Why Nora From Upload Looks So Familiar
Upload is the latest comedy series to land on Amazon's Prime Video streaming service, and aside from the compelling sci-fi concept, it also features a pair of familiar faces in its two leading roles.
Created by The Office's Greg Daniels, the new show finds laughs in a concept that Black Mirror recently mined for romance and high drama. In the futuristic world of Upload, people nearing death have the option to transfer their consciousness into a virtual afterlife, where they can continue on in a digital world full of options and free of consequence. Upload principally follows Nathan Brown (Robbie Amell), a young man who dies before his time and opts to upload his being into the cloud. While Nathan attempts to adjust to his new digital existence, he interfaces with several living humans who work day jobs to keep the whole afterlife operation afloat.
One of those live employees who takes an early shine to Nathan is Nora, played by Andy Allo. Though she's a relative newcomer, there's a good chance you've seen her before. Here's why Nora from Upload looks so familiar.
Andy Allo got her acting start on Girlfriends spin-off The Game
Acting actually isn't Allo's first trade. She started her career in the performing arts as a singer-songwriter and guitarist, and she has performed in that capacity on the late night show Jimmy Kimmel Live! Allo has released a number of albums, including UnFresh, Superconductor, Hello, Oui Can Luv, and One Step Closer.
Obviously a multi-talented performer, Allo temporarily put down the guitar after the release of her first album — 2009's Unfresh – and tested her acting chops. She appeared on a three-episode arc of The Game, a spin-off of the CW's popular sitcom Girlfriends, which the network inherited from its predecessor UPN. On The Game, Allo played the role of Allison, a guest spot on the long-running series' fifth season.
Allo went back to music after her hiatus moonlighting as a TV star, but she clearly caught the acting bug again. It wasn't long before she staged her return to the screen.
Andy Allo got her acapella on in the Pitch Perfect threequel
Allo got to pursue both her love of music and her love of acting at the same time when she landed a role in the Pitch Perfect franchise. 2017's Pitch Perfect 3 was the aca-mazing follow-up to the first two films in the popular series of acapella musicals. Allo put her considerable pipes to use in the new role of Serenity — joining franchise stars Anna Kendrick (Beca), Rebel Wilson (Fat Amy), Brittany Snow (Chloe), and Anna Camp (Audrey), and acting alongside Ruby Rose as a member of the fictional band Evermoist.
Allo had landed a few bit roles in the years between The Game and Pitch Perfect 3, including a turn as Sparrow in 2016's Hacked and a brief appearance as the bartender in Brett Hailey's The Hero, but there's no doubt that joining the all-star cast of Pitch Perfect 3 was her biggest break to date.
After 2017 — even though she was busy releasing new music and touring in support — Allo managed to parlay the exposure into another high-profile role.
Andy Allo was an essential worker on Chicago Fire
After a brief two-episode appearance as Zoe B. on Black Lightning in 2018, Allo joined the cast of Dick Wolf's hit fire department drama Chicago Fire. Between 2019 and 2020, Allo played Lieutenant Wendy Seager on six episodes of the Windy City procedural. Her performance must have caught somebody's eye, because it wasn't long after her arc concluded that she landed the leading role of Nora on Upload.
The first season of Upload drops on May 1 on Amazon Prime Video. The streaming service has bet pretty big on its new sci-fi comedy, so if the series is a hit, there's a good chance Andy Allo will be tied up for quite some time. Either way, we're sure this is just the beginning of a long and successful career for the actress.