The entertainment industry has never had a reputation of being kind to people of color but there are several successful people in the film industry who are of Nigerian descent. Some Nigerian actors and actresses went overseas from Nigeria while others are a few generations removed from their Nigerian roots. All, however, are proud of their Nigerian heritage. The FairGo casino login invites you to check out some of the best known Nigerians in Hollywood which include:
Adewale Akinnuoye
Akinnuoye has had a long and illustrious career as a Hollywood actor and a director. He was born to Nigerian parents of Yoruba origin and raised in Islington. His parents “farmed him out’ to a white family and he was raised there until the age of 8. When he was eight his parents returned with him to Nigeria but Akinnuoye was unable to adapt to the new culture and language. He returned to Britain but struggled to come to terms with his cultural identity and his teen years were troubled.
Eventually Akinnuoye studied law. He modeled for a time but found his passion in the world of acting where, starting in the 1990s, he has enjoyed success. Some of his biggest roles have included that of Simon Adebisi in the Oz HBO prison series, as a policeman in Ace Ventura: When Nature Calls and as Lock-Nah in The Mummy Returns. Other films in which he has appeared include Thor: The Dark World, Game of Thrones Monk and Suicide Squad.
Akinnuoye moved over to the director’s chair in his 2018 biographical film Farmer in which he told the story of his own life as a child who had been “farmed out” to white parents in England – a practice that was common among many Nigerian parents. The film wasn’t a commercial success but Akinnuoye’s work won critical acclaim with Screen Daily writing” “Actor turned director Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje makes an arresting feature debut with Farming. Told with raw emotion and lurid violence, it transforms elements of his life story into a disturbing, eye-opening coming of age drama.”
Sade Adu
Helen Folasade Adu, known as Sade, is a Nigerian-born British actress, singer and songwriter who is one of the most successful female British artists in the world. She was born in Ibadan and, from the age of 4, raised in England. Her father is of Yoruba background and her mother was an English district nurse.
Sade worked as a model and fashion designer before joining the band Pride. She eventually formed her own band, Sade, and their 1983 album Diamond Life became one of the best-selling albums of the ‘80s. Their 1999 album, Lover’s Rock, earned critical praise. Since then, the band has released singles intermittently but they continue to tour. Younger fans know of her thanks to the acoustic ballad that she recorded for the Wrinkle in Time Disney film. She followed that up with The Big Unknown for the soundtrack for the 20th Century Fox film’s Widows.
Hakim Kae Kazeem
British-Nigerian actor Hakeem Kae-Kazim comes from Lagos. His family moved to London while he was still a child and he began to act in school plays and in productions at The National Youth Theatre. He is known as a classical actor, having trained at the Bristol Old Vic Theatre School and worked for The Royal National Theatre before transitioning into television.
Kazeem moved to South Africa and eventually was cast as Georges Rutaganda in the Oscar-nominated film Hotel Rwanda, the film made about the 1994 Rwandan Civil War and massacre of members of the Tutsi Tribe. When he relocated to Los Angeles he was given roles in X-Men Originals: Wolverine, Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End and Lost, Law & Order: Special Victims Unit. He has also become a much-sought-after voice actor and he does voiceovers for video games such as Halo 3 ODST, Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End, The Saboteur and The Golden Compass.
Forest Whitaker
Forest Whitaker embraced his Nigerian heritage after a DNA test showed that his father was from Nkwere and that he is of Igbo descent. Whitakeer is a well-known actor whose career spans 4 decades in Hollywood. He is best known for his character study work in such films as The Crying Game, The Butler, Bird and Good Morning Vietnam.
Whitaker is originally from Texas but moved with his family to California as a teen. He majored in music at Cal Poly and went on to study opera as a tenor. While at the University of Southern California he was accepted into the school’s Drama Conservatory and graduated with a BFA in acting. Over the years Whitaker went on to work with well-regarded actors and directors. His performance in the 1988 movie Bird earned him a Golden Globe nomination and the 1988 Cannes Best Actor award.
Whitaker won the Best Actor Oscar for his role as Idi Amin in The Last King of Scotland. That role also won him a Golden Globe Award, a British Academy Film Award, a Screen Actors Guild Award, an award from the National Board of Review and accolades from numerous critics. He shared a SAG Award with the cast of 2018’s Black Panther.
In 2009, after a DNA test showed his Nigerian heritage, Whitaker traveled to Nigeria and was given the honorary title of Chief Nwannedinambe de Nkwerrea which means “a brother in a foreign land.”
Tyler the Creator – Tyler Okonme
Tyler Okonme, better known as Tyler the Creator, is the son of a Nigerian father from the Igbo tribe. Tyler is a rapper and artist who has won a BRIT Award, a Grammy Award and a MTV Video Music Award. He is also the originator of the Camp Flog Gnaw Carnival.
Okonme combines singing, songwriting, producing, acting, designing and the creation of visual arts. He is best known for the alternative hip hop group Odd Future that he created in the early 2010s. IN recent years he has experimented with jazz-fused and melody-focused sounds. He also opened a clothing company, Gold Wang.
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