Celebrating British-Nigerian Talent: A Look at Three Phenomenal Actors

There are often when actors of Nigerian heritage will get overlooked in Western films and TV. Today, we’ll celebrate the immense talent of British-born actors with strong Nigerian roots and connections.

There’s a strong argument for certain actors who won’t feature in our list today, and that’s not to say they aren’t gifted; they have magical talent, and it was difficult to trim this list down to just three individuals when you could easily have a piece that covers the top 10. They’d all be deserving in their own right.

John Boyega

This list isn’t in any particular order, it was difficult enough narrowing it down to three, so all of the actors in the list are interchangeable as the top three. Once you explore their credentials and filmography, you’ll likely agree that it is too close to call. While you might have a personal preference for one of the actors as they might star in your favorite film if you step back and look at it subjectively, there isn’t much that separates the three immense talents we will be exploring in great detail today – the first of which is John Boyega.

Boyega, at the age of 31, is one of the most accomplished actors of his generation. Not only is John accomplished on screen, but in his spare time, he also puts his ability to get into character and mask emotions by trying his hand at poker. He has often been spotted attending different poker tournaments and testing his poker face on his fellow star-struck players. Of course, knowing how to act and how to play poker to a high standard are two entirely different skill sets, but John has managed to learn both.

Still, if you have John’s range and acting experience, it’s much easier to bluff your way around the poker table and psych your opponent out to escape from a tricky hand. John’s big breakthrough came in 2014 when he took a career gamble and landed a role in one of the decade’s biggest films. Maybe his experience and poise at the poker table allowed him to rise to the occasion in his audition and push him in front of the other competition.

Star Wars: The Force Awakens

When John landed his first breakthrough role in Star Wars: The Force Awakens in 2014, the spotlight immediately shone on him. As arguably the biggest and most notable film franchise of all time, any actor who manages to land a role in such a significant new installment of an iconic set of films will immediately be thrust into the spotlight.

As far as big breaks go, they aren’t much more significant than starring in the new Star Wars film. Despite the original Star Wars film first hitting cinemas over half a century ago, it is etched into sci-fi folklore with one of the most notable musical scores ever. It is amongst the most revered film franchise of all time, and no stone is left unturned regarding the financing and advertising of the latest installment.

It is the stuff dreams are made of for thousands of actors who never quite make it into the big time. However, John’s talent caught the eye of the casting directors, and he was given a significant role in this film which was well-received by fans and critics alike.

It might be a disservice to John to frame all of his success through one specific role he landed in a Star Wars film. The truth is, he was highly touted from a much younger age. In 2011 he was earmarked as one of the rising talents in British acting, and for those who had worked with John, nobody was surprised he had managed to land such a massive role in a blockbuster Hollywood movie.

Outside Acting

Boyega has since set up his own production company and is a vocal campaigner for many vital issues, such as the Black Lives Matter movement. Even in such a prominent position, some actors refuse to involve themselves in polarising issues, but Boyega does not shy away.

Ultimately, it shouldn’t be a polarising issue, and campaigning for equal rights is something that everybody should agree with. Unfortunately, some institutions still have a long way to go.

Boyega has highlighted this on multiple occasions and continues to use his platform to speak up.

He is now a massive figure in British acting and popular culture, so his support of these issues goes a long way. It raises awareness for people who don’t have as much of a voice in society. His continuous support for such vital matters makes him one of the top British-Nigerian actors active today. Not only is he a giant in the film industry, he is just as important outside of it.

Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje

As one of the British-Nigerian film legends that helped build a path for actors like Boyega, Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje is accomplished, and his body of work speaks for itself. Similarly to Boyega, Adewale’s parents descended from the Yoruba region. Unsurprisingly, the Yoruba heritage has helped these legendary actors make a name for themselves, as it is an area of Nigeria well-known for its film and TV history. Yoruba continues to churn out a conveyer belt of gifted actors, both in Nigerian film and TV and further afield.

However, despite his incredible range and skill, Adewale struggled to find an identity early on in his life. He moved to England at a young age, and even though he later traveled back to Nigeria, he felt disconnected from his original roots as he could not speak his native language. Upon returning to the United Kingdom, Adewale struggled and could not find a vocation that best suited his skills. However, once he became a model, this opened the door for him to pursue acting as a full-time job, and his highly esteemed and dense body of work spans Hollywood and acclaimed television drama.

Oz

Perhaps best known for his role as the psychopathic prisoner Simon Adebesi in HBO’s legendary prison drama, Adewale quickly proved to the audience he had the charisma and range to play such an imposing and terrifying character. HBO is the highest standard of global television, and the shows they produced during this period make up the spine of the golden age of television.

For many ardent TV fans, Oz was the beginning of this golden age, and it is widely regarded as one of the top TV shows of the 1990s. Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje, as Adebesi, is often referred to as one of the great TV villains, and many critics at the time didn’t even know he was of British-Nigerian descent.

Much like other HBO shows at the time, such as The Wire, it relied heavily on British actors playing Americans of different nationalities. Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje is one of the best examples of this. His breakthrough role in Oz laid the groundwork for his expansion into the Hollywood movie industry, where he bolstered his standing as one of the top British-Nigerian actors ever.

Hollywood Breakthrough

Although Adewale had a role in Ace Ventura in 1995, following his widely acclaimed performance in Oz, this opened many doors for him in America. This includes one of the top spy films of the noughties – The Bourne Identity and a wide range of other blockbuster hits from the same period, such as The Mummy Returns.

Nowadays, it looks as though Adewale opts for quality over quantity, and there’s a new generation of British-Nigerian actors who will be grateful that he laid the foundations that allowed them to navigate a pathway to the top of the British film industry.

Chiwetel Ejiofor

Without a doubt, the most decorated British-Nigerian actor of his generation, Ejiofor, has cemented himself into the history of British film and is of proud Nigerian Igbo heritage. Chiwetel has been nominated for a range of the highest accolades in film and TV.

His decorated career includes a Laurence Olivier Award and a commendation from the Queen, which he received in 2008, and predates some of his most outstanding achievements in film and television. In a three-decade career, Chiwetel has achieved more in this timespan than many esteemed actors in more than double the same period.

Widely regarded as one of the best British actors of his generation, there are more than two dozen films we could name, but his most notable mainstream appearances in the film include Love, Children Of Men, and arguably his best-known role in 12 Years A Slave.

12 Years A Slave

Widely regarded as one of the best films of the 2010s and of the 21st Century, the widespread acclaim 12 Years A Slave received upon its release in 2013 and, notably, Chiwetel Ejiofor was the subject of overwhelming praise for his starring role as Solomon Northup. The film swept up the Academy Awards, won the Best Picture accolade, received a total of nine nominations, and was named the best film of 2013 in dozens of year-end critic lists.

At this point, Chiwetel Ejiofor was already a huge name in British film. His name generates immense respect throughout the industry, especially amongst his peers, but this projected him into international recognition. For many, it was no surprise that he rose to the occasion, delivering a breathtaking performance that took the world by storm, and it is still widely remembered as one of the finest individual performances in the 2010s film.

Theatre

If we had to make a case for one of these actors being the stand-out figure of British-Nigeria film and TV excellence, you’d have to say that Chiwetel Ejiofor has the most robust case. Although Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje built a path, Boyega and Chiwetel have followed and used to chisel out their stellar careers. Chiwetel is slightly ahead regarding experience, accolades, and industry standing.

We’d argue that Chiwetel’s expertise and reputation in the theatre industry probably put him slightly ahead of his two British-Nigerian compatriots, but that’s not to downplay their achievements. His performances in theatre, particularly his renowned Shakespearean work starring in Othello, Macbeth, and Romeo & Juliet, were all subject to immense praise.

Philanthropy

As discussed earlier about John Boyega, Chiwetel is also a titan outside of film, often speaking up for those less privileged, acting as an ambassador for charities, and using his platform to shine a light on injustices and social issues. He often visits Nigeria to perform charity work and to connect with his heritage. He is exceptionally proud of his ancestry, which has helped develop him into the accomplished and highly-respected figure he is today.

One of the most notable things about Chiwetel is that he is still only in his mid 40’s and hopefully has two or three more decades ahead of him to continue making phenomenal impacts in film and TV and continuing to raise awareness for causes that are close to his heart off camera too.

Other Notable British-Nigerian Actors

As we touched on at the beginning of today’s piece, Hakeem Kai-Kazeem is an actor who deserves plenty of recognition for carving out the path that has facilitated the rise of the fabulously gifted actors we discussed today. Some other phenomenally British-Nigerian actors include Tomiwa Edun, David Oyelowo, and Damson Idris.

Idris, of course, was chosen as the lead in the award-winning film we discussed earlier, which was a biographical film written by Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje. Oyelowo is another actor with an incredible body of TV work and a scintillating filmography, similar to Chiwetel Ejiofor. He also has a commendation from the Queen for his contributions to TV and film throughout his impressive career. Tomiwa Edun might be the lesser-known of the three. Still, he starred in a Shakespeare Company version of Romeo & Juliet in 2009, another precociously gifted British-Nigerian acting talent to add to the list.

All the actors we have discussed above, have been featured in some sort of streaming service production, whether film or TV show, or both. However, as the world continues to shift away from traditional media like television, a new star will be born in the age of streaming. Five or ten years from now, we will likely be talking about the legendary careers of Boyega and Ejiofor in more detail, with more accolades to their name, and the stage will be set for a new British-Nigerian star of the next generation to follow in their footsteps and make a name for themselves.

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