fiction.wikisort.org - Actor

Paapa Kwaakye Essiedu (/ˈpɑːpə ˌɛsiˈeɪduː/;[1][2] born 11 June 1990) is a British actor. For his performance in the miniseries I May Destroy You (2020), he received Primetime Emmy and British Academy Television Award nominations. He won the 2016 Ian Charleson Award for his roles in the Royal Shakespeare Company productions of Hamlet and King Lear.[3][4][5]

Paapa Essiedu
Essiedu at the 2016 Hay Festival
Born	Paapa Kwaakye Essiedu (1990-06-11) 11 June 1990 (age 32) Southwark, London, England
Alma mater	Guildhall School of Music and Drama
Occupation	Actor
Years active	2012–present

Early life

Born at Guy's Hospital in Southwark, Essiedu grew up in Walthamstow, East London with his mother, a fashion and design teacher. His family is from Ghana, where he has a half-brother and sister. He attended Forest School on a scholarship. Active in sports teams and theatrical productions, while growing up he wanted to be a doctor.[6] Essiedu developed an interest in Shakespeare and was accepted to the Guildhall School of Music and Drama, where he met and worked with Michaela Coel.[7] His favourite actors include Mark Rylance, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Simon Russell Beale, David Thewlis, and Gary Oldman.

Career

Theatre

Essiedu joined the Royal Shakespeare Company (RSC) in 2012 to play Fenton in Phillip Breen's production of The Merry Wives of Windsor. Afterwards, he joined the National Theatre, playing Burgundy and understudying Edmund in Sam Mendes’ production of King Lear. When Sam Troughton lost his voice during a performance, Essiedu stepped in and played the role to critical acclaim.[8] He appeared in Outside on the Street (Pleasance Theatre), Black Jesus (Finborough Theatre), Romeo and Juliet (Tobacco Factory), You For Me For You (Royal Court).

In 2016, Essiedu starred in the Royal Shakespeare Company productions of Hamlet as the titular role and King Lear as Edmund. The judges described Essiedu's Hamlet as one the audience listened to "completely still", observing Essiedu's performance could turn on a sixpence – sweet, playful and flirtatious one minute, and fiercely intelligent the next. "Like all great actors", a judge commented, he "made all the lines his own". His Edmund in King Lear was reported to convey a chilling contempt and cynicism.[3] In 2022, Essiedu returned to the theatre in A Number at The Old Vic, with Lennie James.

Television and film

Essiedu began his television career with roles as Demetrius in Russell T Davies' television film adaptation of A Midsummer Night's Dream, Otto in the period drama miniseries The Miniaturist, Nate Akindele in the Channel 4 miniseries Kiri, and Ed Washburn in the BBC One drama Press.

In 2020, Essiedu starred as Alex Dumani in the Sky Atlantic crime drama Gangs of London and Kwame in the BBC One series I May Destroy You.[7] For the latter, Essiedu received critical acclaim, a number of notable nominations, and won Best Ensemble alongside the rest of the cast at the 36th Independent Spirit Awards. He then played George Boleyn, 2nd Viscount Rochford in the 3-parter Anne Boleyn for Channel 5 in 2021.[9]

Essiedu is currently playing the role of Isaac Turner, Security Minister and MP for Hazlemere South in series 2 of The Capture on BBC 1.

Essiedu has forthcoming roles in the Sky Atlantic action time loop series The Lazarus Project (originally titled Extinction),[10] Alex Garland's A24 horror film Men, and Kill the Light, a film adaptation of Anthony Quinn's novel Curtain Call.

Audio

Paapa voiced Tunde in the BBC Radio 3 drama As Innocent As You Can Get (2016) by Rex Obano,[11] and in the BBC Radio 4 drama Wide Open Spaces the same year, in which he played the role of a man determined to overcome his agoraphobia in order to keep his promise to visit his daughter's grave on the first anniversary of her death.[12]

Filmography

Film

Year	Title	Role	Notes
2017	Murder on the Orient Express	Sergeant Campbell
2022	Men	James
TBA	Kill the Light	Tom	Forthcoming

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
2013	Utopia	Roy	2 episodes
2015	Not Safe For Work	Paul	1 episode
2016	A Midsummer Night's Dream	Demetrius	Television film
2017	The Miniaturist	Otto	3 episodes
2018	Kiri	Nate Akindele	4 episodes
2018	Press	Ed Washburn	6 episodes
2018	Black Earth Rising	Jaalen	Episode: "In Other News"
2020	Gangs of London	Alex Dumani	8 episodes
2020	I May Destroy You	Kwame	12 episodes
2021	Anne Boleyn	George Boleyn	3 episodes
2022	The Lazarus Project	George	8 episodes
2022	The Capture	Isaac Turner	6 episodes

Stage

Year	Title	Role	Notes
2013	Black Jesus	Gabriel
2014	King Lear	Burgundy
2015	Romeo and Juliet	Romeo
2015	You For Me For You	Wade
2016, 2018	Hamlet	Hamlet	Tour
2016	King Lear	Edmund
2017	Racing Demon	Tony Ferris	Theatre Royal, Bath
2018	Pinter One	Various
2022	A Number	Various	Old Vic Theatre[13]

Accolades

Year	Award	Category	Work	Result	Ref
2012	Ian Charleson Awards	—	The Merry Wives of Windsor	Nominated
2016			Hamlet, King Lear	Won
2021	Independent Spirit Awards	Best Ensemble Cast	I May Destroy You	Won
	Black Reel Awards	Outstanding Supporting Actor – TV Movie or Limited Series		Nominated
	British Academy Television Awards	Best Actor		Nominated	[14]
	Dorian Awards	Best Supporting TV Performance		Nominated
	Primetime Emmy Awards	Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Limited or Anthology Series or Movie		Nominated	[15]
2022	Evening Standard Theatre Awards	Best Actor	A Number	Pending

References

External links

• Paapa Essiedu at IMDb

На других языках

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[de] Paapa Essiedu

Paapa Essiedu (* 11. Juni 1990[1][2] in London[3]) ist ein britischer Schauspieler.

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- [en] Paapa Essiedu

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