Bukky Bakray

Last updated
Bukky Bakray
Bukky Bakray, 2020 interview.png
Bakray in 2020
Born2002 (age 21–22)
Hackney, London, England
OccupationActress
Years active2019–present
Known for Rocks (2019), You Don't Know Me (2022)
Awards BAFTA Rising Star Award (2021)

Bukky Bakray (born 2002) is a British actress and writer. She is known for her debut role in the film Rocks (2019). At 18, she became the youngest BAFTA Rising Star Award recipient as well as one of the youngest Best Actress in a Leading Role nominees. She appeared on the 2021 Forbes 30 Under 30 list. [1]

Contents

Early life and education

Bakray was born around 2002 [2] in Hackney, East London to Christian Nigerian parents. She grew up on an estate in Lower Clapton, near where Rocks was filmed. [3] [4] She has three brothers and a sister who lives in South Africa. She attended Clapton Girls' Academy and Cardinal Pole Catholic School. [5] [6] [7] [8]

Bakray joined the RADA Youth Company and enrolled in the Originate Actor Training programme at Theatre Peckham. [9] [10]

Career

Bakray was discovered at school when she was 15 by director Sarah Gavron, who cast Bakray in the titular role of her film Rocks. [11] [12]

In 2021, Bakray made her television debut as Bless in the BBC One series You Don't Know Me . [13] She also wrote an essay for the collection Black Joy. This was followed in 2023 by roles as Kim in the Apple TV+ series Liaison and Dionne in the Netflix horror film The Strays with Ashley Madekwe. Also in 2023, Bakray starred in Sleepova at the Bush Theatre. [14]

Bakray has an upcoming role in the film Self-Charm directed by Ella Greenwood. [15]

Bibliography

Filmography

Film

YearTitleRoleNotes
2019 Rocks Olushola "Rocks" OmotosoDebut role; At 19, Bukky Bakray became the youngest EE Rising Star Award winner and one of the youngest nominees for BAFTA Award for Best Actress in a Leading Role
2021The Gospel According to GailMiaShort film
2023 The Strays DioneNetflix Movie
TBASelf-CharmMaddieUpcoming

Television

YearTitleRoleNotes
2021 You Don't Know Me Blessing/Bless
2023 Liaison Kim

Stage

YearTitleRoleNotes
2022Living Newspaper Edition 4Ensemble Royal Court Theatre, London [17]
2023SleepovaFunmi Bush Theatre, London

Accolades

YearAwardCategoryWorkResultRef
2021 London Critics' Circle Film Awards British/Irish Actress of the Year Rocks Nominated
Young British/Irish Performer Won [18] [19]
British Independent Film Awards Best Actress Nominated
Most Promising Newcomer Nominated [20]
British Academy Film Awards Best Actress in a Leading Role Nominated [21]
Rising Star Award HerselfWon [22]
2023 The Stage Debut Awards Best Performer in a PlaySleepovaPending [23]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fiona Shaw</span> Irish actress (born 1958)

Fiona Shaw is an Irish film and theatre actress. Known for extensive work with the Royal Shakespeare Company and the National Theatre, as well as in film and television, in 2020, she was listed at No. 29 on The Irish Times list of Ireland's greatest film actors. She was made an Honorary Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) by Queen Elizabeth II in 2001.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Imelda Staunton</span> English actress and singer (born 1956)

Imelda Mary Philomena Bernadette Staunton is an English actress and singer. After training at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, Staunton began her career in repertory theatre in 1976 and appeared in various theatre productions in the United Kingdom.

Cardinal Pole Catholic School is a mixed, voluntary aided secondary school located in the Homerton area of the London Borough of Hackney, United Kingdom. Following the 'Building Schools for the Future' programme, all pupils are housed in the same building on Morning Lane. It is named after Cardinal Reginald Pole, the last Roman Catholic Archbishop of Canterbury.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Wunmi Mosaku</span> British-Nigerian actress (born 1986)

Oluwunmi Mosaku is a Nigerian-born British actress. She is known for her roles as Joy in the BBC Two miniseries Moses Jones (2009) and Holly Lawson in the ITV series Vera (2011–2012). She won the BAFTA TV Award for Best Supporting Actress for her role as Gloria Taylor in the TV film Damilola, Our Loved Boy (2016). In 2019, she starred in the fifth series of Luther. In 2020, she starred as Ruby Baptiste in HBO's Lovecraft Country, and starting in 2021, starred as Hunter B-15 in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) television series Loki.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jessica Henwick</span> British actress (born 1992)

Jessica Yu-Li Henwick is a British actress, writer and director. She began her career in 2010 and is best known for her roles in Game of Thrones, Iron Fist, Love and Monsters, The Matrix Resurrections, The Gray Man, Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery and The Royal Hotel. Her directorial debut Bus Girl was nominated for a BAFTA.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Susan Wokoma</span> British actress

Susan Indiaba Wokoma is a British actress, writer and director. She is best known for her roles as Edith in the Enola Holmes films, Cynthia in Chewing Gum, Raquel in the E4/Netflix show Crazyhead and Fola in Cheaters. Wokoma was listed as one of Europe's Forbes 30 Under 30 in 2017 and named a BAFTA Breakthrough Brit by an international jury the same year.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Michaela Coel</span> British actress and screenwriter (born 1987)

Michaela Ewuraba Boakye-Collinson, known professionally as Michaela Coel, is a British actress, filmmaker, poet, singer, and composer. She is best known for creating and starring in the E4 sitcom Chewing Gum (2015–2017), for which she won the BAFTA Award for Best Female Comedy Performance; and the BBC One/HBO comedy-drama series I May Destroy You (2020) for which she won the British Academy Television Award for Best Actress in 2021. For her work on I May Destroy You, Coel was the first black woman to win the Emmy Award for Outstanding Writing for a Limited Series, Movie, or Dramatic Special at the 73rd Primetime Emmy Awards.

Kate O'Flynn is a British actress. She is known for her performance in National Theatre's production of Port for which she received a Critics' Circle Theatre Award in 2013, as well as starring roles in plays A Taste of Honey in 2014, and The Glass Menagerie for which she was nominated for a Laurence Olivier Award for Best Actress in 2017.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Morfydd Clark</span> Welsh actress (born 17 March 1990)

Morfydd Clark is a Welsh actress. She is best known for playing Galadriel in the Amazon Prime series The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power (2022–). She received a number of accolades for her performance in the film Saint Maud (2019), including a BAFTA Cymru as well as BIFA and BAFTA Rising Star Award nominations.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Letitia Wright</span> Guyanese-British actress (born 1993)

Letitia Michelle Wright is a Guyanese-British actress. She began her career with guest roles in the television series Top Boy, Coming Up, Chasing Shadows, Humans, Doctor Who, and Black Mirror. For the latter, she received a Primetime Emmy Award nomination. She then had her breakthrough for her role in the 2015 film Urban Hymn, for which the British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) named Wright among the 2015 group of BAFTA Breakthrough Brits.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ria Zmitrowicz</span> British actress

Ria Zmitrowicz is a British actress. She is known for her work in theatre, earning WhatOnStage and Manchester Theatre Award nominations, and her role in the BBC drama Three Girls (2017).

Theresa Ikoko is a British playwright and screenwriter of Nigerian descent. Her play Girls, about three girls abducted by terrorists in northern Nigeria, won the Alfred Fagon Award and other awards.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Aimee Lou Wood</span> English actress

Aimee Lou Wood is an English actress. After early stage roles in Mary Stuart (2016–2017) and People, Places and Things (2017), Wood made her screen debut on the Netflix series Sex Education (2019–2023), which won her a British Academy Television Award for Best Female Comedy Performance from two nominations. Her films include The Electrical Life of Louis Wain (2021) and Living (2022). On stage, she appeared in the likes of Uncle Vanya (2020) and Cabaret (2023).

<i>Rocks</i> (film) 2019 British drama film

Rocks is a 2019 British coming-of-age drama film directed by Sarah Gavron. The film stars Bukky Bakray as Olushola, nicknamed "Rocks", a Black British teenage girl living in Hackney, London, whose single mother abandons her and her younger brother Emmanuel, forcing them to try to avoid being taken into social services.

Ella Mae Greenwood is an English filmmaker, actress, writer, and activist. An ambassador for Stem4, she is the director of the mental health-focused company Broken Flames Productions. She earned critical acclaim for her short film Faulty Roots. She appeared on the 2021 Forbes 30 Under 30 list.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kosar Ali</span> British actress

Kosar Ali is a British actress. Her debut role in the 2019 film Rocks leading her with a nomination at only 17 for Best Supporting Actress at the 74th British Academy Film Awards whilst also being the youngest recipient to win two British Independent Film Awards. She plays Victoire in Dangerous Liaisons on Starz.

You Don't Know Me is a British four-part television series. It is based on the 2017 crime novel of the same name by Imran Mahmood. The first episode premiered on BBC One on 5 December 2021, with the series available to stream on BBC iPlayer following broadcast. It had an international release on Netflix on 17 June 2022.

The 75th British Academy Film Awards, also known as the BAFTAs, were held on 13 March 2022 at the Royal Albert Hall in London, honouring the best national and foreign films of 2021. Presented by the British Academy of Film and Television Arts, accolades were handed out for the best feature-length film and documentaries of any nationality that were screened at British cinemas in 2021.

Rashmika Ellora Torchia is a British actress. For her role in the film In the Earth (2021), she was nominated for a British Independent Film Award. Her other films include Les Cowboys (2015), Midsommar (2019), and Ali & Ava (2021).

References

  1. ↑ "Forbes 30 Under 30 Europe 2021: Entertainment". Forbes .
  2. ↑ Lizzie Edmonds, Love letters, Evening Standard, London, 19 January 2022, page 9. She was 19 on that date.
  3. ↑ Phillips, Emily (26 March 2021). "My London: Bukky Bakray". Evening Standard. Retrieved 28 March 2021.
  4. ↑ Ross, Charley (24 September 2019). "Meet Bukky Bakray, Rocks' teenage star". Time Out London. Retrieved 13 March 2021.
  5. ↑ Williams, Holly (8 March 2020). "Rocks stars: meet the teenage cast of the hot new British film". The Guardian. Retrieved 13 March 2021.
  6. ↑ Jones, Emma (17 September 2020). "Unknown east London schoolgirl actresses on 'life-changing' film Rocks". BBC. Retrieved 13 March 2021.
  7. ↑ ClaptonGirlsAcademy (27 September 2019). "A huge well done to CGA superstars Bukky and Anastasia for your performances in the new film Rocks. Here is an interview with Bukky in Time Out Magazine! Congratulations girls!" . Retrieved 4 June 2021– via Twitter.
  8. ↑ Chant, Holly (13 April 2021). "Hackney schoolgirl and actress Bukky Bakray wins Bafta". Hackney Gazette. Retrieved 22 July 2021.
  9. ↑ "Hackney's Bukky Bakray nominated for Leading Actress and Rising Star at 2021 BAFTAs". Hackney Citizen. 25 March 2021. Retrieved 28 March 2021.
  10. ↑ "BAFTA Breakthrough awards for RADA actors". RADA. 17 November 2020. Retrieved 11 April 2021.
  11. ↑ Chant, Holly (4 March 2021). "Hackney 'rising star' nominated for BAFTA". Hackney Gazette. Retrieved 13 March 2021.
  12. ↑ Jones, Alice (3 March 2021). "Bukky Bakray on 'Rocks' and the Baftas: 'Anyone can act. The industry makes it exclusive out of fear'". INews. Retrieved 13 March 2021.
  13. ↑ Ravindran, Manori (18 March 2021). "BAFTA-Nominated 'Rocks' Actor Bukky Bakray to Star in BBC and Netflix Drama 'You Don't Know Me' (EXCLUSIVE)". Variety. Retrieved 18 March 2021.
  14. ↑ Crompton, Sarah (6 March 2023). "Sleepova with Bukky Bakray at Bush Theatre – review". WhatsOnStage. Retrieved 23 September 2023.
  15. ↑ Ramachandran, Naman (1 December 2020). "Bukky Bakray to Headline Ella Greenwood's Mental Health Film 'Self-Charm' (EXCLUSIVE)". Variety. Retrieved 13 March 2021.
  16. ↑ Chandler, Mark (21 December 2020). "Brinkhurst-Cuff curates Black Joy collection for Penguin". The Bookseller. Retrieved 13 July 2021.
  17. ↑ "Bukky Bakray". Royal Court Theatre. Retrieved 23 September 2023.
  18. ↑ Cline, Rich (7 February 2021). "London Critics name Nomadland their best film of 2020". Critics' Circle. Retrieved 13 March 2021.
  19. ↑ Sherwin, Adam (7 February 2021). "London Critics' Circle Film Awards: Rocks star Bukky Bakray wins after being discovered in a Hackney classroom". MSN. Retrieved 13 March 2021.
  20. ↑ "Winners & Nominations". BIFA. 4 December 2020. Retrieved 13 March 2021.
  21. ↑ Sherwin, Adam (9 March 2021). "Bafta 2021 nominations: Rocks star Bukky Bakray and Daniel Kaluuya lead breakthrough year for diverse talent". INews. Retrieved 13 March 2021.
  22. ↑ Pewsey, Guy (3 March 2021). "Bukky Bakray And Morfydd Clark Among Nominees For BAFTA's EE Rising Star Award". Grazia. Retrieved 13 March 2021.
  23. ↑ "Stage Debut Awards 2023 Nominees include Lenny Henry: Samira Wiley: Bukky Bakray: Carla Dixon-Hernandez: Anoushka Lucas: Kyle Ramar Freeman and more". Alt A Review. 24 August 2023. Retrieved 23 September 2023.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.