Martins Imhangbe

Martins Isoken Imhangbe (born 7 July 1991) is a British-Nigerian actor. He made his debut in theatre, earning an Ian Charleson Award nomination for his performance in the 2018 production of Richard II. As of 2020, he plays Will Mondrich in the Netflix series Bridgerton.

Martins Imhangbe
Imhangbe in 2022
Born	(1991-07-07) 7 July 1991 (age 33)
Alma mater	Royal Central School of Speech and Drama
Occupation	Actor
Years active	2013–present

Early life

Imhangbe is from Edo State, Nigeria. He lived in Greece from the ages of 2 to 7 and spoke fluent Greek. His family then moved to South East London.^[1][2] He pursued a BTEC diploma in Performing Arts at Lewisham College. He auditioned for drama school but did not initially get in, instead studying Technical Theatre at Southwark College. He later re-auditioned, getting into the Royal Central School of Speech and Drama and graduating in 2013.^[3][4]

Career

Post graduation from drama school, Imhangbe had roles in A Human Being Died That Night, Cinderella, and Romeo and Juliet.^[5] He starred in the Complicité production of Lionboy, an adaptation of the trilogy by Zizou Corder. The show started at the Tricycle Theatre in London and went to the New Victory Theater Off-Broadway as well as to South Africa, Hong Kong, and South Korea.^[6][7] Imhangbe became an associate artist of Complicité.^[8] He had roles in The Skriker at the Manchester Royal Exchange as well as the London productions Octagon in 2015 and Luce and The Royale in 2016.

In 2018, Imhangbe played Bart and the Duke of Aumerle in Richard II at the Almeida Theatre in London. For his performance, he was nominated for an Ian Charleson Award. The production was also filmed as a part of National Theatre Live. That same year, he toured Barber Shop Chronicles with Fuel Theatre in Australia and New Zealand.^[9] He also appeared in Absolute Hell at the National Theatre.^[10] In 2019, Imhangbe starred as Happy Loman in Death of a Salesman at the Young Vic alongside Wendell Pierce and the titular character on the Shanghai leg of the Othello tour.^[11][12]

Imhangbe landed his first major onscreen role as Will Mondrich in the 2020 Netflix series Bridgerton. The character is based on the real-life boxer, Bill Richmond. Imhangbe trained for the role with Cuong Hua at The Commando Temple in Deptford.^[13][14]

Acting credits

Film

Year	Title	Role	Notes
2012	Shit Happens	Guy on Left	Short film
2013	The Last British Execution	Bailiff
2019	The Tragedy of King Richard the Second	Bagot / Duke of Aumerle	National Theatre Live
2020	Samuel's Trousers	Samuel Morgan Smith	Short film

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
2020 - present	Bridgerton	Will Mondrich	Recurring role (season 1) Main role (season 2)
2021	Forsight	Kofi	Episode: "Digging"

Theatre

Year	Title	Role	Director	Venue	Notes	Ref.
	What Does it Take		Angela Michaels	The Albany		[15]
	Uncle Vanya		Yael Shavit		RCSSD	[15]
	Sold		Catherine Alexander		Quinconque	[15]
	The Plain Dealer		Wilson Milam		RSC	[15]
	Romeo and Juliet		Imogen Bond	Orange Tree Theatre		[16]
2013	As You Like It		Douglas Rintoul	Transport Theatre	RCSSD	[15][17]
	A Human Being Died That Night	Prisonguard	Jonathan Munby	Hampstead Theatre		[18]
	Cinderella	Stepbrother	Sally Cookson	Unicorn Theatre		[19]
2014	Das Ding	Siwa	Tanja Pagnuco	New Diorama Theatre		[20]
2014–2015	Lionboy	Charlie Ashanti	Clive Nedus & James Yeatman	—	International tour	[21]
2015	The Skriker	Radiant Boy	Sarah Frankcom	Royal Exchange, Manchester		[22]
	Octagon	Atticus	Nadia Latif	Arcola Theatre		[23]
2016	Luce	Luce	Simon Dormandy	Southwark Playhouse		[24]
	The Royale	Fish	Madani Younis	Bush Theatre		[25]
2018	Barber Shop Chronicles	Winston / Shoni	Bijan Sheibani	—	Australia & New Zealand tour	[26]
	Absolute Hell	GI Sam Mitchum	Joe Hill-Gibbins	Royal National Theatre		[27]
	An Adventure	David	Madani Younis	Bush Theatre		[28]
	Richard II	Bagot / Duke of Aumerle	Joe Hill-Gibbins	Almeida Theatre		[29]
2019	Death of a Salesman	Happy Loman	Miranne Elliot & Miranda Cromwell	Young Vic		[30]
	Othello	Othello	Richard Twyman	—	Tour; Shanghai date	[31]
2023			Sinéad Rushe	Riverside Studios		[32]

Awards and nominations

Year	Award	Category	Work	Result	Ref.
2018	Ian Charleson Awards		Richard II	Nominated	[33]
2021	Screen Actors Guild Awards	Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series	Bridgerton	Nominated	[34]

References

1. Awoyinka, Timi (22 January 2021). "Meet Bridgerton's breakout Nigerian star, Martins Imhangbe". Culture Custodian. Retrieved 25 January 2021.
2. Dodd, Sophie (15 January 2021). "Bridgerton's Martins Imhangbe on Preparing for His TV Debut, the Show's 'Mind-Blowing' Positive Reception". People. Retrieved 25 January 2021.
3. "Case Studies: Martins Imhangbe". Southwark College. Retrieved 25 January 2021.
4. "Alumni News" (PDF). CSSA. 2019. p. 30. Retrieved 25 January 2021.
5. "Full Cast Announced For Arthur Miller's DEATH OF A SALESMAN". BroadwayWorld. 1 February 2019. Retrieved 28 January 2021.
6. Gardener, Lyn (6 January 2015). "Lionboy review – Complicite's cat-powered adventure lacks claws". The Guardian. Retrieved 28 January 2021.
7. Stasio, Marilyn (26 January 2015). "Off Broadway Review: Complicite's 'Lionboy'". Variety. Retrieved 28 January 2021.
8. "Martins Imhangbe makes his TV debut in the hotly anticipated Netflix drama Bridgerton". Untitled. 17 December 2020. Retrieved 28 January 2021.
9. "Barber Shop Chronicles at Home". Fuel Theatre. Retrieved 25 January 2021.
10. "Martins Imhangbe". National Theatre. Retrieved 25 January 2021.
11. "DIGITAL EXCLUSIVE COVER: Martins Imhangbe Talks His Role On Netflix's 'Bridgerton,' Award-Winning Stage Career, Inclusivity, Isolation, Veganism, + His Journey to the Screen". Glitter Magazine. 27 January 2021. Retrieved 28 January 2021.
12. "Martins Imhangbe". English Touring Theatre. Retrieved 25 January 2021.
13. Gonzales, Erica (13 January 2021). "Don't Rule Out Martins Imhangbe as a James Bond Contender". Harper's Bazaar. Retrieved 25 January 2021.
14. Levesley, David (29 December 2020). "How Bridgerton's Martins Imhangbe kept in shape over 2020". GQ. Retrieved 28 January 2021.
15. "Martins Imhangbe - Actor". Independent Talent. Retrieved 1 March 2024.
16. Nicole, Christina (11 October 2023). "Martins Imhangbe interview – Othello, Riverside Studios, Hammersmith • Afridiziak Theatre News". Afridiziak Theatre News. Retrieved 2 March 2024.
17. "Transport Theatre – 'As You Like It' – Douglas Rintoul Interview". The Arts Shelf. 18 September 2013. Retrieved 2 March 2024.
18. "A Human Being Died That Night". Hampstead Theatre. Retrieved 2 March 2024.
19. Maxwell, Dominic (2 March 2024). "Cinderella: A Fairytale, Unicorn, SE1". ISSN 0140-0460. Retrieved 2 March 2024.
20. "Theatre review: Das Ding at New Diorama Theatre". British Theatre Guide. 14 October 2014. Retrieved 2 March 2024.
21. Isherwood, Charles (25 January 2015). "A Valiant Cub Goes on the Hunt". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2 March 2024.
22. "Review: The Skriker, Royal Exchange". There Ought To Be Clowns. 6 July 2015. Retrieved 2 March 2024.
23. "Octagon". Arcola Theatre. 19 January 2016. Retrieved 2 March 2024.
24. Kellaway, Kate (20 March 2016). "Luce review – Bake-Off's Mel Giedroyc is a stage natural". The Observer. ISSN 0029-7712. Retrieved 2 March 2024.
25. "The Royale". www.bushtheatre.co.uk. Retrieved 2 March 2024.
26. Wolf, Matt (16 June 2017). "Sharing Joy and Sacrifice from the Barber Shop Chair". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2 March 2024.
27. Clement, Olivia (26 April 2018). "Read Reviews for Absolute Hell at London's The National". Playbill. Retrieved 1 March 2024.
28. Akbar, Arifa (12 September 2018). "An Adventure review – epic journey through Mau Mau-era Kenya". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 2 March 2024.
29. Clement, Oliver (19 December 2018). "Read Reviews for The Tragedy of Richard the Second in London". Playbill. Retrieved 1 March 2024.
30. "Death of Salesman". Playbill. Retrieved 1 March 2024.
31. "Martins Imhangbe". English Touring Theatre. Retrieved 2 March 2024.
32. Akbar, Arifa (9 October 2023). "Othello review – three-headed Iago distracts from tragedy". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 2 March 2024.
33. Bowie-Sell, Daisy (19 March 2019). "Ian Charleson Award shortlist announced". What's on Stage. Retrieved 28 January 2021.
34. "2021 SAG Awards: The Complete Nominations List". 4 February 2021.

External links

• Martins Imhangbe at IMDb
• Martins Imhangbe at Independent Talent