20 Popular African Actors and Actresses in Hollywood
Africa is and has produced talented people that are making Hollywood take notice of their talent and skills. These individuals are stepping their footprints on Hollywood Boulevard with their success. Many of them have been nominated and won Awards in TV and Film world. Let this list motivate and inspire you to put your own footprint in this world.
1. Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje
Born: in 1967 from Nigerian parents
Work Profile: His popular films include Bourne Identity as Wombosi, The Mummy Returns, Lost, Oz, G.I Joe: The Rise of Cobra, The Samurai, Thor: The Dark World, Get Rich or Die Tryin’, among others. He is currently shooting Pompeii due in 2014.
2. Elize du Toit
Born: In Grahamstown 1981
Country: South Africa
Work Profile: Casualty, Doctor Who, Material Girl, Waking the Dead, Coronation Street, Waking the Dead, The Devil’s Chair and Skyfall.
3. Lupita Nyong’o
Born: In 1983
Country: grew up between Kenya and Mexico
Work Profile: She appeared in many stage productions, including Gertrude Stein’s Doctor Faustus Lights the Lights, Chekhov’s Uncle Vanya, and Shakespeare’s The Taming of the Shrew and The Winter’s Tale. She worked on the production crew of many films, including Fernando Meirelles’s The Constant Gardener, with Ralph Fiennes, and Mira Nair’s The Namesake. She starred in the 2008 short film East River, directed by Marc Grey and shot in Brooklyn, New York. 18th of January 2014 Lupita won the Best Supporting Actress award at the 20th Annual Screen Actors Guild Awards for her work in the film, 12 Years a Slave.
4. Peter Mensah
Born: In Accra 1959
Country: Ghana
Work Profile: He appeared Tears of the Sun, 300, Avatar, The Incredible Hulk, Hidalgo, and numerous TV series. The most popular of his TV acts remains to be his role in Starz productions Spartacus: Blood and Sand and its sequels, Spartacus: Gods of the Arena and Spartacus: Veangeance.
5. Charlize Theron
Born: In Benoni 1975
Country: South Africa
Work Profile: Modelling
She has appeared in The Devil’s Advocate, North Country, Cider House Rules, Mighty Joe Young, 15 Minutes, Hancock, White & the Huntsman, The Italian Job, Sleepwalking Monster and Prometheus among other movies. Her role in Monster saw her win the Golden Globe Award, Screen Actors Guild Award, Silver Bear, and Academy Award.
6. Boris Kodjoe
Born: from a father who hails from Nzema people in Ghana and his mother is Jewish
Work Profile: His popular acts are in Surrogates, Resident Evil: Afterlife, Evil Goes Global, The Gospel, Resident Evil: Retribution, and Brown Sugar.
7. Benu Mabhena
Country: Zimbabwe
Work Profile: She acted as the wife of Djimon Hounsou in Blood Diamond. Other shows include Life on the Edge: A Global Crisis, Jazz Man, and Night Walkers.
8. Chipo Chung
Born: In 1977
Country: Tanzania
Work Profile: She appeared movies like Sunshine, In the Loop, Proof, 360 and numerous TV shows.
9. Liya Kebede
Born: In Addis Ababa
Country: Ethiopia
Work Profile: Modelling
Films: Lord of War, The Best Offer, Desert Flower, Capital, and the Good Shepherd. She is also featured in 2014 films The Being Experience, and 419.
10. Chiwetelu Ejiofor
Born: In 1977
Country: Nigeria
Work Profile: Film: Deadly Voyage. Others are Amistad, G.M.T Greenwich Mean Time, Dirty Pretty Things, Twelfth Night, Love Actually, She Hate Me, Red Dust, Melinda and Melinda, Four Brothers, Serenity, Slow Burn, Kinky Burns, Inside Man, Children of Men, Tsunami: The Aftermath, Talk to Me, American Gangster, Salt, Twelve Years a Slave, and Half of a Yellow Sun among others. He has several nominations and international awards for his roles.
11. Rachel Mwanza
Born: In 1997
Country: Democratic Republic of the Congo
Work Profile: She appeared in Kinshasa Kids. She has already won Best Actress awards at Berlin Film Festival, Tribeca Film Festival, Vancouver Film Critics Circle, and Canadian Screen Awards for her role in Rebelle and her education is now being funded by Rebelle producers.
12. Prince David Osei
Born: December 6th
Country: Ghana
Work Profile: Prince David Osei was among the lead actors in the horror movie The Dead directed by Jon Ford and Howard Ford. The film was set in Ghana and Burkina Faso and features Rob Freeman, David Dontoh, and Ben Crow.
13. Carmen Elizabeth Ejogo
Born: To a Nigerian dad and Scottish mother
Work Profile: Her popular acts are in the films Metro, Perfume, Away We Go, Pride and Glory, The Brave One, The Avengers, and Alex Cross among others. She has also featured in numerous TV productions such as Zero Hour, Kidnapped, Law & Order, and Boycott.
14. Edi Gathegi
Born: In Nairobi 1979
Country: Kenya
Work Profile: TV series: House, Lincoln Heights, Nikita, The Family Tools, C.S.I Miami, Beauty and the Beast and Red Widow. Movies: Gone Baby Gone, The Fifth Patient, Death Sentence, Twilight, Twilight Saga: New Moon Saga, X-Men: First Class, My Bloody Valentine, Atlas Shrugged, and Shiva and May.
15. David Bailie
Born: In 1937
Country: South Africa
Work Profile: Pirates of the Caribbean (The Curse of the Black Pearl, Dead Man’s Chest, and At World’s End), Gladiator and several other TV shows.
16. Danai Gurira
Born: In 1983 from Zimbabwean chemistry lecturer ( her father)
Work Profile: Her popular acts are her roles in The Visitor, The Walking Dead, Ghost Town, My Soul to Take, and Restless City. She has also starred in numerous TV series including Law and Order, Lie to Me, and The American Experience.
17. Benjamin Ochieng
Born: In Nairobi
Country: Kenya
Work Profile: American Crude, The Disciple, and The Anatolian, Inception, and Tears of the Sun. TV series: General Hospital, The Terminal, The Shield and X-Files.
18. Sophie Okonedo
Born: In 1968
Country: Nigerian
Work Profile: Young Soul Rebels, Hotel Rwanda (which she got several nominations for her role in it), Skin, After Earth, The Secret Lives of the Bees, Martian Child and Ace Ventura 2. TV series include Tsunami: The Aftermath, Sinbad, Criminal Justice, and For Better or For Worse among others. She was honored with an Officer of the Order of the British Empire in 2010 by Queen Elizabeth.
19. Djimon Hounsou
Born: In 1964
Country: Benin
Work Profile: Modelling
Appeared in music video for Paula Abdul and Janet Jackson
Films: Without You I’m Nothing, Gladiator, ER, In America, Lara Croft Tomb Raider: The Cradle of Life, and Blood Diamond and Fast and Furious 7
20. Adhir Kalyan
Born: In Durban 1983
Country: South Africa
Work Profile: Holby City, MI-5, Up in the Air, Rules of Engagement, Youth in Revolt and No Strings Attached
