Freema Agyeman

Freema Agyeman was born Frema Agyeman on March 20, 1979, in Hackney, East London. Her mother, Azar Azizian-Kohan, is Iranian Kurdish, and her father, Osei Agyeman, is Ghanaian. Her parents divorced when she was young. She attended Our Lady’s Convent RC High School and later studied performing arts and drama at Middlesex University, graduating in 2000. Before gaining widespread recognition, Agyeman appeared in various television series, including playing Lola Wise in the ITV soap opera “Crossroads,” roles in “Casualty” and “Mile High,” and two different characters in “The Bill.” Her cinematic debut was in 2006 in the independent drama “Rulers and Dealers.”

Agyeman’s career significantly advanced when she took on the role of Martha Jones in the BBC science fiction series “Doctor Who” from 2007 to 2010. She initially appeared in an earlier episode as Adeola Oshodi, a cousin of Martha, before securing the companion role. Her performance earned her critical acclaim, including a Best Newcomer award from Glamour in 2007 and multiple nominations. Following her time on “Doctor Who,” she reprised the role of Martha Jones in the spin-off series “Torchwood” in 2008 and returned for David Tennant’s final appearance in “The End of Time.” She also narrated the first two series of BBC Three’s “Bizarre ER” and hosted a “Doctor Who” themed portion of the BBC Proms in 2008.

From 2009 to 2012, Agyeman starred as Crown Prosecutor Alesha Phillips in “Law & Order: UK.” She then made her U.S. television debut in “The Carrie Diaries” (2013-2014) as magazine editor Larissa Loughlin. More recently, she gained international recognition for her roles as Amanita Caplan in the Netflix science fiction drama “Sense8” (2015-2018) and Dr. Helen Sharpe in the NBC medical procedural series “New Amsterdam” (2018-2022), where she appeared in 76 episodes. Her film credits during this period include “North v South” (2015), “Eat Locals” (2017), and a role in “The Matrix Resurrections” (2021). In 2023, she returned to British television in the Sky Max comedy-drama “Dreamland” and has continued her stage career, with recent performances in “God of Carnage” (2023) and upcoming roles in Shakespearean plays in 2024 and 2025.