Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje

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Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje

Born	August 22, 1967 (age 39) Islington, London, England, United Kingdom
Notable roles	Simon Adebisi in Oz Mr. Eko in Lost

Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje listen (help·info) (born August 22, 1967 in Islington, London, England) is a British/Nigerian actor, solicitor and former male fashion model.

1 Biography
- 1.1 Early life
- 1.2 Career
2 Filmography
- 2.1 Personal life
3 Trivia
4 References
5 External links

[edit] Biography

[edit] Early life

Akinnuoye-Agbaje's parents are from Nigeria, but moved to London, England, where he was born. He has four sisters and is fluent in several languages, including English, Italian, Yorùbá (the language of his parents' ethnic group), and Swahili. He holds a Master of Laws from Kings College, the University of London, and is a practising Buddhist. The meaning of his name is broken down thus: Ade- the crown, wale- has come home, Akin- warrior, nuoye- of chieftaincy, Agbaje prosperity and wealth.

[edit] Career

He is known for portraying the criminal Simon Adebisi in the HBO prison series Oz, as well as Mr. Eko on the second season and the first few episodes of the third season of ABC's survivor drama Lost. He has numerous film credits since he began acting in 1994 and has appeared in many top movies, including the upcoming first ever completely CGI animated Dr. Seuss film Horton Hears a Who!. He has also stated that he will be directing a movie.

[edit] Filmography

Year	Movie	Role
1995	Congo	Kahega
1995	Delta of Venus	The Clairvoyant
1995	Ace Ventura: When Nature Calls	Hitu
1998	Legionnarie	Luther
2001	The Mummy Returns	Lock-Nah
2001	Lip Service	Sebastion
2002	The Bourne Identity	Nykwana Wombosi
2004	Unstoppable	Junod
2005	Mistress of Spices	Kwesi
2005	On the One	Bull Sharky
2005	Get Rich or Die Tryin'	Majestic
2008	Horton Hears a Who!	Town Crier

[edit] Personal life

Akinnuoye-Agbaje was arrested on 2 September 2006 at 2:25am for disobeying a police officer and operating a motor vehicle without a license. He was released later that morning on US$500.00 bail [1], after spending six hours in jail.[2] On 26 September 2006 he was cleared of all charges after providing proof that he has a license. Those who have trouble pronouncing his name often call him "Triple A", while his family calls him "Wálé"..

He said he spent the entire day, when filming Lost, in character to try to grasp the intensity of Mr.Eko. "The only way I know how to deliver [on set] is to focus; some people can turn it on or off - I'd rather stay in character. There was no socializing. I would start two hours before I went to the set and I wouldn't say any other words other than the ones that I needed to say, that's just the way I work and I think that intensity comes across in my characters." His acting methodology made him seem asocial and may have been a driving force (according to his interview with the New York Post) in the termination of his character Mr.Eko. However it has also been reported that Akinnuoye-Agbaje asked to be written off the show after the loss of both his parents. [3]

He is 6"2" (188cm) tall.

[edit] Trivia

In all of the movies he has acted in he always dies getting towards the end of each movie. His characters in the TV series he plays have also been known to be killed off as well.