Kingsley Ben-Adir

Kingsley Ben-Adir was born on November 20, 1986, in Kentish Town, London, England. His early education included Rhyl Street Primary School and William Ellis School before he honed his craft at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama, from which he graduated in 2011. Ben-Adir began his career in theatre, performing in productions such as Gillian Slovo’s ‘The Riots’ in 2011 at the Tricycle Theatre and ‘A Midsummer Night’s Dream’ at Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre in 2012. He continued his theatrical work with roles in Mark Rylance’s ‘Much Ado About Nothing’ at The Old Vic and ‘God’s Property’ at Soho Theatre in 2013. His performance in ‘We Are Proud to Present a Presentation About the Herero of Namibia…’ at the Bush Theatre in 2014 garnered positive reviews, setting a foundation for his transition into screen roles.

His television career commenced with appearances in ‘Agatha Christie’s Marple’ in 2013. A significant early television role was Dr. Marcus Summer in ITV’s ‘Vera’, appearing in 16 episodes from 2014 to 2018. Ben-Adir gained wider recognition for his role as Colonel Ben Younger in the BBC One series ‘Peaky Blinders’ from 2017 to 2019, spanning five episodes. He also took on the role of private detective Karim Washington in Netflix’s ‘The OA’ in 2019 across six episodes, and notably played Russell ‘Mac’ McCormack in ‘High Fidelity’ for seven episodes in 2020. His ability to embody real-life icons became evident with his portrayal of Barack Obama in ‘The Comey Rule’ in 2020.

Ben-Adir’s filmography includes ‘King Arthur: Legend of the Sword’ in 2017 and ‘The Commuter’ in 2018. A turning point in his film career was his critically acclaimed performance as Malcolm X in the Amazon Studios film ‘One Night in Miami…’ in 2020, which earned him the Gotham Independent Film Award for Breakthrough Performer. In 2023, he joined the Marvel Cinematic Universe as Gravik in the ‘Secret Invasion’ miniseries and also appeared in the film ‘Barbie’. His most recent significant role is as Bob Marley in the 2024 biopic ‘Bob Marley: One Love’, a testament to his continued trajectory in portraying influential historical figures. These roles underscore his capability to adapt to diverse narratives and genres, from period dramas to superhero series.