Lyrica Okano

Lyrica Okano was born on November 9, 1994, in New York City. Her parents emigrated from Tokyo, Japan, in the early 1990s. Before her acting career, Okano was an athlete, training in Rhythmic Gymnastics for the U.S. National team and competing at a pre-Olympic level. She is also a black belt in Karate. Okano’s early life included a period where she stopped gymnastics at age 14, seeking to develop social skills. She also experienced bullying in school both in the U.S. and briefly in Kyoto, Japan.

Okano gained recognition for her starring role as Nico Minoru in the Hulu series “Marvel’s Runaways,” which premiered in 2017. This role contributed to increased representation of Asian Americans and women of color in television and film, as she portrayed one of the first LGBTQ Asian female superheroes in the Marvel Universe. “Marvel’s Runaways” ran from 2017 to 2019 for 33 episodes. Her television credits also include recurring roles on Showtime’s “The Affair” (2015), as well as appearances in “Unforgettable” (2014) and “The Michael J. Fox Show” (2015).

On the stage, Okano starred in The Juilliard School’s production of “Macbeth” and in the Off-Broadway production of “4,000 Miles,” which was a finalist for the 2013 Pulitzer Prize for Drama. In film, she appeared alongside Keke Palmer in the independent film “Pimp” (2018). She also provided the voice for Nico Minoru in the 2022 video game “Marvel’s Midnight Suns.” Her career showcases a range of work across various platforms.