Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje

Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje
Akinnuoye-Agbaje at the Thor: The Dark World premiere, October 2013
Born	(1967-08-22) 22 August 1967 Islington, London, England
Other names	Adewalé, Triple A
Ethnicity	Yoruba
Alma mater	King's College London University of London
Occupation	Actor, fashion model, writer, director, producer
Years active	1993 – present

Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje (/ˌædᵻˈwɑːleɪ ˌækᵻˈnuː.eɪ ɑːɡˈbɑːdʒeɪ/; born 22 August 1967) is a British actor and former fashion model of Nigerian origin. He is best known for his roles as Lock-Nah in The Mummy Returns, Nykwana Wombosi in The Bourne Identity, Mr. Eko on Lost and Simon Adebisi on Oz. His more recent roles include Malko^[1] in the fifth season of the HBO series Game of Thrones, providing the voice to the titular character on the animated series Major Lazer (TV series),^[2] Dave Duerson in the NFL biopic drama Concussion^[3] and Killer Croc in the upcoming movie Suicide Squad.

Early life and career

Akinnuoye-Agbaje was born in Islington, London to Nigerian parents of Yoruba origin, who were students in the UK. He is fluent in several languages including Yoruba, Italian, and Swahili. He can "get along" in a few other languages, including French. When he was only six weeks old, his biological parents gave him up to a white working-class family in Tilbury. His foster parents had at least ten African children, including Akinnuoye-Agbaje's two sisters, living in their house at certain points. His foster father made a living as a lorry driver and struggled to support the family financially.^[4]

Akinnuoye-Agbaje at a Red Cross benefit at the Hilton Hawaiian Village, 28 February 2007

When he was eight years old, his biological parents brought him back to Nigeria but, as he was unable to speak the Yoruba language and forbidden by his parents to speak English, he was returned to Tilbury shortly thereafter. The brief exposure to Nigeria left him struggling to reconcile his heritage with the distinctly English culture and environment he was raised in. As a teenager facing a cultural identity crisis, he joined a local skinhead gang in order to escape racial persecution at their hands. At 16 years old, having become a violent thief, his foster parents sent him to a boarding school in Surrey where he ultimately attempted suicide before coming to terms with his background and turning his life around.^[4]

He went on to earn a Law degree from King's College London and a Masters in Law from the University of London. While a university student, Akinnuoye-Agbaje worked in a clothes shop where he was introduced to the world of modeling. His modeling career eventually led him to Hollywood, where he began his acting career with a 1995 role in Congo.^[4]

His best known acting roles have been as the imposing convict Simon Adebisi in the 1990s HBO prison series Oz and as Mr. Eko on ABC's survivor drama Lost.^[4] He has numerous film credits since he began acting in 1994 and has appeared in many top films, including The Bourne Identity, in which he played a deposed African dictator, Hitu the police officer in Ace Ventura: When Nature Calls, Lock-Nah in The Mummy Returns, and Heavy Duty in G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra.^[5]

In 2009, Akinnuoye-Agbaje was in talks with Marvel Studios to play the superhero Black Panther in a proposed film of the same name. In an interview, he stated his excitement about the possibility, saying that "the timing is so right" for a black superhero, and "while I'm in my prime, this is the time... I'm going to keep knocking on their door." In 2014 Marvel did announce a Black Panther film, though with Chadwick Boseman in the title role.^[6]

Akinnuoye-Agbaje has also stated that he will be directing a film about his life story. More recently, he guest starred in the second episode of season 8 of Monk, and played Derek Jameson in the 2011 film The Thing.^[7] He portrayed Kurse in the Marvel Studios film Thor: The Dark World.^[8] He portrayed the character Malko in the fifth season of Game of Thrones.^[1][9] In 2015 it was reported that Akinnuoye-Abaje voices the lead character of Bilal, a film about the life of Bilal Ibn Rabah set to be released in the second half of the year.^[10] In 2015 it was announced that he'd joined the cast of Suicide Squad as the Batman villain Killer Croc.^[11]

Personal life

Akinnuoye-Agbaje is a Nichiren Buddhist^[12] and a member of the Soka Gakkai International Buddhist association.^[13]

Akinnuoye-Agbaje asked to be written off Lost, citing a desire to return to London after his parents' deaths and to direct a film there.^[14] He has also never married or had children.

Filmography

Film

Television

Music videos

• "You Don't Love Me (No, No, No)" – Dawn Penn (1994)
• "Love No Limit" – Mary J. Blige (1993)
• "I Want It All Night Long" – Heather Hunter (1993)
• "Giving Him Something He Can Feel" – En Vogue (1992)
• "Jealousy" – Pet Shop Boys (1991)
• "Talk It Over" – Grayson Hugh (1989)

References

External links

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Media related to Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje at Wikimedia Commons

• Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje at the Internet Movie Database
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• Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje interview on the Tavis Smiley show