront of our discussions. We’re just playing with these serious themes and we’re making them fun.”
Fast-forward to 2024 and DaCosta is starring as attorney Andrea Freeman in Netflix’s The Lincoln Lawyer.
Following Andrea’s brief romance with Mickey, the actress told TV Insider that her character has “learned to trust herself.”
She elaborated: “I think Andrea has had a hard time with men because the weak ones are intimidated by her, and the strong ones are in competition with her.
“And so she really has learned to rely on herself and to be her own partner, her own cheerleader, her own coach.”
Tragic loss
When she was working on the 2013 movie Big Words, she had been told of her brother’s death.
She told Complex: “I was only on set for five days. The night before [shooting], I had learned of my brother’s accident.”
DaCosta hasn’t given details on what happened to her brother but has opened up on the impact it had on her during that time.
She continued: “Those five days, I was being told that he was in a coma, although I knew that he had already passed.
“I wanted to just be with family and be quiet and not say anything and not see people.
“I just wanted to curl up into a ball and cry. And I had to perform. And it was a bubbly character.
“But it was an amazing exercise, and I thank my brother for the strength. He helped me get through it.”
Motherhood
DaCosta is a mother-of-one, welcoming her son Sankara Alafia in September 2013.
She had him while she was in a relationship with Sankara’s dad, independent film producer and director Joshua Bee Alafia who DaCosta was with for three years before their split in 2015. It is believed that the star is currently single.
The Lincoln Lawyer is available to watch on Netflix.