Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje

Biography:

Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje was born in Islington, London, to Nigerian parents of Yoruba descent who were studying in the UK at the time. When he was just six weeks old, his biological parents placed him with a white working-class foster family in Tilbury. His foster parents cared for many African children—at times, more than ten—including his two sisters. The foster father worked as a lorry driver and faced financial hardships supporting such a large household.

At the age of eight, Akinnuoye-Agbaje’s biological parents took him back to Nigeria. However, unable to speak Yoruba or adapt to the local culture, he was soon sent back to Tilbury. The brief stay in Nigeria left him caught between two identities—his African heritage and his British upbringing. Growing up in a predominantly white neighbourhood, he endured constant racial abuse and violence. Eventually, after confronting local skinheads who attacked him, he earned their respect and even became associated with them. When he was sixteen, his parents enrolled him in a boarding school in Surrey, where he began to focus on his education and turn his life around.

He later earned a Bachelor’s degree from the University of London and a Master’s degree in Law from King’s College London. During his university years, while working at a clothing store, he was introduced to modelling—a career that later opened the door to acting. On March 17, 2017, Princess Anne, Chancellor of the University of London, awarded him an Honorary PhD.

Akinnuoye-Agbaje’s modelling career led him to Hollywood, where he made his film debut in Congo (1995). He gained widespread recognition for his roles as Simon Adebisi in HBO’s Oz and Mr. Eko in ABC’s Lost. His notable film appearances include The Bourne Identity, Ace Ventura: When Nature Calls, The Mummy Returns, and G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra. Earlier in his career, he also appeared in Grayson Hugh’s 1989 music video “Talk It Over.”

In 2009, he was in discussions with Marvel Studios to play Black Panther and expressed great enthusiasm about portraying a black superhero. Although the project eventually went to Chadwick Boseman in 2014, Akinnuoye-Agbaje continued to work with Marvel, later playing Kurse in Thor: The Dark World. He also appeared in The Thing (2011), Game of Thrones (as Malko), and voiced the lead in the animated film Bilal. In 2016, he portrayed Killer Croc in DC’s Suicide Squad.

In 2012, he announced plans to direct a film based on his life, titled Farming, named after the practice of Nigerian parents “farming out” their children to white British families. Cast members included Damson Idris, Kate Beckinsale, and Gugu Mbatha-Raw. The film won the Michael Powell Award for Best British Feature and Best Performance at the Edinburgh Film Festival.

In 2021, Akinnuoye-Agbaje narrated an immersive audio tour of the Roman Colosseum for the BARDEUM app, written by Simon Scarrow.

He currently lives in Los Angeles, practices Nichiren Buddhism, and is a member of the Soka Gakkai International association. A devoted Arsenal fan, he requested to leave Lost to return to London after his foster parents’ passing, intending to pursue film directing.