Ato Essandoh

Ato Essilfi Bracato Essandoh (born July 29, 1972) is an American television and film actor. He has appeared in numerous films and TV series, including a major role in the 2023 Netflix political drama series The Diplomat.

Ato Essandoh
Essandoh in February 2018
Born	Ato Essilfi Bracato Essandoh (1972-07-29) July 29, 1972 (age 52) Schenectady, New York, U.S.
Education	Cornell University
Occupation	Actor
Years active	2001–present

Early life and education

Ato Essilfi Bracato Essandoh was born in Schenectady, New York,^[1] on July 29, 1972,^[2] the eldest child of Ebow and Monica Essando, from Ghana.^[1]

He graduated from New Rochelle High School in 1990. He received a B.S. in chemical engineering from Cornell University. He first joined theater when he was dared to do so by a girlfriend.^[3]

He studied acting under James Price at The Acting Studio - New York in New York City.^[4]

Career

In 2020 Essandoh launched a podcast, Unrelated, together with childhood friend Chris Cecot, in which they discuss how race and color shaped their experiences growing up.^[5] in the same year, he played an African-British-Jewish astronaut in the 2020 Netflix scifi drama series Away.^[6]

Filmography

Film

Year	Title	Role	Notes
2001	The Experience Box	Daniel
	The Accident	Cassius	Short
2002	Roger Dodger	Bouncer
2004	Garden State	Titembay
	Salome	King Herod	Short
	Saving Face	Jay, The Neighbor
2005	Hitch	Tanis
	Prime	Damien
	Dawn's Early Light	James	Short
2006	Falling for Grace	Jamal
	Brother's Shadow	Soy
	Blood Diamond	Commander 'Rambo'
2007	Millennium Crisis	Harkness
2008	Mia and the Migoo	Baklava (voice)
	Nights in Rodanthe	Jean's Lover
2010	Get Him to the Greek	Smiling African Drummer
	Camp Hell	Young Priest
2011	Tu & Eu	Dr. Champagne	Short
	Art & Sex	Daniel
2012	The Discoverers	Winston
	Django Unchained	D'Artagnan
2013	A Life for a Life	Boyle	Short
2014	Wish I Was Here	Audition Actor #3
2016	Jason Bourne	Craig Jeffers
	The Vampire Leland	The Monsignor	Short
2017	Frank Embree	Charles Embree (voice)
2018	O.G.	-
2019	Dark Phoenix	Jones
2023	Reptile	Dan Cleary
2024	Justice League: Crisis on Infinite Earths	Mr. Terrific, Anti-Monitor (voice)	Direct-to-Video[7]

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
2001	Third Watch	Bike Messenger	Episode: "Duty"
2003	Chappelle's Show	Extra	Episode: "Mad Real World & Ask A Gay Dude"
	Law & Order	Jason Hendri	Episode: "Suicide Box"
	Line of Fire	Archibald 'Crazy Jazz' Lincoln	Episode: "Pilot"
2005	Commander in Chief	Manute Obama	Episode: "Pilot"
2006	Conviction	Byron 'B-Fly' Williams	Episode: "Indebted"
2007	Law & Order	Andre Blair	Episode: "Bling"
2009	Royal Pains	Antoine	Episode: "If I Were a Sick Man"
2010	Law & Order: Criminal Intent	Hassan	Episode: "Loyalty: Part 1 & 2"
2011	White Collar	Frederik Bilal	Episode: "Burke's Seven"
	Damages	Bomb Tech	Recurring role (season 4)
2011–2012	Treme	-	2 episodes
2011–2016	Blue Bloods	Reverend Darnell Potter	Recurring role (seasons 2–7)
2012–2013	Copper	Matthew Freeman	Main role
2012–2018	Elementary	Alfredo Llamosa	Recurring role (seasons 1, 3); Guest role (seasons 2, 4, 6)
2014	Believe	FBI Agent Gardner	Recurring role
	Madam Secretary	King Nungunde	Episode: "Pilot"
2015	Girls	D. August	Recurring role (season 4)
	Person of Interest	Ray Pratt	Episode: "Skip"
2016	Vinyl	Lester Grimes	Main role
2016–2021	Chicago Med	Dr. Isidore Latham	Recurring role (seasons 2–5); Guest role (season 6)
2018	Wolverine: The Long Night	Agent Tad Marshall	Main role (Podcast series; season 1)
2018–2020	Altered Carbon	Vernon Elliot	Main role (season 1); Guest role (season 2)
2019	The Code	Major Trey Ferry	Main role
2020	Tales from the Loop	Gaddis	Recurring role
	Away	Kwesi Weisberg Annan	Main role
2021	Evil	Nathan Katsaris	Episode: "D Is for Doll"
2021–2024	Agent Stoker	EnGAGE	Recurring role (Podcast series)
2022	Let the Right One In	Frank	3 episodes
2023	Extrapolations	Marco	Episode: "2046: Whale Fall"
2023–present	The Diplomat	Stuart Heyford	Main role

Video games

Year	Title	Role	Notes
2011	Saints Row: The Third	Radio Voices (voice)

References

1. "Biography". Ato Essandoh. Archived from the original on October 18, 2018. Retrieved October 31, 2018.
2. "Happy Birthday To New Rochelle's Ato Essandoh". New Rochelle Daily Voice. July 29, 2014. Retrieved March 22, 2022.
3. "Meet the affable Ghanaian Hollywood star Ato Essandoh". June 9, 2020. Archived from the original on September 7, 2023. Retrieved June 13, 2023.
4. "New York Acting School Alumni, Acting Classes & Courses". The Acting Studio. Retrieved November 4, 2024.
5. Rubel, Abigail (September 3, 2020). ""Away" actor's complex Schenectady upbringing". Times Union. Retrieved September 22, 2020.
6. "In Netflix's 'Away,' Ato Essandoh is an African-British-Jewish astronaut. It's not his first Jewish starring role". Jewish Telegraphic Agency. September 10, 2020. Archived from the original on August 16, 2024. Retrieved March 22, 2022.
7. Vejvoda, Jim (December 4, 2023). "Justice League: Crisis on Infinite Earths – Part One: Exclusive Clip and Voice Cast Reveal". IGN. Archived from the original on December 4, 2023. Retrieved December 5, 2023.

External links

• Ato Essandoh at IMDb
• Interview with Ato Essandoh at Moniqueblog.net