Nikki Amuka-Bird

Biography:

Nikki Amuka-Bird is a British actress known for her work in stage, television, and film.

Originally from Delta State, Nigeria, where her father still resides, Amuka-Bird moved to England with her mother at a young age and was raised in England, Lagos, and Antigua. She attended Hurtwood House boarding school in England and initially pursued a career in dance. She later studied at the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art (LAMDA) and began her stage career with the Royal Shakespeare Company (RSC).

Her stage credits include Welcome to Thebes at the National Theatre, Twelfth Night at Bristol Old Vic (for which she earned an Ian Charleson Award nomination in 2004 for her portrayal of Viola), World Music at the Crucible Theatre and Donmar Warehouse, Top Girls with the Oxford Stage Company, and A Midsummer Night’s Dream, The Tempest, and The Servant of Two Masters at the RSC. She also performed in Doubt: A Parable at the Tricycle Theatre.

Amuka-Bird’s film roles include the 2006 remake of The Omen, Cargo, Almost Heaven, and the screen adaptation of The No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency. On television, she has appeared in Spooks, The Line of Beauty, The Last Enemy, Robin Hood, an episode of Torchwood, and had a recurring role in the reimagined BBC series Survivors. She also portrayed Detective Superintendent Gaynor Jenkins in Silent Witness in 2010.

She starred in the BBC adaptation of Andrea Levy’s novel Small Island, broadcast in December 2009. In June 2016, it was announced that Amuka-Bird and Phoebe Fox would lead the production of Zadie Smith’s novel NW, which aired on BBC Two in November 2016. Amuka-Bird received a BAFTA nomination for Best Actress for her performance.

On Christmas Day 2017, she voiced the character of the Glass Woman in the Doctor Who Christmas Special, Twice Upon a Time, on BBC One.

Amuka-Bird played Rav Mulclair, Head of Judd Mission Control, in HBO’s Avenue 5 from 2020 to 2022. She also appeared in several films, including The Personal History of David Copperfield (2019) as Miss Steerforth and Old (2021) as Patricia, a psychologist with epilepsy.

She was married to actor Geoffrey Streatfeild from 2003 to 2010.