Early Life and Career
Akinnuoye-Agbaje was born in Islington, London. His parents are Nigerian of Yoruba origin. He has a law degree from Kings College London and a Masters in Law from the University of London.
His best known acting roles have been as the imposing convict Simon Adebisi in the 1990s HBO prison series Oz, and as Mr. Eko on ABC's survivor drama Lost. He was also in an episode of New York Undercover. He has numerous film credits since he began acting in 1994 and has appeared in many top films, including The Bourne Identity, in which he played a deposed African dictator, Hitu the police officer in Ace Ventura: When Nature Calls, Lock-Nah in The Mummy Returns, and Heavy Duty in G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra. In 2009, Akinnuoye-Agbaje told MTV that he was in talks with Marvel Studios to play Black Panther in the film of the same name. When asked, the actor replied “We’re talking to Marvel about ‘Black Panther… This is the first round, so you know, hopefully they’ll look at ‘G.I. Joe’ and see the potential. But it’s about time we have a black superhero, isn’t it? He’s from a fictional village in Africa and the timing is so right for that kind of character to come through… And while I’m in my prime, this is the time. We’ve got Obama, now we need something onscreen to represent, so… ‘Panther,’ man I would love to see that happen, and I think the more we – my people – campaign for that, the more viable it will be. And I mean, obviously appearing in cult-classics and blockbusters all help, we’re very much on radar…I think it’s all about campaigning, I’m going to keep knocking on their door.” However, Marvel Studios have not yet confirmed that he will get the role. Later on, he voiced Blister in Gravity Falls, the gangmate of Martin Rankin.
Akinnuoye-Agbaje has also stated that he will be directing a film about his life story. More recently, he guest starred in the second episode of season 8 of Monk, and played Derek Jameson in the 2011 film The Thing. He will portray Kurse in the Marvel Studios film Thor: The Dark World.
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