Samba Dirk-Jan Schutte (born 1 February 1983) is a Dutch-Mauritanian actor, comedian, and writer.

Biography

Schutte was born in Mauritania in 1983, the son of a Muslim Mother and Christian Dutch national. At the age of two, he moved to Ethiopia, as his father worked for a non-governmental organization. Schutte attended Sandford International School in

Addis Ababa Addis Ababa (; am, አዲስ አበባ, , new flower ; also known as , lit. "natural spring" in Oromo), is the capital and largest city of Ethiopia. It is also served as major administrative center of the Oromia Region. In the 2007 census, t ...

. When he was 12, his father purchased the video game Steven Spielberg's Director's Chair, and it was at this moment that Schutte decided to become an actor. In 2001, he moved to the Netherlands to study theater at the

Utrecht School of the Arts The HKU University of the Arts Utrecht ( nl, Hogeschool voor de Kunsten Utrecht, HKU) is a performing arts and visual arts educational institution in Utrecht, Netherlands. Overview The institution has 680 teachers and staff members. The HKU c ...

. He visited Ethiopia for the last time in 2002. Schutte also began performing at comedy clubs and joined the Comedy Explosion, a comedy collective, in 2004. In 2006, Schutte won the Jury and Audience Award at the Leids Cabaret Festival. He toured the country doing comedy shows for several years. Schutte was a writer and presenter for the Dutch version of "

The Daily Show ''The Daily Show'' is an American late-night talk and satirical news television program. It airs each Monday through Thursday on Comedy Central with release shortly after on Paramount+. ''The Daily Show'' draws its comedy and satire form from ...

" known as De nieuwste show. Schutte moved to Los Angeles in 2011 to pursue comedy and acting, receiving the visa for Aliens of Extraordinary Abilities. Several months after arriving in the United States, he won a competition at

The Comedy Store The Comedy Store is an American comedy club opened in April 1972. It is located in West Hollywood, California, at 8433 Sunset Boulevard on the Sunset Strip. An associated club is located in La Jolla, San Diego, California. History The Comedy S ...

and became a regular performer. Schutte met his wife in Los Angeles, as she was the producer for a film he was auditioning for. Schutte has performed in several films, TV series, and video games, and has voice-over work for audiobooks. Schutte had a role in the 2016 film ''

The Tiger Hunter ''The Tiger Hunter'' is a 2016 American comedy film directed by Lena Khan, written by Khan and Sameer Gardezi, and starring Danny Pudi, Jon Heder, Rizwan Manji, Karen David, Iqbal Theba, Samuel Page, Parvesh Cheena, Michael McMillian, and Kevin Po ...

''. In 2019, Schutte was cast as Hakim in the TV series '' Sunnyside''. His character is an Ethiopian heart surgeon who works as a taxi driver in New York until he gets a better opportunity. It was the first time an Ethiopian character was portrayed on an American sitcom. Schutte related to the role, as he was also an immigrant gaining a foothold in a new country. Schutte speaks four languages: English, French, Dutch and Amharic. He suffers from the pigmentation disease

vitiligo Vitiligo is a disorder that causes the skin to lose its color. Specific causes are unknown but studies suggest a link to immune system changes. Signs and symptoms The only sign of vitiligo is the presence of pale patchy areas of depigmen ...

, but has managed to keep it under control after fearing it would be the end of his comedy career.

Partial filmography

*2009: ''De multi culti story'' as Mohammed *2012: ''The Grind'' (TV series) as Samba *2012: ''Fatal Encounters'' (TV series) as Rais Bhuiyan *2013: ''Buni TV Comedy Series'' (TV series) as Dr. Mukakaka / Samba / Jazel Shah *2015: ''Uitzonderlijk Vervoer'' (TV series) as Samba *2015: ''Separated'' as Samba *2015: '' Borderline'' (TV series) as Brian *2016: ''Buddy Solitaire'' as Arash *2016: ''

'' as Kareem *2017: ''Je Maintiendrai'' as Samba *2018: ''Stellar Hosts'' (TV series) as Doug *2019: '' Sunnyside'' (TV series) as Hakim *2020: ''She's in Portland'' as Steve *2021: ''9-1-1'' (TV series) as Saleh *2022: ''

Our Flag Means Death ''Our Flag Means Death'' is an American period comedy television series created by David Jenkins. Set in the early 18th century during the Golden Age of Piracy, the series follows the misadventures of gentleman-turned-pirate Stede Bonnet ( Rh ...

'' (TV series) as Roach

References

External links

Samba Schutte
at the

Internet Movie Database IMDb (an abbreviation of Internet Movie Database) is an online database of information related to films, television series, home videos, video games, and streaming content online – including cast, production crew and personal biographies, ...

Official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Schutte, Samba 1983 births Living people Mauritanian male actors Mauritanian male writers Mauritanian expatriates in Ethiopia Mauritanian expatriates in the Netherlands Mauritanian expatriates in the United States People from Nouakchott