Toby Onwumere

Last updated
Toby Onwumere
Born (1990-02-01) February 1, 1990 (age 33)
Education University of Evansville (BFA)
University of California, San Diego (MFA)
Occupation Actor
Years active2015–present

Toby Onwumere // ( Loudspeaker.svg listen ) (born February 1, 1990) is a Nigerian and American actor known for the role of Capheus in the second season of the Netflix original series Sense8 . [1] [2] [3]

Contents

Early life

Onwumere was born in Nigeria, and raised in Mansfield, Texas. Before being cast in Sense8, Onwumere graduated from University of California, San Diego's graduate acting program with an MFA. [1] [4] He completed his undergraduate acting training at the University of Evansville in Indiana.[ citation needed ]

Career

Stage

Onwumere has appeared on stage with Santa Cruz Shakespeare where he played Macduff in Macbeth and Cleton in The Liar. He also appeared in the previous incarnation of the festival; Shakespeare Santa Cruz where he played in The Taming of the Shrew and Henry V .

Screen

Onwumere replaced British actor Aml Ameen, who played the role of Capheus in the first season of the series Sense8 , created by Lana and Lilly Wachowski and J. Michael Straczynski. [1] Onwumere made his debut as Capheus on the December 2016 Christmas special of Sense8. [5] He also played Kai, a war correspondent and love interest of Jamal Lyon in the fifth season of Empire . Onwumere reunited with Lana Wachowski in the fourth installment of The Matrix film series in 2022. [6]

Related Research Articles

Lana Wachowski and Lilly Wachowski are American film and television directors, writers and producers. The sisters are both trans women.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">J. Michael Straczynski</span> American writer and filmmaker, born 1954

Joseph Michael Straczynski is an American filmmaker and comic book writer. He is the founder of Synthetic Worlds Ltd. and Studio JMS and is best known as the creator of the science fiction television series Babylon 5 (1993–1998) and its spinoff Crusade (1999), as well as the series Jeremiah (2002–2004) and Sense8 (2015–2018). He is also the executor of the estate of Harlan Ellison.

<i>The Matrix Revolutions</i> 2003 American sci-fi action film

The Matrix Revolutions is a 2003 American science fiction action film written and directed by the Wachowskis. It is the third installment in The Matrix film series, released six months following The Matrix Reloaded. The film stars Keanu Reeves, Laurence Fishburne, Carrie-Anne Moss, Hugo Weaving, Jada Pinkett Smith, Monica Bellucci, Lambert Wilson, and Mary Alice who replaces Gloria Foster as the Oracle following her death in 2001.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tom Tykwer</span> German film director

Tom Tykwer is a German film director, producer, screenwriter, and composer. He is best known internationally for directing the thriller films Run Lola Run (1998), Heaven (2002), Perfume: The Story of a Murderer (2006), and The International (2009). He collaborated with The Wachowskis as co-director for the science fiction film Cloud Atlas (2012) and the Netflix series Sense8 (2015–2018), and worked on the score for Lana Wachowski's The Matrix Resurrections (2021). Tykwer is also well known as the co-creator of the internationally acclaimed German television series Babylon Berlin (2017–).

<i>The Matrix</i> (franchise) American media franchise

The Matrix is an American media franchise consisting of four feature films, beginning with The Matrix (1999) and continuing with three sequels, The Matrix Reloaded, The Matrix Revolutions, and The Matrix Resurrections (2021). The first three films were written and directed by The Wachowskis and produced by Joel Silver. The screenplay for the fourth film was written by David Mitchell and Aleksandar Hemon, was directed by Lana Wachowski, and was produced by Grant Hill, James McTeigue, and Lana Wachowski. The franchise is owned by Warner Bros., which distributed the films along with Village Roadshow Pictures. The latter, along with Silver Pictures, are the two production companies that worked on the first three films.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">David Oyelowo</span> British actor

David Oyetokunbo OyelowoListen is a British actor, director and producer. His accolades include a Critics' Choice Award and two NAACP Image Awards as well as nominations for two Golden Globe Awards, two Primetime Emmy Awards, a Screen Actors Guild Award and a BAFTA Award. In 2016, he was appointed an Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) for his services to drama.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">David Mitchell (author)</span> English novelist and screenwriter (born 1969)

David Stephen Mitchell is an English novelist, television writer, and screenwriter.

James McTeigue is an Australian film and television director. He has been an assistant director on many films, including Dark City (1998), the Matrix trilogy (1999–2003) and Star Wars: Episode II – Attack of the Clones (2002), and made his directorial debut with the 2005 film V for Vendetta to critical acclaim. Since Vendetta he has collaborated with the Wachowskis an additional four times as director on The Invasion, Ninja Assassin and Sense8 and as producer of The Matrix Resurrections.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Aleksandar Hemon</span> Bosnian-American author, essayist, critic, television writer and screenwriter

Aleksandar Hemon is a Bosnian-American author, essayist, critic, television writer, and screenwriter. He is best known for the novels Nowhere Man (2002) and The Lazarus Project (2008), and his scriptwriting as a co-writer of The Matrix Resurrections (2021).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Aml Ameen</span> British actor (b. 1985)

Aml Eysan Ameen is a British actor and filmmaker. He is best known for his roles as Trevor (Trife) in Kidulthood (2006), Lewis Hardy in the ITV television series The Bill, Capheus in the first season of the Netflix original series Sense8, and Alby in The Maze Runner (2014).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Max Riemelt</span> German actor

Max Riemelt is a German actor, known internationally for playing Wolfgang Bogdanow in the Netflix series Sense8. In Germany, he is known for many years of television and cinema both acting and directing.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jamie Clayton</span> American actress and model

Jamie Clayton is an American actress and model. Clayton is best known for starring as Nomi Marks in the Netflix original series Sense8, Sasha Booker in the third season of Designated Survivor and Tess Van De Berg in Showtime's The L Word: Generation Q. She portrays Pinhead in the 2022 Hellraiser film.

<i>Sense8</i> American science fiction television series

Sense8 is an American science fiction drama streaming television series created by Lana and Lilly Wachowski and J. Michael Straczynski for Netflix. The production companies behind Sense8 included the Wachowskis' Anarchos Productions, Straczynski's Studio JMS, and Georgeville Television, with Unpronounceable Productions having been set up specifically for the show.

<i>Sense8</i> (season 1) Season of television series

The first season of Sense8, an American science fiction drama streaming television series created by Lana and Lilly Wachowski and J. Michael Straczynski, follows eight strangers from different parts of the world who suddenly discover that they are "sensates"; human beings who are mentally and emotionally linked. The season was produced for Netflix by the Wachowskis' Anarchos Productions and Straczynski's Studio JMS, along with Javelin Productions and Georgeville Television. Unpronounceable Productions was set up to oversee production for the show.

<i>Sense8</i> (season 2) Season of television series

The second season of Sense8, an American science fiction drama streaming television series created by Lana and Lilly Wachowski and J. Michael Straczynski, follows eight strangers from different parts of the world who suddenly become "sensates"; human beings who are mentally and emotionally linked. The season was produced for Netflix by Lana Wachowski and her wife's Venus Castina Productions and Straczynski's Studio JMS, along with Georgeville Television and Elizabeth Bay Productions. Unpronounceable Productions was set up to oversee production for the show since the first season.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Yahya Abdul-Mateen II</span> American actor

Yahya Abdul-Mateen II is an American actor. He is known for his roles as Black Manta in the superhero films Aquaman (2018) and Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom (2023), Bobby Seale in the Netflix historical legal drama The Trial of the Chicago 7 (2020), and Morpheus / Agent Smith in The Matrix Resurrections (2021). For his portrayal of Cal Abar / Doctor Manhattan in the HBO limited series Watchmen (2019), he won a Primetime Emmy Award. He also starred in episodes of The Handmaid's Tale (2018) and Black Mirror (2019).

The following is a list of unproduced projects from The Wachowskis in roughly chronological order. During their long careers, The Wachowskis have worked on a number of projects which never progressed beyond the pre-production stage under their direction. Some of these projects fell in development hell and are presumably or officially canceled.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Matty Cardarople</span> American actor and comedian

Matthew Richard Cardarople is an American actor and comedian. He has appeared in the ABC television series Selfie, the 2015 film Jurassic World, the 2016 TV series Stranger Things, and as the "Henchperson of Indeterminate Gender" in the TV series Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events. In 2021, he played Keith in the film Free Guy. His supporting roles include appearances in Michael Showalter's 2017 romantic comedy The Big Sick, and Sterlin Harjo and Taika Waititi's TV series Reservation Dogs, set in an Indigenous community in Oklahoma.

Sense8 is an American science fiction drama web television series created by Lana and Lilly Wachowski and J. Michael Straczynski for Netflix. The production companies behind Sense8 include the Wachowskis' Anarchos Productions, Straczynski's Studio JMS, and Georgeville Television, with Unpronounceable Productions having been set up specifically for this show.

<i>The Matrix Resurrections</i> 2021 film by Lana Wachowski

The Matrix Resurrections is a 2021 American science fiction action film produced, co-written, and directed by Lana Wachowski, and being the first in Matrix franchise to be directed solely by Lana, without her sister, Lilly. It is the sequel to The Matrix Revolutions (2003) and the fourth installment in The Matrix film franchise. The film stars Keanu Reeves, Carrie-Anne Moss, Yahya Abdul-Mateen II, Jessica Henwick, Jonathan Groff, Neil Patrick Harris, Priyanka Chopra Jonas, Christina Ricci, and Jada Pinkett Smith. The film is set sixty years after Revolutions and follows Neo, who lives a seemingly ordinary life as a video game developer having trouble with distinguishing fantasy from reality. A group of rebels, with the help of a programmed version of Morpheus, free Neo from a new version of the Matrix and fight a new enemy that holds Trinity captive.

References

  1. 1 2 3 Andreeva, Nellie; Fleming Jr, Mike (April 26, 2016). "'Sense8': Aml Ameen Replaced By Toby Onwumere In Wachowskis' Netflix Series". Deadline Hollywood . Penske Media Corporation. Archived from the original on May 7, 2016. Retrieved April 27, 2016.
  2. Miller, Liz Shannon (December 26, 2016). "Sense8: How Toby Onwumere, Season 2's New Capheus, Joined the Sensates - IndieWire" . Retrieved 2017-05-05.
  3. "'Sense8: A Christmas Special' Is Coming to Netflix". The New York Times. 14 December 2016.
  4. "UCSD Theatre & Dance: Actors Showcase 2015: Toby Onwumere". Department of Theatre & Dance. University of California, San Diego. Archived from the original on 2017-08-08. Retrieved 2017-05-05.
  5. Massabrook, Nicole (2016-12-27). "'Sense8' Debuts New Capheus Actor; Fans React To Recasting". International Business Times . Retrieved 2017-05-05.
  6. N'Duka, Amanda (2019-12-10). "'The Matrix 4': 'Sense8' & 'Empire' Actor Toby Onwumere Joins Sequel". Deadline . Retrieved 2020-01-13.