Jude Akuwudike | |
---|---|
Born | Jude Akuwudike 1965 (age 58–59) |
Nationality | Nigerian |
Alma mater | Royal Academy of Dramatic Art |
Occupation | Actor |
Awards | 2008 Red Rock Film Festival - Grand Jury Prize |
Jude Akuwudike (born 1965) is a Nigerian actor. He has mostly worked in the United Kingdom, on screen and stage. [1]
He has appeared in productions of the Royal Shakespeare Company and the Royal National Theatre.
Born in Nigeria, West Africa, [2] Akuwudike moved to Britain and was educated at St Augustine's College in Westgate-on-Sea, Kent, an independent Roman Catholic boarding school. In 1985, he began to train for an acting career at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, graduating in 1987. [3]
In 1988, Akuwudike played Captain Watkin Tench in Our Country's Good at the Royal Court Theatre. [4] His first film appearance was in the same year, as a priest in A World Apart. [5] An early leading role came in 1989 in the play The Fatherland by Murray Watts, at the Bush Theatre at Riverside, [6] and his first significant part on television was as Sergeant Gummer in the drama serial Virtual Murder (1991).[ citation needed]
Throughout his career, Akuwudike has worked mainly on stage, including appearing in several productions for the National Theatre, notably Not About Nightingales, Moon on a Rainbow Shawl, and Ion[ citation needed]. He has also appeared for the Royal Shakespeare Company, as well as working on Broadway. He has also had many roles in film and television and is a voice actor. [7]
In 1998, in the first British production of Not About Nightingales by Tennessee Williams, directed by Trevor Nunn at the National Theatre, Akuwudike originated the part of "the Queen", a gay prisoner. [8] In 2002 he played the black pimp in a Royal National Theatre production of Edmond, with Kenneth Branagh in the title role. [9]
From February to May 2011, Akuwudike was Abel Magwitch in an English Touring Theatre production of Great Expectations (adapted by Tanika Gupta), with Lynn Farleigh as Miss Havisham. [10] [11]
In the Cary Joji Fukunaga film Beasts of No Nation (2015), Akuwudike played Supreme Commander Dada Goodblood, leader of an unnamed West African country torn by civil war. [12]
In September 2018, it was announced that Akuwudike had been cast alongside Joe Cole and Sope Dirisu in a new Cinemax television serial called Gangs of London, then in production. [13]
† | Denotes films that have not yet been released |
Year | Film | Role | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
1988 | A World Apart | Priest [14] | |
1997 | Richard II | Scroop [15] | TV film |
1998 | The Ebb-Tide | Fakeeva | TV film |
2000 | A Likeness in Stone | DC Levi Pryor | TV film |
2005 | Sahara | Imam | |
2007 | Jehovah's Witness | Percy | Short |
2010 | The Tempest | Boatswain | |
2015 | Beasts of No Nation | Dada Goodblood | |
2020 | Eyimofe | Mofe | |
2021 | Benediction | Priest | |
2023 | The Little Mermaid | Joshua | |
2024 | The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim † | TBC | Post-production |
Year | Title | Role | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
1990 | Screenplay | Thomas | Episode: "The Land of Dreams" |
1992 | Virtual Murder | Sergeant Gummer | Series regular |
1993 | Between the Lines | Custody Sergeant | Episode: "Big Boys' Rules: Part II" |
1994 | The Bill | Mr. Jensen | Episode: "All Along the Watchtower" |
1996-1999 | Roger Roger | Henry | Series regular |
1998 | Heat of the Sun | Elihu Mwangi | Episode: "The Sport of Kings" |
1999 | Kavanagh QC | Matthew Atta | Episode: "Previous Convictions" |
2003 | Silent Witness | Malcolm Linden | Episode: "Running on Empty" |
Holby City | Derek Fletcher | Episode: "Know When to Fold" | |
2005 | Bad Girls | Leroy | 1 episode |
The Last Detective | Bradshaw | Episode: "Towpaths of Glory" | |
2007 | Silent Witness | Willi | Episode: "Suffer the Children" |
2009 | Moses Jones | Matthias Mutukula | Mini-series |
The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency | Oswald Ranta | Episode: "The Boy with an African Heart" | |
Holby City | Marvin Stewart | Episode: "What Will Survive of Us" | |
2010 | Law & Order: UK | Marcus Wright | Episode: "Skeletons" |
2012 | Holby City | Gabriel Vaughan | Episode: "Hail Caesar" |
2013 | Doctors | Thomas Tembe | 3 episodes |
2015 | Cucumber | Ralph Sullivan | 1 episode |
2016 | Stan Lee's Lucky Man | Dr. Marghai | Episode: "A Twist of Fate" |
Undercover | Al | 1 episode | |
Friday Night Dinner | Custody Sergeant | Episode: "The Funeral" | |
2017 | Chewing Gum | Alex | Episode: "Age Ain't Nothing But a Number" |
Death in Paradise | Tony Garret | Episode: "In the Footsteps of a Killer" | |
The A Word | Vincent Daniels | 3 episodes | |
2017-2018 | Fortitude | Doctor Adebimpe | Recurring role |
2018 | Kiri | Reverend Lipide | 1 episode |
2018-2020 | In the Long Run | Uncle Akie | Series regular |
2019 | Moving On | Dr. Bello | Episode: "Frozen" |
Plebs | Agrippa | Episode: "The Banquet" | |
2020 | Gangs of London | Charlie Carter | Recurring role |
On the Edge | Dad | Episode: "BBW" | |
2021 | Manhunt | Delroy Grant | Series regular |
2022 | The Crown | Sydney Johnson | Episode: "Mou Mou" |
2023 | Casualty | Clark Johnson | Episode: "No Regrets" |
Culprits | Carl Marking | Episode: "Circle in a Circle" |
Year | Title | Role | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
2021 | GTFO | Dr. Abeo Dauda |
Year | Award | Category | Work | Result | Ref. |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1994 | Martini Rossi TMA Awards | Best Supporting Actor | Poor Super Man | Won | [16] |
2008 | Red Rock Film Festival - Grand Jury Prize | Special Achievement in Acting Role | Jehovah's Witness | Won | [17] |
2016 | Screen Nation Film and Television Awards | Favourite International Film (with Idris Elba & Ama K. Abebrese) | Beasts of No Nation | Won | [18] |
2021 | Africa Movie Academy Awards | Best Actor in a Leading Role | Eyimofe | Nominated | [19] |