David Ajala (born 21 May 1986) is a British actor. He is known for his roles as

Manchester Black Manchester Black is a fictional character in American comic books published by DC Comics, in particular those featuring Superman. He was created by Joe Kelly and Doug Mahnke in ''Action Comics'' #775 (March 2001). Introduced as an antihero, the ch ...

in ''

Supergirl Supergirl is the name of several fictional superheroines appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. The original, current, and most well known Supergirl is Kara Zor-El, the cousin of superhero Superman. The character made her fir ...

'' (20182019), Captain Roy Eris in ''

Nightflyers ''Nightflyers'' is a science fiction horror novella by American writer George R. R. Martin, released as a short novella in 1980 and as an expanded novella in 1981. A short story collection of the same name was released in 1985 that includes the ...

'' (2018), and Cleveland "Book" Booker in '' Star Trek: Discovery'' (2020present).

Early life

David Ajala was born in Hackney, London. He is of

Nigerian Nigerians or the Nigerian people are citizens of Nigeria or people with ancestry from Nigeria. The name Nigeria was taken from the Niger River running through the country. This name was allegedly coined in the late 19th century by British jour ...

Yoruba The Yoruba people (, , ) are a West African ethnic group that mainly inhabit parts of Nigeria, Benin, and Togo. The areas of these countries primarily inhabited by Yoruba are often collectively referred to as Yorubaland. The Yoruba constitute ...

origin. He trained at the

Anna Scher Theatre The Anna Scher Theatre is an independent and co-educational performing arts school based in Islington, Greater London. It was founded in 1968 by Anna Scher. It is considered among the first schools of its kind geared towards working class studen ...

. In an interview for ''Interview Magazine'' Ajala said: "When I went to secondary school, my maths teacher said I had way too much energy and was too mischievous. He tried to convince me that if I did acting, I'd be popular with the girls".

Career

On stage Ajala has performed in ''

Nation A nation is a community of people formed on the basis of a combination of shared features such as language, history, ethnicity, culture and/or society. A nation is thus the collective identity of a group of people understood as defined by those ...

'', ''

A Midsummer Night's Dream ''A Midsummer Night's Dream'' is a comedy written by William Shakespeare 1595 or 1596. The play is set in Athens, and consists of several subplots that revolve around the marriage of Theseus and Hippolyta. One subplot involves a conflict amon ...

'' with the

Royal Shakespeare Company The Royal Shakespeare Company (RSC) is a major British theatre company, based in Stratford-upon-Avon, Warwickshire, England. The company employs over 1,000 staff and produces around 20 productions a year. The RSC plays regularly in London, St ...

, ''

Hamlet ''The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark'', often shortened to ''Hamlet'' (), is a tragedy written by William Shakespeare sometime between 1599 and 1601. It is Shakespeare's longest play, with 29,551 words. Set in Denmark, the play depicts ...

'', and as

Jim Brown James Nathaniel Brown (born February 17, 1936) is a former American football player, sports analyst and actor. He played as a fullback for the Cleveland Browns of the National Football League (NFL) from 1957 through 1965. Considered to be one ...

in the European premiere of

Kemp Powers Kemp Powers is an American filmmaker and playwright. He is best known for his work on the play ''One Night in Miami'', the 2020 film adaptation of the same name, and ''Soul''. His screenplay for ''One Night in Miami...'' earned him a Best Ada ...

''. In film, his first part was in ''

Kidulthood ''Kidulthood'' (stylised as ''KiDULTHOOD'') is a 2006 British crime drama film directed by Menhaj Huda and written by Noel Clarke, who appeared in the film alongside Aml Ameen, Red Madrell, Adam Deacon, Jaime Winstone, Femi Oyeniran, Madelei ...

'', and he also appears in the sequels, ''

Adulthood An adult is a human or other animal that has reached full growth. In human context, the term ''adult'' has meanings associated with social and legal concepts. In contrast to a " minor", a legal adult is a person who has attained the age of major ...

'' and ''

Brotherhood Brotherhood or The Brotherhood may refer to: Family, relationships, and organizations * Fraternity (philosophy) or brotherhood, an ethical relationship between people, which is based on love and solidarity * Fraternity or brotherhood, a mal ...

''; he has also appeared in ''

The Dark Knight ''The Dark Knight'' is a 2008 superhero film directed by Christopher Nolan from a screenplay he co-wrote with his brother Jonathan. Based on the DC Comics superhero, Batman, it is the sequel to ''Batman Begins'' (2005) and the second insta ...

'' and in major roles in ''

Starred Up ''Starred Up'' is a 2013 British prison crime drama film directed by David Mackenzie and written by Jonathan Asser. Starring Jack O'Connell, Ben Mendelsohn and Rupert Friend, the film is based on Jonathan Asser's experiences working as a volu ...

'' and the 2016 ''Seekers''. On TV he has appeared in many series including ''

Doctor Who ''Doctor Who'' is a British science fiction television series broadcast by the BBC since 1963. The series depicts the adventures of a Time Lord called the Doctor, an extraterrestrial being who appears to be human. The Doctor explores the u ...

'' and in major roles in ''

Black Box In science, computing, and engineering, a black box is a system which can be viewed in terms of its inputs and outputs (or transfer characteristics), without any knowledge of its internal workings. Its implementation is "opaque" (black). The te ...

'', '' Beowulf: Return to the Shieldlands'', ''

'', and '' Falling Water''. Sean 'Mac' McAlister, a character from 2017 video game ''

Need for Speed Payback ''Need for Speed Payback'' is a racing video game developed by Ghost Games and published by Electronic Arts for PlayStation 4, Windows, and Xbox One. It is the twenty-third installment in the ''Need for Speed'' series. The game was released worldw ...

'', is voiced by and modeled after him. Ajala has appeared as Keith in the BBC Radio 4 dramas ''Burned To Nothing'' (2011) and Felix in ''The Price of Oil: Someone's Making A Killing In Nigeria'' both by Rex Obano. In 2018 Ajala was cast in season 4 of ''

'', portraying

Filmography

Film

Television

Video games

Theatre credits

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Ajala, David Living people 1986 births Alumni of the Anna Scher Theatre School British male film actors British male television actors British male voice actors British male video game actors Black British male actors English people of Nigerian descent English people of Yoruba descent 21st-century British male actors Male actors from London People from the London Borough of Hackney