Fisayo Akinade

Fisayo Akinade (born 28 December 1987) is an English actor,^[1] best known for his roles as Dean Monroe in Cucumber and Banana on Channel 4 and Mr. Ajayi in the popular Netflix series Heartstopper, as well as his work in theatre such as The Crucible at the Gielgud Theatre, London.

Fisayo Akinade
Born	(1987-12-28) 28 December 1987 (age 36) Liverpool, England
Education	Royal Central School of Speech and Drama
Occupation	Actor
Years active	2011–present

Early life and education

Akinade was born in Liverpool. He spent four years of his childhood in Nigeria before returning to the UK where he grew up in the Fallowfield and Moss Side areas of Manchester.^[2][3]

He wanted to be a gymnast growing up. However, after suffering injury, and the closure of the place where he practiced, Akinade began attending drop-in drama classes at the Contact Theatre, later joining the Contact Young Actors Company, and workshops at the Royal Exchange Theatre.^[4][5] He went on to train at the Royal Central School of Speech and Drama in London.^[6][7]

Career

Akinade's television breakthrough came in 2015, when he starred as Dean Monroe in Russell T Davies' drama Cucumber and its offshoots Banana and Tofu.^[8] In 2016, Akinade starred alongside Glenn Close, Gemma Arterton and Paddy Considine in The Girl with All the Gifts.^[9]

In February 2022, Akinade starred in Alistair McDowall's play The Glow.^[10] The play was performed at Royal Court Theatre Downstairs.^[11][12] Akinade featured in the Netflix series Heartstopper, which was released in April 2022. In the series, he plays Nathan Ajayi.^[13] In November 2022, Akinade starred as Chevalier de Saint-Jacques in Starz drama Dangerous Liaisons, alongside Alice Englert, Nicholas Denton and Lesley Manville. Dangerous Liaisons was picked up for a second series.^[14]

Personal life

Akinade is openly gay. He cites Heartstopper as the kind of programme which would have helped him to come out of the closet much sooner. "It wouldn't have been a scary thing. It would have been like 'I'm this thing too,' rather than 'I'm this thing and I'm really sorry about it'."^[15]

He has also said the show has helped him become more joyful, bold, and brave about his own queerness.^[15]

Filmography

Film

Year	Title	Role	Notes
2013	Lifesaver	Ben	Short film
2016	The Works	Iago	Short film
	The Girl with All the Gifts	Private Kieran Gallagher
2018	The Isle	Cailean Ferris
2019	The Personal History of David Copperfield	Markham

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
2013	Fresh Meat	Vlad Supporter 1	Series 3 Episode 8
2015	Cucumber	Dean Monroe	7 episodes
	Banana	Dean Monroe	6 episodes
	Ordinary Lies	Ziggy	5 episodes
	The Vote	Jonathan Clarke	Television film
2016	A Midsummer Night's Dream	Flute	Television film
2017	In the Dark	Theo	Miniseries
2018	A Very English Scandal	Clive Otunde	Series 1 Episode 3
2019	Silent Witness	Andrew Dewey	Episodes: "To Brighton, To Brighton" (Parts 1&2)
	Martin's Close	William	Television film
2021	Romeo & Juliet	Mercutio	Television film
	The Complaints Department	Narrator	2 episodes
2022	Atlanta	Khalil	Episode: White Fashion
2022–present	Heartstopper	Nathan Ajayi	10 episodes
2022	Dangerous Liaisons	Chevalier de Saint-Jacques	8 episodes

Web

Year	Title	Role	Notes
2015	Tofu	Self	Web series; 5 episodes

Video games

Year	Title	Role	Notes
2019	Blood & Truth

Awards and nominations

Year	Award	Category	Work	Result	Ref.
2014	Ian Charleson Awards		As You Like It	Nominated
2017			Saint Joan	Third

References

1. Shury-Smith, Hannah (21 April 2021). "TBB talks to … Fisayo Akinade star of the National Theatre's 'Romeo and Juliet'". The British Blacklist. Retrieved 25 December 2021.
2. Robert Gershinson (27 February 2019). "23: Fisayo Akinade". Shoot First Talk Later (Podcast). Retrieved 26 April 2022.
3. "11 questions with the cast of Barbarians – Fisayo Akinade". Young Vic. 10 December 2015. Retrieved 23 April 2022.
4. Bowie-Sell, Daisy (26 December 2016). "Fisayo Akinade: 'Judi Dench made me feel her palms'". WhatsOnStage. Retrieved 23 April 2022.
5. "Q&A with Fisayo Akinade". Black History Month Magazine 2021. Retrieved 23 April 2022.
6. "Fisayo Akinade". National Theatre. November 2020. Retrieved 25 December 2021.
7. "Fisayo Akinade". Orange Tree Theatre. Archived from the original on 7 October 2022. Retrieved 25 December 2021.
8. "Interview with Cucumber and Banana's Freddie Fox and Fisayo Akinade". Channel 4. 7 January 2015. Retrieved 25 December 2021.
9. "FAULT meets rising star Fisayo Akinade". Fault. 13 February 2017. Retrieved 25 December 2021.
10. Hemming, Sarah (3 February 2022). "Caryl Churchill's A Number returns to the London stage, asking huge questions". Financial Times. Retrieved 22 February 2022.
11. Marlowe, Sam (28 January 2022). "The Glow, Royal Court Theatre Downstairs, review: Ria Zmitrowicz dazzles in a stunning time-travelling tale". iNews. Retrieved 22 February 2022.
12. Clapp, Susannah (6 February 2022). "The week in theatre: A Number; The Glow – review". The Guardian. Retrieved 22 February 2022.
13. "Fisayo Akinade". IMDb. Retrieved 13 May 2022.
14. Rice, Lynette (1 November 2022). "'Dangerous Liaisons' Renewed For Second Season Ahead Of November Premiere on Starz". Deadline. Retrieved 8 November 2022.
15. James, Alastair (6 September 2023). "Heartstopper's Nima Taleghani and Fisayo Akinade say the show 'helps people connect'". Attitude. Retrieved 27 December 2023.

External links

• Fisayo Akinade at IMDb