Jacob Muntaz Scipio (born January 10, 1993) is an English actor and writer. In 2016, Scipio co-founded CPO Productions. In that time he has written and starred in ''The Writers Group'' (2018) and ''Cowboys & Angels'' (2016), short films that premiered at the Cannes Court Métrage and London screenings at the

British Film Institute The British Film Institute (BFI) is a film and television charitable organisation which promotes and preserves film-making and television in the United Kingdom. The BFI uses funds provided by the National Lottery to encourage film production, ...

. In 2020, he played villain Armando Aretas in the action comedy ''

Bad Boys for Life ''Bad Boys for Life'' is a 2020 American buddy cop action comedy film directed by Adil & Bilall. It is the sequel to '' Bad Boys II'' (2003) and the third installment in the ''Bad Boys'' franchise. Will Smith and Martin Lawrence reprise th ...

'', directed by

Adil El Arbi and Bilall Fallah Adil El Arbi (born June 30, 1988) and Bilall Fallah (born January 4, 1986) are Belgian film and television directors of Moroccan descent. The duo, collectively billed as Adil & Bilall, are known for writing and directing the feature films ''Im ...

, and starring

Will Smith Willard Carroll Smith II (born September 25, 1968), also known by his stage name The Fresh Prince, is an American actor and rapper. He began his acting career starring as a fictionalized version of himself on the NBC sitcom '' The Fresh ...

and

Martin Lawrence Martin Fitzgerald LawrenceStated in interview on ''Inside the Actors Studio'' (born April 16, 1965) is an American comedian and actor. He came to fame during the 1990s, establishing a Hollywood career as a leading actor. He got his start playin ...

. Scipio's acting career started in television with leading roles in ''

Some Girls ''Some Girls'' is the 14th UK and 16th US album by the English rock band the Rolling Stones, released on 9 June 1978 by Rolling Stones Records. It was recorded in sessions held between October 1977 and February 1978 at Pathé Marconi Studios in ...

'' (BBC), ''

As the Bell Rings ''As the Bell Rings'' is a Disney Channel short franchise, based on the original Disney Channel Italian series '' Quelli dell'intervallo'', that has been adapted for numerous other markets worldwide: As the Bell Rings franchise Original version ...

'' (Disney) and ''

White Teeth ''White Teeth'' is a 2000 novel by the British author Zadie Smith. It focuses on the later lives of two wartime friends—the Bangladeshi Samad Iqbal and the Englishman Archie Jones—and their families in London. The novel centres on Britain's ...

'' (Channel 4).

Education, early life and career

Scipio was born in Islington, London, England, and has

Indo-Guyanese Indo-Guyanese or Indian-Guyanese, are people of Indian origin who are Guyanese nationals tracing their ancestry to India and the wider subcontinent. They are the descendants of indentured servants and settlers who migrated from India beginnin ...

and English ancestry. Scipio attended St. Michael's Church of England Primary School in Highgate, then continued his studies at

Fortismere School Fortismere School (simply referred to as Fortismere) is a coeducational secondary school and sixth form located in Muswell Hill, Greater London, England. In 2016, it was ranked by ''The Sunday Times'' as the 12th best comprehensive school in ...

in Muswell Hill, going on to complete his education at the

University of Essex The University of Essex is a public research university in Essex, England. Established by royal charter in 1965, Essex is one of the original plate glass universities. Essex's shield consists of the ancient arms attributed to the Kingdom of Es ...

where he was awarded with a

Bachelor of Arts Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four yea ...

in Film and Literature. Scipio's acting career began when he landed his first role at the age of 9 months in an episode of the

Screen One ''Screen One'' is a British television anthology drama series, produced by the BBC and distributed by BBC Worldwide, that was transmitted on BBC One from 1989 to 1998. A total of six series were broadcast, incorporating sixty individual film ...

series entitled ''Bambino Mio'', playing the adopted son of

Julie Walters Dame Julia Mary Walters (born 22 February 1950), known professionally as Julie Walters, is an English actress. She is the recipient of four British Academy Television Awards, two British Academy Film Awards, two International Emmy Awards, a ...

. Throughout his studies he continued to act, starring in a number of lead roles in television, film and theatre, including the

Channel 4 Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network operated by the state-owned enterprise, state-owned Channel Four Television Corporation. It began its transmission on 2 November 1982 and was established to provide a four ...

adaptation of

Zadie Smith Zadie Smith FRSL (born Sadie; 25 October 1975) is an English novelist, essayist, and short-story writer. Her debut novel, ''White Teeth'' (2000), immediately became a best-seller and won a number of awards. She has been a tenured professor ...

’s ''

'', where at aged 9 he played the roles of twin brothers ‘Millat’ and ‘Magid’. He continued to act, appearing in

Rodgers and Hammerstein Rodgers and Hammerstein was a theater-writing team of composer Richard Rodgers (1902–1979) and lyricist-dramatist Oscar Hammerstein II (1895–1960), who together created a series of innovative and influential American musicals. Their popu ...

's ''The King and I'' as ‘Prince Chulalongkorn’ opposite

Elaine Paige Elaine Jill Paige (née Bickerstaff; born 5 March 1948) is an English singer and actress, best known for her work in musical theatre. Raised in Barnet, Hertfordshire, Paige attended the Aida Foster Theatre School, making her first professio ...

at the

London Palladium The London Palladium () is a Grade II* West End theatre located on Argyll Street, London, in the famous area of Soho. The theatre holds 2,286 seats. Of the roster of stars who have played there, many have televised performances. Between 1955 a ...

Film career

In January 2020, Scipio played the lead villain, Armando Aretas, in ''

''. A few months later he starred in ''The Outpost'', a true story of American soldiers in the

Battle of Kamdesh The Battle of Kamdesh took place during the war in Afghanistan. It occurred on October 3, 2009, when a force of 400 Taliban assaulted the American Combat Outpost ("COP") Keating near the town of Kamdesh in Nuristan Province in eastern Afghanist ...

. Scipio played Justin T. Gallegos, a US army Staff Sgt. who was awarded the Distinguished Service Cross. Scipio appeared in ''

Last Looks ''Last Looks'' is a 2022 American-British mystery film, directed by Tim Kirkby, from a screenplay by Howard Michael Gould based on his novel of the same name. It stars Charlie Hunnam, Mel Gibson, Morena Baccarin, Lucy Fry, Rupert Friend, Domini ...

'' and ''Without Remorse''. Scipio was later cast in the upcoming 2022 film, '' The Expendables 4''.

Television career

In 2008, Scipio played the role of Bip in the second series of ''

''. His next role came in the form of the 'Kerwhizzitor' in the popular

CBeebies CBeebies is a British free-to-air public broadcast children's television channel owned and operated by the BBC. It is also the brand used for all BBC content for children aged 6 years and under. Its sister channel CBBC is aimed at older chil ...

show ''

Kerwhizz ''Kerwhizz'' (strapline: ''The Quiz with added Whizz'') is a live-action animated British children's television game show which originally aired on CBeebies between 2008 and 2011. The series uses a mix of CGI and Live action, and is targeted tow ...

'', where he hosts the show then comments on the race. Scipio then went on to star in the 2012 Life In My Shoes production ''Undefeated'', a HIV awareness campaign that was screened at the

2012 Cannes Film Festival The 65th Cannes Film Festival was held from 16 to 27 May 2012. Italian film director Nanni Moretti was the President of the Jury for the main competition and British actor Tim Roth was the President of the Jury for the Un Certain Regard sectio ...

in the Short Film Corner. In 2013 he played the role of 'Tyler Blaine' in the second series of the hit

BBC Three BBC Three is a British free-to-air Public service broadcasting in the United Kingdom, public broadcast television channel owned and operated by the BBC. It was first launched on 9 February 2003 with programmes targeting 16 to 34-year-olds, cov ...

comedy ''

''. Other roles include 'Lewis' in CBBC's "''Dixi''", and 'Thomas Hillmorton', a Shakespearean ghost in "''Dani's Castle''" which aired on 1 September 2015. which was released in 2014 In January 2021, it was announced that Scipio was cast as Michael Vargas in the upcoming

Netflix Netflix, Inc. is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service and production company based in Los Gatos, California. Founded in 1997 by Reed Hastings and Marc Randolph in Scotts Valley, California, it offers a ...

thriller series ''

Pieces of Her ''Pieces of Her'' is a thriller novel by American author Karin Slaughter, published on August 21, 2018 by William Morrow and Company and HarperCollins Publishers HarperCollins Publishers LLC is one of the Big Five English-language publishin ...

'', which is adapted from the

Karin Slaughter Karin Slaughter (born January 6, 1971) is an American crime writer. She has written 21 novels, which have sold more than 40 million copies and have been published in 120 countries. Her first novel, ''Blindsighted'' (2001), was published in 27 la ...

novel of the same name.

Filmography

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Scipio, Jacob English male film actors English people of Indo-Guyanese descent English male television actors 1993 births Living people