Nina Oyama

Nina Oyama (born 18 August 1993) is an Australian comedian, writer, actress and director. She is well known for her roles in Utopia, Deadloch and her participation as contestant in Taskmaster Australia.

Early life and education Oyama was born on 18 August 1993 to an Australian mother from Sydney's Northern Beaches and a Japanese father. Her parents met at a hostel in Nagoya.

She attended North Sydney Girls High School, and went on to study communications and theatre media at Charles Sturt University in Bathurst, New South Wales.

Career Oyama began performing stand-up comedy at 17 years old. In 2012, she was a state finalist in the Class Clowns competition. That year she also performed at The Sydney Fringe as part of "Barely Legal - Australia's Best Young Comedians" alongside Neel Kolhatkar and Aaron Chen, and performed on Dan Ilic's FBi Radio show.

Oyama directed, co-wrote, and co-starred in The Angus Project, a web series and television pilot that aired on ABC iview in 2018. Based on real events in Bathurst, the series co-stars Angus Thompson as a sports journalist with cerebral palsy, for whom Oyama becomes a friend and caregiver. The show received praise for its earnest depictions of disability and regional Australia.

Oyama was regularly performing stand-up comedy.

In 2020, she starred on the Network 10 sketch comedy series Kinne Tonight, and served as a scriptwriter for Michael Cusack's Adult Swim series YOLO: Crystal Fantasy. She co-directed the film Diving In, which starred an amputee swimmer and was featured in the 2020 Sydney Film Festival. Also in that year, Oyama received media attention for making "#CatPoop" a trending topic on Twitter in Australia.

On 9 July 2024, Deadloch was renewed for a second season and it was announced that Oyama would reprise the role of Abby Matsuda. On 28 October, Oyama was named for the animated film The Pout Pout Fish.

On 4 June 2025, Oyama was announced as part of the cast for the series Gnomes.

Personal life Oyama is bisexual Self 5 episodes 2025 The Role of a Lifetime Dr. Jesse 2 episodes 2023–present Deadloch Abby Matsuda 14 episodes

Home and Away Slyvie Grey 2 episodes We Interrupt This Broadcast Melissa Leong 7 episodes Koala Man Little Nina 1 episode 2021 Mikki vs The World Various Series 1

The Chasers War on 2020 Various Moments of Clarity Nat 5 episodes Dom and Adrian Debbie TV Special 2019–2020 Kinne Tonight Various 13 episodes 2017–2019, 2023 Utopia Courtney 16 episodes 2018 Fresh Blood Pilot Season Nina 1 episode

Film appearances +Year TitleRoleNotes2020 Soulless Danni Short The Complex Megan Short 2026 The Pout-Pout Fish Pip Film

Other appearances

Awards and nominations

2018: Pilot of The Angus Project nominated for an Australian Directors' Guild award 2019: Nominated, Best Newcomer at the Melbourne International Comedy Festival