Kingsley Ben-Adir

Kingsley Ben-Adir (born 20 November 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 2020, he starred as Malcolm X in the Amazon Studios film One Night in Miami... (2020).

Not to be confused with Ben Kingsley.

Kingsley Ben-Adir
Ben-Adir in 2021
Born (1986-11-20) 20 November 1986[1]
Barnet, Herts, England
OccupationActor
Years active2012–present

Early life and education

Ben-Adir was born in Barnet, Herts, England.[4] His late maternal grandparents originally come from Trinidad[5] and Tobago. His paternal grandparents come from England. He attended Rhyl Street Primary School in Kentish Town, London, NW5. Kingsley and his brother Fab Ben-Adir were regular attendees at WAC, Circus Space and Albert and Friends.

He attended secondary school William Ellis School in Gospel Oak, Northwest London.[6] He graduated from the Guildhall School of Music and Drama in 2011.[7] His mother (Joy Moeller) converted to Judaism and took on the name "Ben-Adir," which means "son of the mighty."[5]

Career

In 2011, Ben-Adir performed in Gillian Slovo's critically acclaimed play The Riots at the Tricycle Theatre.[8] 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.[9][10]

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.[11][12][13] The play received positive reviews.[14]

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.[15]

In 2020, Ben-Adir starred as Malcolm X in the Amazon Studios film One Night in Miami... directed by Regina King. Ben-Adir starred alongside 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.[16]

In February 2022, Ben-Adir was set to play Bob Marley in its biopic Bob Marley: One Love directed by Reinaldo Marcus Green.[17] In April 2022, he joined the ensemble cast of Barbie.[18] In 2023, he appeared in the Marvel Cinematic Universe series Secret Invasion as Gravik, a Skrull rebel plotting to conquer Earth.

Acting credits

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
2023 Barbie Ken
2024 Bob Marley: One Love Bob Marley Post-production

Television
Year Title Role Notes
2013 Agatha Christie's Marple Errol 1 episode
2014–2018 Vera Dr. Marcus Summer Main role, 16 episodes
2016 Midsomer Murders Bartholomew Hines 1 episode
2016 Ordinary Lies Jake 1 episode
2017 Death in Paradise Irie Johnson 1 episode
2017 Diana and I Russell Television film
2017–2019 Peaky Blinders Col. Ben Younger Main role, 5 episodes
2018 Deep State Khalid Walker 4 episodes
2019 The OA Karim Washington Main role, 6 episodes
2020 High Fidelity Russell McCormack Recurring role, 7 episodes
2020 Love Life Grant 1 episode
2020 The Comey Rule Barack Obama Miniseries, 2 episodes
2020 Soulmates Franklin 1 episode
2023 Secret Invasion Gravik Miniseries, main role, 6 episodes

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

Awards and nominations
Year Award Category Work Result
2021British Academy Film AwardsRising Star AwardHimselfNominated
2021Screen Actors Guild AwardOutstanding Cast in a Motion PictureOne Night in MiamiNominated
2021Independent Spirit AwardRobert Altman AwardWon
2020Gotham AwardsBreakthrough ActorWon
2020Chicago Film Critics Association AwardsMost Promising PerformerNominated
2020San Francisco Film AwardsOutstanding EnsembleWon
2020Atlantic Film Critics CircleBreakthrough PerformerWon
2020Satellite AwardsBest Supporting ActorNominated
2020Indiana Film Journalists AssociationBest ActorNominated

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 " Archived 12 June 2015 at the Wayback Machine. The Journal.
  3. "Vera, series six, episode one, review: 'rescued by Blethyn'". The Telegraph, Gerard O'Donovan 31 January 2016
  4. "From Malcolm X to Barack Obama: Kingsley Ben-Adir Has the Range". 15 January 2021.
  5. "Kingsley Ben --Adir(TBA)". www.showtimes.com. Retrieved 19 December 2022.
  6. Osley, Richard (5 March 2021). "How Kingsley Ben-Adir's escaped spider sparked police panic". Camden New Journal. Retrieved 1 May 2021.
  7. "Kingsley Ben-Adir". gsmd.ac.uk. Archived from the original on 28 January 2014. Retrieved 16 May 2014.
  8. "Khalid Walker - Played by Kingsley Ben-Adir". EPIX
  9. "Love and Acceptance in ‘God's Property’". The Platform, Dornett Roachford, March 21, 2013
  10. "God's Property, Soho Theatre - review". Evening Standard, 27 February 2013.
  11. "We Are Proud to Present… review – 'A Pirandellian take on a little-known genocide'". The Guardian. Michael Billington, 5 March 2014
  12. "We Are Proud to Present, theatre review. Bush Theatre, London". The Independent, Paul Taylor 10 March 2014
  13. "We Are Proud To Present… at Bush Theatre takes your breath away". Metro, Siobhan Murphy. Friday 7 Mar 2014
  14. "Review: ‘We Are Proud to present…’". What's On - Africa, March 20, 2014
  15. Watson, Fay (13 November 2019). "Peaky Blinders: Why did Colonel Ben Younger star Kingsley Ben-Adir leave?". Express.co.uk. Retrieved 6 February 2021.
  16. Andreeva, Nellie (15 March 2021). "Kingsley Ben-Adir To Star In Marvel's 'Secret Invasion' Series For Disney+". Deadline. Retrieved 15 March 2021.
  17. Kroll, Justin (11 February 2022). "Kingsley Ben-Adir To Play Reggae Legend Bob Marley In Paramount Biopic". Deadline Hollywood.
  18. Kroll, Justin (15 April 2022). "'Barbie': Kingsley Ben-Adir, Rhea Perlman, Emerald Fennell, Scott Evans, More Round Out Cast Of Warner Bros, Mattel And LuckyChap Pic". Deadline Hollywood.
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