Kingsley Ben-Adir

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Not to be confused with Ben Kingsley.

Kingsley Ben-Adir
Kingsley Ben-Adir during an interview, January 2021.png
Ben-Adir in January 2021
Born (1986-02-28) 28 February 1986 (age 35)[1]
Gospel Oak, London, England
OccupationActor
Years active2012–present

Kingsley Ben-Adir (born 28 February 1986) is a British actor. He has performed in several plays in London theatres. He played pathologist Marcus Summer in ITV's detective drama Vera and private detective Karim Washington on the second season of the Netflix series The OA.[2][3] From 2017 to 2019, he appeared in series four and five of the BBC One television series Peaky Blinders. In 2021, he starred as Malcolm X in the Amazon Studios film One Night in Miami...

Early life and education[]

Ben-Adir was born in Gospel Oak, London, England, to a black Trinidadian mother and a white English father.[4] He attended William Ellis School in Gospel Oak, Northwest London.[5] He graduated from the Guildhall School of Music & Drama in 2011.[6]

Career[]

In 2011, Ben-Adir performed in Gillian Slovo's critically acclaimed play The Riots at the Tricycle Theatre.[7] In 2012, he played Demetrius in A Midsummer Night's Dream at Regent's Park Open Air Theatre.

In 2013, he played Borachio in Mark Rylance's production of Much Ado About Nothing at the Old Vic in London and also played in God's Property at the Soho Theatre.[8][9]

In 2014, Ben-Adir performed in the play We Are Proud to Present a Presentation About the Herero of Namibia, Formerly Known as Southwest Africa, From the German Sudwestafrika, Between the Years 1884–1915 at the Bush Theatre in London.[10][11][12] The play received positive reviews.[13]

From 2017 to 2019, Ben-Adir appeared in series four and five of the BBC One television series Peaky Blinders, playing the role of Colonel Ben Younger.[14]

In 2020, Ben-Adir starred as Malcolm X in the Amazon Studios film One Night in Miami... directed by Regina King. Ben-Adir starred along side Eli Goree (Cassius Clay), Leslie Odom Jr. (Sam Cooke), and Aldis Hodge (Jim Brown).

In March 2021, Deadline Hollywood reported that Ben-Adir had joined the Secret Invasion series for Marvel Studios as the main villain.[15]

Work[]

Film[]

Year Title Role Notes
2012 City Slacker Thug
2013 World War Z Officer Hawkins Uncredited
2016 Trespass Against Us Sampson
2017 King Arthur: Legend of the Sword Wet Stick
2018 The Commuter Agent Garcia
2019 Noelle Jake Hapman
2020 One Night in Miami... Malcolm X

Television[]

Year Title Role Notes
2013 Marple Errol Episode: A Caribbean Mystery
2016 Midsomer Murders Bartholomew Hines Episode: Saints and Sinners
Ordinary Lies Jake Episode: Jenna
2017 Death in Paradise Irie Johnson Episode: The Impossible Murder
Diana and I Russell Television movie
2014–18 Vera Dr. Marcus Summer 16 episodes
2017–19 Peaky Blinders Col. Ben Younger 5 episodes
2018 Deep State Khalid Walker 4 episodes
2019 The OA Karim Washington 6 episodes
2020 High Fidelity Russell McCormack 7 episodes
Love Life Grant Episode: The Person
The Comey Rule Barack Obama 2 episodes
Soulmates Franklin Episode: Watershed
2022 Secret Invasion TBA Upcoming Disney+ miniseries

Theatre[]

Year Title Role Notes
2011 The Riots Performer Tricycle Theatre, London
2012 A Midsummer's Night Dream Demetrius Regent's Park Open Air Theatre, London
2013 Much Ado About Nothing Borachio The Old Vic, London
God's Property Soho Theatre, London
2014 We Are Proud to Present... Actor 2 Bush Theatre, London

Awards and nominations[]

Year Award Category Work Result
2021 British Academy Film Awards Rising Star Award Himself Nominated
2021 Screen Actors Guild Award Outstanding Cast in a Motion Picture One Night in Miami Nominated
2021 Independent Spirit Award Robert Altman Award Won
2020 Gotham Awards Breakthrough Actor Won
2020 Chicago Film Critics Association Awards Most Promising Performer Nominated
2020 San Francisco Film Awards Outstanding Ensemble Won
2020 Atlantic Film Critics Circle Breakthrough Performer Won
2020 Satellite Awards Best Supporting Actor Nominated
2020 Indiana Film Journalists Association Best Actor Nominated

References[]

  1. ^ de Semlyen, Phil (1 April 2019). "Introducing Kingsley Ben-Adir – the breakout star of 'The OA' season 2". Time Out.
  2. ^ "Review: Vera, ITV, 8pm Sunday ". The Journal.
  3. ^ "Vera, series six, episode one, review: 'rescued by Blethyn'". The Telegraph, Gerard O'Donovan 31 January 2016
  4. ^ https://www.gq.com/story/kingsley-ben-adir-one-night-in-miami-malcolm-x-regina-king-interview
  5. ^ Osley, Richard (5 March 2021). "How Kingsley Ben-Adir's escaped spider sparked police panic". Camden New Journal. Retrieved 1 May 2021.
  6. ^ "Kingsley Ben-Adir". gsmd.ac.uk. Archived from the original on 28 January 2014. Retrieved 16 May 2014.
  7. ^ "Khalid Walker - Played by Kingsley Ben-Adir". EPIX
  8. ^ "Love and Acceptance in ‘God's Property’". The Platform, Dornett Roachford, March 21, 2013
  9. ^ "God's Property, Soho Theatre - review". Evening Standard, 27 February 2013.
  10. ^ "We Are Proud to Present… review – 'A Pirandellian take on a little-known genocide'". The Guardian. Michael Billington, 5 March 2014
  11. ^ "We Are Proud to Present, theatre review. Bush Theatre, London". The Independent, Paul Taylor 10 March 2014
  12. ^ "We Are Proud To Present… at Bush Theatre takes your breath away". Metro, Siobhan Murphy. Friday 7 Mar 2014
  13. ^ "Review: ‘We Are Proud to present…’". What's On - Africa, March 20, 2014
  14. ^ Watson, Fay (13 November 2019). "Peaky Blinders: Why did Colonel Ben Younger star Kingsley Ben-Adir leave?". Express.co.uk. Retrieved 6 February 2021.
  15. ^ Andreeva, Nellie (15 March 2021). "Kingsley Ben-Adir To Star In Marvel's 'Secret Invasion' Series For Disney+". Deadline. Retrieved 15 March 2021.

External links[]

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