Yorubas in the Media/Entertainment

Sneakbo







Agassi Babatunde Odusina, or Sneakbo (born in 1992, in Brixton) as he is otherwise known, is an English rapper. His first song, "The Wave", made #48 on the UK Singles Chart and he has since released a number of hits, including being a featured artist on the D'Banj song "Oliver Twist".

Rick Famuyiwa







Rick Famuyiwa is a Nigerian-American Hollywood writer and director of films such as The Wood (1999), Brown Sugar (2002), Talk to Me (2007), and Dope (2015).



Famuyiwa is a graduate of the University of Southern California (USC) and has Bachelor of Arts degrees in Film & Television Production and Critical Studies, from the USC College of Letters, Arts & Sciences and the School of Cinematic Arts, respectively. Rick Famuyiwa is a member of the Director’s Guild of America.



Rick Famuyiwa grew up near Los Angeles, California in the City of Inglewood. The son of Nigerian immigrants, Famuyiwa is a first-generation American. Reflecting on his time growing up in Inglewood, Famuyiwa recounts, “The thing you gotta understand about L.A. is that everything is suburbia. Los Angeles isn't set up like San Francisco or New York. People come to L.A. and they expect to see a ghetto like the projects, but that's not the way it's set up. Inglewood, in particular, is the furthest thing from a ghetto. It's a middle-class community, but it's gotten a bad rap over the years...because of Grand Canyon and Pulp Fiction and other films.” Famuyiwa continues about his hometown, “I would be lying if I said there isn't a negative element in the city, but I would say it's no different than any other city. You come across gangs and you come across negative things -- but it's like everywhere else, if that's what you gravitate toward and that's what you want to do, you're gonna find trouble no matter what you do. But we were never into that. My group of friends were never into that.”



After high school, Famuyiwa attended the University of Southern California (USC) and double majored in Cinematic Arts Film & Television Production and Cinematic Arts Critical Studies. During his time at the University, Famuyiwa worked intimately with film professor Todd Boyd, who would later help write and produce his first feature film. In 1996, prior to graduation, Famuyiwa created a 12-minute short film entitled Blacktop Lingo that garnered critical positive feedback and led to his invitation to the Sundance Filmmaker’s Institute. In 1997, during his time at the Sundance Director’s Lab, Famuyiwa perfected his craft and put the finishing touches on The Wood, what would later be his first feature film. In 1999, Famuyiwa married Glenita Mosley whom he met at the University of California, Los Angeles

Tosin Cole







Tosin Cole is a British actor. He known for his roles in The Cut, EastEnders: E20 and Hollyoaks. In 2009, Cole was part of a theatre production titled Wasted!, a modern reproduction of Shakespeare's Julius Caesar, produced by Intermission, a company which helps teenagers stay away from crime.



In 2010, Cole joined the cast of BBC teen drama The Cut, in which he played the role of Noah Achebe, who was introduced in the third series.



Cole later secured the role of Sol Levi in EastEnders: E20, a spin-off of the British soap opera EastEnders. The role required Cole to learn to dance and perform his routine in front of professional dance group Flawless in the series finale. He was quoted as saying the experience was "very, very, very stressful." Cole said it was a privilege to work on E20 and said the cast were fantastic. Cole then agreed to reprise the role for the third series.



He was then cast as a regular character in soap opera Hollyoaks as Neil Cooper. Neil was one of six new characters the programme introduced. He also filmed a television advert as part of the serial's promotional push for the new characters

Gbenga Akinnagbe









Akinnagbe was born in Washington, D.C.,[2] the son of Nigerian parents. He was raised in Silver Spring, Maryland. He is the second oldest of six children, with one older sister and four younger brothers, and the first in his family to be born in the United States. He attended Colonel Zadok A. Magruder High School in Rockville, Maryland. He attended Bucknell University on a wrestling scholarship, majoring in Political Science and English. Akinnagbe is a cousin of rapper Wale.



He is an actor and producer, known for The Taking of Pelham 1 2 3 (2009), The Savages (2007) and Edge of Darkness (2010).





Akinnagbe played Ben Ellis in the episode Contenders on the TV series Numb3rs. In the summer of 2006, Akinnagbe performed the role of "Zim" in the NYC Fringe Festival's "Outstanding Play" award-winning production of Modern Missionary. In 2003, Akinnagbe auditioned for the role of Chris Partlow on the HBO series The Wire and starting in 2004 began a frequent recurring role. In 2008 during the show's fifth and final season, he was promoted to a series regular. In 2007, Akinnagbe appeared in the film The Savages with Philip Seymour Hoffman, Laura Linney, and Philip Bosco. He appeared in the remake of The Taking of Pelham 1 2 3, which was released by Sony in June 2009. Akinnagbe made a guest appearance on a Season 10 Law & Order: Special Victims Unit episode entitled "Hell" as Elijah Okello, a former Ugandan child soldier living in New York, facing deportation. Akinnagbe's former The Wire cast mate Robert Wisdom also appeared in that episode as Father Theo Burdett. In 2010 in Seattle, Washington Akinnagbe starred in world premiere play The Thin Place at The Intiman Theatre. He was also in the movie Lottery Ticket and is currently in The Good Wife as Pastor Isiah Easton. His former co-star from the The Wire, Frankie Faison, portrayed his father on the show in several episodes. He is currently starring as Kelly Slater, a new nurse in the 3rd season of the Showtime series Nurse Jackie. He also starred in leading roles for two Independent films, as Jack in "Home", directed by Jono Oliver, and as James in "Big Words", directed by Neil Drumming. He is currently playing a drug lord in the USA series Graceland and stars as Tom in The Following. He also starred as CIA Agent Erik Ritter in 24: Live Another Day.

Richard Ayoade






Ayoade was born in Hammersmith, London, to Layide Ade Laditi Ayoade, a Nigerian father, and Dagny Amalie (née Baassuik), a Norwegian mother. The family moved to Ipswich in Suffolk when he was young. His name "Ayoade" means "The Blessed Crown" or "Joy of the Crown" in the Yoruba language.



Ayoade studied at St. Joseph's College in Ipswich and later read law at St Catharine's College, Cambridge (1995–1998), where he won the Martin Steele Prize for play production and was president of the Footlights from 1997 to 1998. Ayoade studied law, and says that his parents would not approve of studies considered to be of the "Regency era," adding that "a non-vocational degree seemed such an outlandish indulgence." Ayoade states that the law is no longer a viable "fall back" for him and that he would need to "go back to square one.



Richard Ellef Ayoade (born 12 June 1977) is an actor, writer, TV presenter, and director, best known for his roles as Dean Learner in Garth Marenghi's Darkplace and Maurice Moss in The IT Crowd.[1] He has directed films such as Submarine, The Double, starring Jesse Eisenberg, and various music videos for bands such as Arctic Monkeys, Vampire Weekend, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, and Kasabian. Ayoade has often worked alongside Noel Fielding, Julian Barratt, Matt Berry, and Rich Fulcher in shows such as The Mighty Boosh and Nathan Barley, is a team captain on panel show Was It Something I Said? and presents the factual show Gadget Man.

David Oyelowo







Oyelowo was born in Oxford, to Nigerian parents of Yoruba ethnicity. His mother worked for British Rail, and his father, Stephen, worked for then state-owned British Airways. He studied theatre studies at City and Islington College, where his teacher suggested that he become an actor. Oyelowo enrolled for a year in an art foundation course, at the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art (LAMDA). He finished his three-year training in 1998. He also spent time with the National Youth Theatre



David Oyetokunbo Oyelowo (born April 1, 1976)[1] is a British actor, producer, director, and writer. He has played supporting roles in the films Rise of the Planet of the Apes (2011), Middle of Nowhere (2012), Lincoln (2012), and garnered praise for portraying Louis Gaines in The Butler (2013). On television, he played MI5 officer Danny Hunter in the British series Spooks (2002–04), and as of 2014, provides the voice of Imperial Security Bureau agent Kallus on the animated series Star Wars Rebels. In 2014, Oyelowo played Martin Luther King, Jr. in the biographical drama film Selma, for which he received a Golden Globe Award nomination for Best Actor (Drama). Also in 2014, he starred in the HBO movie Nightingale, for which he won a Critics' Choice Television Award for Best Actor in a Movie/Miniseries and was nominated for a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Miniseries or a Movie.





David Oyelowo to play James Bond ... after landing audiobook role



David Oyelowo will play James Bond. Although his performance will be heard rather than seen – in an audiobook.



The announcement on Thursday follows long-standing rumours that Idris Elba is in line to replace Daniel Craig when the latter’s run playing James Bond on the big screen comes to an end, potentially in two movies’ time.



Oyelowo’s previous roles include Henry VI for the Royal Shakespeare Company – which made him the first black actor to play an English king in a major Shakespeare production. He also played the MI5 officer Danny Hunter in the BBC TV drama Spooks and was acclaimed for his performance as Martin Luther King in Selma.





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Oyelowo will play Bond, and other characters, in the audiobook version of Trigger Mortis, written by Anthony Horowitz and commissioned by the Ian Fleming estate.



Describing himself as “very honoured”, Oyelowo said: “I am officially the only person on planet Earth who can legitimately say: ‘I am the new James Bond’ – even saying that name is the cinematic equivalent of doing the ‘to be or not to be’ speech.”



He added: “I was asked specifically by the Fleming estate, which is really special.”



Born in Oxford to Nigerian parents, his performance as Henry VI drew critical acclaim, but also “very real resistance”, particularly from one academic. Oyelowo said: “He said that we open ourselves to ridicule if we allow black people to play English kings when English kings have never been black. But I’ve never seen an Egyptian play Cleopatra ... so it’s a nonsensical statement.”



David Oyelowo, centre, as Martin Luther King in Selma Facebook Twitter Pinterest

Oyelowo, centre, as Martin Luther King in Selma. Photograph: Paramount/Everett Collection

The actor received hate mail that came “in the guise of fan mail”. He said: “I had to have my agent filter mail ... it was hate mail. It was: ‘How dare you enter a realm that is not yours to enter?’ One slipped through the net … it’s upsetting ... I had letters coming through to the stage door.”



He added: “This was over 10 years ago -so you’d hope that wouldn’t be the case now.”



But Oyelowo believes black actors still have huge obstacles to overcome. He is not alone. The director Rufus Norris has said that the UK still lags behind the US in casting black actors, while the comedian Lenny Henry has spoken of work having “dried up” for home-grown black, Asian and minority actors. David Harewood, who stars in the hit drama Homeland, is among black actors who have left Britain to find work.





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Oyelowo also left the UK – in 2007 – and lives in Los Angeles. He said: “Part of the reason I moved to America was I could feel my head bobbing against this glass ceiling that wasn’t going to break.” Yet when black actors are given the opportunity, some “great work” happens, he said, adding: “That should be rewarded with more opportunity.”



Part of the problem lies in the disproportionate number of negative roles that are offered to black actors. Oyelowo is disturbed by the focus on white protagonists within dramas. He said: “It’s how few times we get to be the protagonist ... and how few times the world is seen through our eyes.”



Oyelowo said things will change for the better when a “white kid in Birmingham” can watch a TV show or film through a black actor’s eyes and “feels as much like him as the next person”.



He added: “If that young boy is always seeing [black characters] as on the periphery ... that’s going to be his world view, that someone like [that] is always on the periphery – and, by virtue of that fact, less important.”



Oyelowo acknowledges the industry is aware of the need for change, but he said: “It is [aware] verbally, but not in action. There is a cerebral desire to do it, but that’s not worked its way down to the heart yet. Because, if it did, then things wouldn’t be regressing, which they are.”



Asked why there is a resistance to change, he said: “It’s the status quo. A lot of it is subconscious. Some of it I do think is racism.”





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Elba, who rose to fame in The Wire, has been rumoured to be among the frontrunners to replace Craig, and would be the first black actor to play the spy on screen if he secured the role. Although Elba appeared to distance himself from the rumours, Oyelowo said he was “ripe” for the role.



He said: “A titan on screen, he has all the qualities that you’d want in a James Bond. Because films and TV affect culture, a black Bond would be a cultural event ... a statement ... beyond just entertainment.”



More than 100m Bond books have been sold worldwide. Fleming wrote 14 and his estate has since commissioned new adventures from various authors, including Kingsley Amis.



Horowitz has written more than 40 books and, as a television screenwriter, created the Bafta-winning Foyle’s War. Oyelowo described his Bond as “a man who is very self-assured” but not perfect.



In a statement, Horowitz said: “What an honour to have an actor as talented as David to read my take on Bond. He has a brilliant voice and talent for bringing out the nuances of dialogue and characters.”



This article was amended on Thursday 13 August 2015. The original article’s headline and opening paragraphs stated that David Oyelowo would be the first black actor to play James Bond, across any medium. In fact, Hugh Quarshie played the character when he read the audiobook version of Dr No in 2012. This article has been corrected accordingly.