Michael Obiora

Michael Obiora
Born	(1986-10-08) 8 October 1986 (age 34) Camden, London, England
Occupation	Actor, Writer, Director, Producer
Years active	1996–present

Michael Obiora (born 8 October 1986) is a British actor, writer, director, and producer.

Life and career[]

Michael Obiora (pronounced OH-BEE-ORA) was born on 8 October 1986 in north-west London, England, to Nigerian-Igbo parents. As a six-year-old he was determined to become an entertainer like his idol Michael Jackson, and his mother enrolled him in drama lessons.^[1]

At the age of nine, Obiora became the youngest actor to have appeared in Grange Hill; he played Max Abassi on the programme for five years.

Just before his 18th birthday Michael landed a role playing the part of Gunner Jackson Clarke, a soldier in ITV's eight-part series Bombshell, starring opposite Footballers Wives star Zöe Lucker. Shortly after filming Bombshell, Obiora started a seven-month run as one of the leads in the award-winning play Elmina's Kitchen, written by Kwame Kwei-Armah, at the Garrick Theatre. Elmina’s Kitchen is only the second play in history written by a writer of African descent to be staged in the West End. Michael also had the lead role in the stage play Exclude Me, completing a successful 11-week run on stage at The Chelsea Theatre, and lead roles in the plays Fallout starring opposite Lennie James, at the Royal Court Theatre, Badnuff starring opposite David Harewood, at The Soho Theatre, and Headstone at the Arcola Theatre.

Obiora has had television roles in My Family, Judge John Deed, Misfits, Sea of Souls, ITV1's Afterlife , Doctor Who ("Blink") - Michael's portrayal of Carey Mulligan's love interest, Di Billy Shipton, was critically acclaimed, and the episode has been voted in the Top 5 best ever. Michael has also starred in Doctors, Powers, The Bill for five episodes as Nathan Morley, and Holby City. He was in four episodes of EastEnders, the first episode airing on 11 June 2009, in which he played playboy footballer, Ellis Prince.

Michael Obiora became hugely recognisable when he played receptionist Ben Trueman in the BBC One drama series Hotel Babylon,^[2] which ran for four seasons. He joined the cast of the long-running BAFTA winning medical drama Casualty for its 26th season playing the part of Lloyd Asike, a nurse. He spent two years on the show.^[3] Michael was part of an international ensemble that formed the cast of Sky Atlantic's critically acclaimed 2015 epic eleven-part crime thriller, Fortitude - the series was filmed over six months in Iceland. In 2016 Michael travelled to South Africa to film Hooten and The Lady, in which he played Julian. On 18 January 2017 Obiora made an appearance in Midsomer Murders on ITV as Oliver Marcet in the episode "Red in Tooth and Claw." Later that year Michael played Dr Harwood in the Channel 4 comedy pilot titled Anxio(US), and he starred in the television remake of Guy Ritchie's Snatch as New York Jewellery dealer Nas Stone. In 2018 Michael played Baxter in the reboot of Warner Bros Tombraider, with the film grossing $275 million at the box office. Later that year Michael played Ed in the short film Downtime. Michael starred opposite Idris Elba as Errol Minty in the Golden Globe winning Luther between 2015 and 2019. Michael made a guest appearance as Christopher Williams in BBC1's Death in Paradise in 2020. In 2020 Michael also made his directorial debut with the short film Soaperstar. He also wrote, and starred in the film, and it has won multiple awards including best actor for Michael at the Best Shorts Awards 2020, and the Europe Film Festival 2020. Soaperstar also won the award for Best Film at the Best Shorts Awards 2020, and it is an official selection for the ACADEMY AWARD® qualifying Pan African Film Festival 2021.

In 2021 Michael portrayed an eccentric and charismatic American pastor in series 2 of the Royal Television Society award nominated BBC comedy Jerk, written by Tim Renkow, and directed by Tom McKay.

Michael is also a prolific voice over artist having voiced numerous advertising campaigns, radio plays - including the hugely successful Craven, which ran for six years, in which Michael played DS Watende Robinson opposite Maxine Peake - and documentaries. He has also narrated multiple fiction and non fiction books including The Central Park Five by Sarah Burns,A River Called Time by Courttia Newland, and as well as contributing as a writer, he narrated the male entries in Still Breathing: 100 Black Voices on Racism - 100 Ways to Change the Narrative. Michael is the voice of Chike in Netflix's American cartoon Robozuna. He also voices the character of Chike's father, Sarcio, in the show.

Michael Obiora's first novel, Black Shoes, was released in 2009.^[1] Michael published his second novel Vivian's Couch in November 2014, and it is currently being adapted into a television series.

Personal life[]

Michael was expelled from secondary school at age fifteen, the year before his GCSE's. Despite being the author of two critically acclaimed novels, he never completed his formal education.

Michael's father suffered from Angina and died of a heart attack in 2003.

Michael married his long-term partner in a beach wedding ceremony on 20 September 2014 in the Seychelles, and they welcomed their first child in May 2020.

Obiora is a sports and fitness enthusiast and is a keen Arsenal fan. In 2008 he was diagnosed with celiac disease and has thus had to control his diet.^[4]

Appearances[]

Audiobooks[]

See also[]

• List of people diagnosed with coeliac disease

References[]

External links[]

• Michael Obiora at IMDb