Sope Dirisu ( yo, Ṣọpẹ Dìrísù, ; born 9 January 1991) is a British actor. . He made his film debut in 2016 with '' Sand Castle'', ''

Criminal In ordinary language, a crime is an unlawful act punishable by a state or other authority. The term ''crime'' does not, in modern criminal law, have any simple and universally accepted definition,Farmer, Lindsay: "Crime, definitions of", in Ca ...

'', and '' The Huntsman: Winter's War''. Since 2020, he has starred as Elliot Finch in the Sky Atlantic series '' Gangs of London.

Early life

Dirisu was born in 1991 in

Edgware Edgware () is a suburban town in northern Greater London, mostly in the London Borough of Barnet but with small parts falling in the London Borough of Harrow and in the London Borough of Brent. Edgware is centred north-northwest of Charing Cros ...

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

, to

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 ...

parents. He was educated at

Bedford Modern School Bedford Modern School (often called BMS) is a Headmasters' and Headmistresses' Conference independent school in Bedford, England. The school has its origins in The Harpur Trust, born from the endowments left by Sir William Harpur in the s ...

, where he excelled at drama, and joined the National Youth Theatre in 2006. He later studied Economics at the

University of Birmingham The University of Birmingham (informally Birmingham University) is a Public university, public research university located in Edgbaston, Birmingham, United Kingdom. It received its royal charter in 1900 as a successor to Queen's College, Birmingha ...

. While studying there he played

quarterback The quarterback (commonly abbreviated "QB"), colloquially known as the "signal caller", is a position in gridiron football. Quarterbacks are members of the offensive platoon and mostly line up directly behind the offensive line. In modern Ame ...

for the University of Birmingham Lions American Football team.

Career

In 2012, Dirisu successfully auditioned for the Royal Shakespeare Company’s ''Open Stages Programme''. His first stage role was as Pericles in Shakespeare’s ''

Pericles, Prince of Tyre ''Pericles, Prince of Tyre'' is a Jacobean play written at least in part by William Shakespeare and included in modern editions of his collected works despite questions over its authorship, as it was not included in the First Folio. It was p ...

''. After the Royal Shakespeare Company, Dirisu returned to the National Youth Theatre where he trained in the REP company programme for eight months. He has subsequently acted in a number of television series including '' The Mill'', ''

Utopia A utopia ( ) typically describes an imaginary community or society that possesses highly desirable or nearly perfect qualities for its members. It was coined by Sir Thomas More for his 1516 book '' Utopia'', describing a fictional island socie ...

'', ''

Humans Humans (''Homo sapiens'') are the most abundant and widespread species of primate, characterized by bipedalism and exceptional cognitive skills due to a large and complex brain. This has enabled the development of advanced tools, culture, ...

'', '' The Casual Vacancy'', '' Siblings'' and ''

Undercover To go "undercover" (that is, to go on an undercover operation) is to avoid detection by the object of one's observation, and especially to disguise one's own identity (or use an assumed identity) for the purposes of gaining the trust of an ind ...

''. Dirisu appeared in three 2016 films, ''

'', '' The Huntsman: Winter's War'', and '' Sand Castle''. In 2016, he also appeared in " Nosedive", an episode of the

anthology series An anthology series is a radio, television, video game or film series that spans different genres and presents a different story and a different set of characters in each different episode, season, segment, or short. These usually have a di ...

Black Mirror ''Black Mirror'' is a British anthology television series created by Charlie Brooker. Individual episodes explore a diversity of genres, but most are set in near-future dystopias with science fiction technology—a type of speculative ficti ...

''. Dirisu received a Commendation at the Ian Charleson Awards for his 2017 performance as Coriolanus in ''

Coriolanus ''Coriolanus'' ( or ) is a tragedy by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written between 1605 and 1608. The play is based on the life of the legendary Roman leader Caius Marcius Coriolanus. Shakespeare worked on it during the same ye ...

'' at the Royal Shakespeare Company. He was nominated as Best Actor for the 2020

British Independent Film Awards The British Independent Film Awards (BIFA) is an organisation that celebrates, supports and promotes British independent cinema and filmmaking talent in United Kingdom. Nominations for the annual awards ceremony are announced in early November ...

for his role as Bol in the film ''

His House ''His House'' is a 2020 horror thriller film written and directed by Remi Weekes from a story by Felicity Evans and Toby Venables. It stars Wunmi Mosaku, Sope Dirisu and Matt Smith. The film tells the story of a refugee couple from South Sudan, ...

''.

Filmography

Film

Television

Stage

6 October - 3 December 2016, as Cassius Clay in '' One Night in Miami'' by Kemp Powers, at ''

Donmar Warehouse The Donmar Warehouse is a 251-seat, not-for-profit theatre in Covent Garden, London, England. It first opened on 18 July 1977. Sam Mendes, Michael Grandage and Josie Rourke have all served as artistic director, a post held since 2019 by M ...

'' in London, alongside David Ajala 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 o ...

, Arinzé Kene as Sam Cooke, Francois Battiste as

Malcolm X Malcolm X (born Malcolm Little, later Malik el-Shabazz; May 19, 1925 – February 21, 1965) was an American Muslim minister and human rights activist who was a prominent figure during the civil rights movement. A spokesman for the Nation of ...

. Other theatre includes ''The Whipping Man'', ''Tory Boyz'', ''

Romeo and Juliet ''Romeo and Juliet'' is a tragedy written by William Shakespeare early in his career about the romance between two Italian youths from feuding families. It was among Shakespeare's most popular plays during his lifetime and, along with ''Ham ...

'', '' Prince of Denmark'', '' Red Riding Hood'', ''Our Days of Rage'', ''

Fallujah Fallujah ( ar, ٱلْفَلُّوجَة, al-Fallūjah, Iraqi pronunciation: ) is a city in the Iraqi province of Al Anbar, located roughly west of Baghdad on the Euphrates. Fallujah dates from Babylonian times and was host to important J ...

'', ''

Pericles Pericles (; grc-gre, wikt:Περικλῆς, Περικλῆς; c. 495 – 429 BC) was a Greeks, Greek politician and general during the Fifth-century Athens, Golden Age of Athens. He was prominent and influential in Athens, Athenian politi ...

'' ( RSC). Dirisu received a Commendation at the Ian Charleson Awards for his 2017 performance as Coriolanus in ''

'' at the Royal Shakespeare Company.

Awards and nominations

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Dirisu, Sope 1991 births Living people English male film actors English male stage actors English male television actors 21st-century English male actors Black British male actors People from Edgware People educated at Bedford Modern School Alumni of the University of Birmingham National Youth Theatre members English people of Nigerian descent British male stage actors