Anna Akana Possesses Hotness Like No Other

Anna Akana is the kind of woman who seems to have skipped the memo about picking just one talent. She’s funny, creative, charismatic, and clearly comfortable doing a little bit of everything. Oh, and yes, she’s also gorgeous, which conveniently explains why she’s our feature today.

You might tell yourself you’re only going to spend a minute checking out her gallery. Good luck with that. Before you get distracted, though, let’s take a closer look at Anna Akana and the talent, personality, and charm behind the photos.

Who is Anna Akana

Anna Akana has built the sort of career that makes picking a single job title nearly impossible. The American YouTuber, comedian, actress, filmmaker, and musician has worked across television, film, web series, and music videos, appearing in projects including Ray William Johnson’s Breaking Los Angeles and 10 Second Traumas, Awkward, Katy Perry’s “Last Friday Night (T.G.I.F.),” Ant-Man, Hello, My Name Is Doris, Dirty 30, Big City Greens, Amphibia, Magical Girl Friendship Squad, and Blade of the 47 Ronin. Basically, if there’s a camera nearby, Anna has probably found a way to get in front of it.

In 2015, she added fashion entrepreneur to her résumé by launching the clothing line Ghost & Stars. Two years later, she became an author with So Much I Want to Tell You: Letters to My Little Sister, a deeply personal book exploring her experiences, including the devastating loss of her sister to suicide and her journey into the public eye. It’s a more serious side of Akana’s story, revealing the depth behind the humor and creativity that audiences have come to know.

Her Early Life

Anna Akana was born on August 18, 1989, in Monterey County, California. Growing up as the daughter of a United States Marine Corps officer meant that settling in one place for very long wasn’t exactly an option. Her father was regularly transferred to different states and countries, giving Akana a childhood filled with new surroundings and experiences. She also spent four years growing up in Japan, where she developed a particular love for anime.

In a 2020 interview, Akana recalled enjoying shows including Sailor Moon, Inuyasha, and Ranma ½. She was also a fan of The Powerpuff Girls and animation in general. Her father even watched Tenchi Muyo! with her, despite acknowledging that the series could be rather, shall we say, “perverted.” Childhood bonding apparently comes in many forms.

Akana’s life changed dramatically on February 14, 2007, when her younger sister, Kristina, died by suicide at the age of 13. Months later, Akana watched Margaret Cho perform on a Comedy Central special and found herself laughing for the first time since her sister’s death. That moment helped her realize that comedy could become a way to begin moving forward, and she decided to pursue it seriously.

Since then, Akana has spoken openly about her experience with loss and become a strong advocate for suicide prevention. In 2013, she published a YouTube video titled Please Don’t Kill Yourself, in which she discussed what it was like to lose a family member to suicide. That same year, she released Surviving Suicide, a book compiling journal entries she had written during the two years following her sister’s death.

Her story has become an important part of her work, allowing her to use both humor and honesty to discuss grief, healing, and mental health. For Akana, comedy ultimately became more than a career—it became one of the ways she learned to keep moving forward.

Career Journey

Anna Akana began performing stand-up at 19, but the nerves that came with live performances eventually pushed her in a different direction. After experiencing panic attacks and anxiety before going onstage, she turned to YouTube in 2011, where she could perform without having to stare down an entire room at once. A sensible career adjustment, really.

Her YouTube work has covered everything from comedy sketches to documentaries, and her channel quickly developed a substantial following. In 2014, she ranked No. 72 on New Media Rockstars’ Top 100 Channels. That same year, she challenged herself to make one short film every month, ultimately creating and starring in six. She has continued making short films ever since.

Akana also teamed up with comedian and writer Megan Rosati in 2014 to form the comedy music duo Cat Benatar, a playful nod to singer Pat Benatar. Her online comedy has tackled everything from dating stereotypes to heartbreak. Her video Why Guys Like Asian Girls, which addressed the concept of “yellow fever” and the fetishization of Asian women, was praised by The Huffington Post for taking on the subject directly. MTV similarly highlighted her sketch How to Deal with a Breakup, which imagined the chaotic activity happening inside the brain of someone newly dumped. Because apparently heartbreak comes with its own internal emergency response team.

One of Akana’s short films, Miss Earth, received partial financing from Brian Grazer and Ron Howard’s New Form Digital and was included in the company’s 2014 Incubator program for YouTube creators and filmmakers. The project later evolved into the web series Miss 2059, which premiered on Verizon’s go90 platform in June 2016. A second season followed in late 2017.

Akana continued expanding her television and digital résumé. She executive produced and starred in the comedy-drama web series Youth & Consequences, which premiered on YouTube Red in March 2018. In 2019, she became the host of Crash Course Business: Entrepreneurship. That October, she appeared in Laughing Matters, a 30-minute YouTube documentary from SoulPancake and Funny or Die in which comedians discussed mental health.

Her growing online profile earned praise from Deadline Hollywood, which described her as a prolific creator whose channel had accumulated 60 million views and 900,000 subscribers at the time. She had also written and starred in the narrative project Riley Rewind, which reportedly drew 20 million online views. Not exactly a bad day at the office.

Akana’s screen career was developing alongside her internet success. In 2011, she appeared on Awkward and made a cameo as an extra in Katy Perry’s “Last Friday Night” music video. She later starred in the Snapchat scripted series Snapper Hero, sponsored by AT&T.

In 2016, she appeared alongside Sally Field in the indie comedy Hello, My Name Is Doris, written by Michael Showalter. She also appeared in the Star Wars fan film Hoshino and the comedy Dirty 30. Her television credits later included a recurring role on Comedy Central’s Corporate.

Akana has also built an impressive voice-acting résumé. She voices Gloria Sato on Disney Channel’s Big City Greens and Sasha Waybright on Amphibia. In 2020, she voiced Daisy, the lead character in Magical Girl Friendship Squad, which was part of Syfy’s former TZGZ late-night animation block.

In 2019, Akana announced on Ryan Higa’s Off the Pill podcast that she would be part of the Netflix series Jupiter’s Legacy. She has also co-hosted the podcast Explain Things to Me with comedian Brad Gage, where the pair interview experts about their respective fields. In 2021, she appeared in the romantic comedy About Fate.

From stand-up stages and short films to YouTube, podcasts, animation, and television, Akana has built a career that refuses to sit neatly inside one category. Considering how many creative hats she wears, it’s probably a good thing she doesn’t mind working without a script.

Facts and Trivia

Anna Akana has never been particularly interested in keeping her career in one lane. In 2015, she launched Ghost & Stars, a clothing line featuring cat-themed designs alongside formal dresses, leggings, and an assortment of T-shirts. Because apparently comedy, acting, and filmmaking weren’t enough to keep her busy.

In 2017, Akana added author to the résumé with So Much I Want to Tell You: Letters to My Little Sister. The deeply personal book explores her experiences growing up, the loss of her younger sister, and the advice she wished she could have shared with her.

Akana later expanded into music. In 2019, she released her debut single, Intervention, with a music video directed by Auden Bui. She followed it with videos for Pretty Girls Don’t Cry and Not My Proudest Moment, along with Alone Together, Disappointment, and Let Me Go. Her debut album, Casualty, arrived in October 2019, followed by the project No Longer Yours in early 2021.

In 2024, Akana embarked on her It Gets Darker stand-up tour, dedicating the entire hour to deeply personal material. The show explored her sister’s suicide and its traumatic aftermath, her experiences with stalkers that eventually led her to step away from live performances, and her upbringing as a Native Hawaiian and Asian military child.

Akana is of Japanese, Filipina, Native Hawaiian, and European descent. In October 2018, she publicly came out as bisexual during her acceptance speech for Best Acting in a Drama at the Streamy Awards for Youth & Consequences. She described herself as both a woman of color and a queer woman while encouraging viewers to vote in that year’s U.S. midterm elections.

Akana later explained that she hadn’t originally planned to come out publicly and had been “very inebriated” when she made the announcement. Still, she confirmed her bisexuality and appreciated the support she received. In a 2019 Billboard interview, she reflected on how the experience helped her recognize her own internalized homophobia and emphasized the importance of LGBTQ+ visibility, including for transgender, asexual, and bisexual people.

She has also spoken openly about experiencing both racial erasure and bisexual erasure. In an interview with Women’s Health, Akana recalled developing her first crush on another girl at 11 and being mocked by a friend who suggested she was simply trying to be interesting. The experience contributed to her internalizing the idea that attraction to girls was somehow an act rather than part of who she was.

In May 2019, Akana revealed that she had an abortion at age 20 and described it as one of the best decisions she had made. She has since spoken strongly in favor of reproductive rights, arguing that people should not be forced into pregnancy and emphasizing her belief that abortion is healthcare. For Akana, sharing difficult parts of her own story has become another way of making room for conversations that aren’t always easy—but are certainly worth having.