Susan Wokoma

Last updated

Susan Wokoma
Susan Wokoma Premiere.png
Wokoma at the premiere of The Beautiful Game 2024
Born
Susan Indiaba Wokoma

(1987-12-31) 31 December 1987 (age 36)
Peckham, London, England
Alma mater Royal Academy of Dramatic Art
Occupation(s)Actor, writer, director
Years active2002–present

Susan Indiaba Wokoma (born 31 December 1987) 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. [1]

Contents

Early life and education

Wokoma was born on 31 December 1987, in London; her parents are Kalabari from Rivers State in South-South Nigeria. They lived on the now demolished North Peckham Estate. Her mother worked as a cleaner, and her father worked multiple jobs. He died in 2012.

Wokoma made her television debut at the age of 14 as a participant in CBBC's Serious Jungle in 2002. [2] She was also a member of The National Youth Theatre, making her professional acting debut in the BAFTA-winning That Summer Day .

She has a bachelor's degree in acting from the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, graduating in 2010. [3]

Career

Since graduating, her television appearances have included Phoebe Waller-Bridge's debut television show Crashing [4] as well as the film adaptation of Half of a Yellow Sun and The Inbetweeners 2 . [5] Her theatre work includes productions at the Royal Court, Bush Theatre, Almeida Theatre, The Royal National Theatre, Donmar Warehouse and St. Ann's Warehouse in New York. [6] In 2017 she made her West End theatre debut alongside Martin Freeman and Tamsin Greig in the premiere of the Olivier Award-winning comedy Labour of Love by James Graham at the Noël Coward Theatre in London. [6]

In 2017, Wokoma won the RTS Best On-Screen Performance award for Crazyhead . [7] In 2016 she won Best Supporting Actor at the BBC Audio Drama Awards for her performance in the radio adaptation of Marie NDiaye's Three Strong Women . [8] Wokoma is the voice of Princess Talanji in World of Warcraft: Battle for Azeroth , the seventh expansion of the popular World of Warcraft game. [9] Wokoma wrote, starred and associate produced the Sky comedy short Love The Sinner. [10] Love The Sinner went on in 2019 to be screened at the BFI London Film Festival [11] and was longlisted for the British Independent Film Awards in the British Short Film category. [12]

Wokoma co-wrote (alongside Shaun Pye) an episode of Romesh Ranganathan’s sitcom The Reluctant Landlord (Series 2), also for Sky.[ citation needed ] She was in the writers' room for the second series of the Netflix original series Sex Education . [13]

In 2019 she starred in the Channel 4 and IFC comedy Year of the Rabbit alongside Matt Berry and Freddie Fox. [4] In June and July 2019 she played Bottom in A Midsummer Night's Dream at Regent's Park Open Air Theatre in London. [6] The Daily Telegraph said of her performance: "All are terrific and Susan Wokoma sheer bliss, delivering one of the most endearing and effortlessly funny Bottoms I've ever seen." [14] In October 2020, Wokoma starred in the Amazon Studios comedy Truth Seekers and joined the cast of the feature film adaptation of Enola Holmes alongside Millie Bobby Brown, Henry Cavill and Helena Bonham Carter. [15] Wokoma had a leading role in the BBC drama Cheaters . [4] In May 2022, Wokoma started directing her first feature film, Three Weeks, which she also wrote and is starring in. [16]

Wokoma was a contestant on the 16th series of Taskmaster, which started airing in September 2023. [17] She came third.

Filmography

Key
†Denotes projects that have not yet been released

Film

YearTitleRoleNotes
2006 That Summer Day MarieTV film
2013 Half of a Yellow Sun Amala
Alpha: OmegaFighterShort film
2014 The Inbetweeners 2 Della
2015The Last Hours of Laura KJess ManningTV film
Burn Burn Burn [5] Megan
2016Our Ex-WifeAllisonTV film
Kid GlovesLucyShort film
2018To Provide All PeopleJunior DoctorTV film
Susan Wokoma's Sky Comedy Short: ‘Love The Sinner’Ann / Adult JoannahShort film
2019 The Ghost and the House of Truth [5] Bola Ogun
2020Night BusNatashaShort film
Enola Holmes Edith
A Response to Your MessageNarratorTV film
2022 The House [5] RosaVoice role
Save the Cinema Dolly
Lilith & EveLilithShort film
The Loneliest Boy in the World Susanne
Enola Holmes 2 Edith
2024 The Beautiful Game Protasia

Television

YearTitleRoleNotes
2011 Holby City Elsa EzeEpisode: "China in Your Hands"
Doctors Jen OldhamEpisode: "Get Smart"
Hotel Trubble DaisyRecurring role; 5 episodes
2013 Misfits RozSeries 5, Episode 4
2015Brain FreezeMs HucklebuckSeries regular; 31 episodes
Uncle Cash Pig CashierSeries 2, Episode 6
Bluestone 42 JasmineRecurring role; 3 episodes
Horrible Science Dr. SensibleSeries regular; 10 episodes
2015-17 Chewing Gum CynthiaSeries regular; 10 episodes
2016 Crashing JessicaRecurring role; 3 episodes
Crazyhead RaquelSeries regular; 6 episodes
2017 Zapped RinaEpisode: "The Party"
2017-19 Porters FrankieSeries regular; 9 episodes
2019 Year of the Rabbit [18] Mabel WisbechSeries regular; 6 episodes
Dark Money Sabrina StevensMiniseries; 4 episodes
Super Simple Love StoryEpisode: "Pilot"
2020 Truth Seekers [18] HelenSeries regular; 8 episodes
2022 Toast of London Nina ArmenianEpisode: "LA Story"
Rules of the GameDI Eve PrestonRecurring role; 4 episodes [19]
Cheaters [18] FolaSeries regular; 18 episodes [20]
Peacock LizRecurring role; 3 episodes
2023Tabby McTat†Sock (voice)Upcoming [21]
Taskmaster HerselfSeries 16 [22]
2024 Inside No. 9 CleoEpisode: "Boo to a Goose"

Video games

YearTitleRoleNotes
2018 World of Warcraft: Battle for Azeroth Princess Talanji

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Julie Walters</span> English actress (b. 1950)

Dame Julia Mary Walters, 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 Golden Globe Award, and an Olivier Award.

<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">Helen Baxendale</span> English actress

Helen Victoria Baxendale is an English actress of stage and television, known for her roles as Rachel Bradley in the British comedy drama Cold Feet (1997–2003) and Emily Waltham in the American sitcom Friends (1998–1999).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Katherine Parkinson</span> British actress (born 1977/1978)

Katherine Parkinson is an English actress and comedian. She appeared in Channel 4's The IT Crowd comedy series as Jen Barber, for which she received a British Comedy Best TV Actress Award in 2009 and 2014, and was nominated twice for the BAFTA Television Award for Best Female Comedy Performance, winning in 2014. Parkinson studied at the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art, and has appeared on stage in the plays The Seagull (2007), Cock (2009), and Home, I'm Darling (2018), for which she was nominated for the Olivier Award for Best Actress in a Play.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nicola Walker</span> British actress (born 1970)

Nicola Jane Walker is an English actress, known for her starring roles in various British television programmes from the 1990s onwards, including that of Ruth Evershed in the spy drama Spooks and DCI Cassie Stuart in Unforgotten (2015–2021). She has also worked in theatre, radio and film. She won the 2013 Olivier Award for Best Supporting Actress for the play The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time and was twice nominated for the BAFTA TV Award for Best Supporting Actress for the BBC drama Last Tango in Halifax.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Miranda Hart</span> English comedian

Miranda Katherine Hart Dyke is an English actress, comedian and writer. Following drama training at the Academy of Live and Recorded Arts, Hart began writing material for the Edinburgh Fringe Festival and making appearances in BBC sitcoms, including Hyperdrive (2006–2007) and Not Going Out (2006–2009).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Phyllis Logan</span> Scottish actress (born 1956)

Phyllis Logan is a Scottish actress, widely known for her roles as Lady Jane Felsham in Lovejoy (1986–1993) and Mrs Hughes in Downton Abbey (2010–2015). She won the BAFTA Award for Most Promising Newcomer for the 1983 film Another Time, Another Place. Her other film appearances include Secrets & Lies (1996), Shooting Fish (1997), Downton Abbey (2019) and Misbehaviour (2020).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sarah Millican</span> English comedian

Sarah Jane Millican is an English comedian, writer and presenter. Millican won the comedy award for Best Newcomer at the 2008 Edinburgh Festival Fringe. In February 2013 she was listed as one of the 100 most powerful women in the United Kingdom by Radio 4's Woman's Hour, and in the same year she married fellow comedian Gary Delaney. Her first book, How to Be Champion, was published in 2017. Millican has performed on various tours, mainly across the United Kingdom, over the years.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jack Thorne</span> English screenwriter and playwright

Jack Thorne FRSL is a British playwright, television writer, screenwriter, and producer.

Daniel Rigby is an English actor and comedian. He received a BAFTA TV Award for his leading role as Eric Morecambe in the 2011 BBC television film Eric and Ernie.

Claire Louise Rushbrook is an English actress. She is best known for her role as Roxanne in Secrets & Lies (1996), and for playing Linda Earl-Bouchtat in My Mad Fat Diary (2013–15), for which she received a 2014 nomination for BAFTA Best Supporting Actress.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Romesh Ranganathan</span> English comedian

Jonathan Romesh Ranganathan is a British comedian, presenter, and actor. His style of comedy is deadpan and often self-deprecating.

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

Michaela Ewuraba Boakye-Collinson, known professionally as Michaela Coel, is a British actress, filmmaker and poet. 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.

Cara Louise Theobold is an English actress. She made her debut as Ivy Stuart in the ITV period drama Downton Abbey (2012–2013). She has since starred in the BBC series The Syndicate and Together, the E4 comedy Crazyhead (2016), and the Amazon Prime thriller Absentia (2017–2020).

<i>Taskmaster</i> (TV series) British comedy panel game show

Taskmaster is a British comedy panel game show created by comedian and musician Alex Horne and presented by both Horne and Greg Davies. In the programme, a group of five celebrities – mainly comedians – attempt to complete a series of challenges, with Horne acting as umpire in each challenge and Davies, the titular "Taskmaster", judging the work and awarding points based on contestants' performances. The concept for the programme was first created by Horne for the Edinburgh Festival Fringe in 2010; he later secured a deal with Dave to adapt it for television with the first episode premiering in 2015. After the ninth series in 2019, the programme was acquired by Channel 4. The programme has completed sixteen series as well as three Champion of Champions specials and four New Year's Treat one-offs by January 2024, and is set to continue for at least five more series until 2026.

Vivian Nneka O. Oparah is a British actress and musician. For her performance in the film Rye Lane (2023), she won a British Independent Film Award and received a British Academy Film Award nomination. On television, she is known for her roles in the BBC Three Doctor Who spin-off Class (2016) and the Amazon Prime series Dead Hot (2024).

<i>Crazyhead</i> (TV series) 2016 British TV series

Crazyhead is a comedy horror television series created by Howard Overman, who also serves as an executive producer on the show with his company Urban Myth Films.

<i>Enola Holmes</i> (film) 2020 film by Harry Bradbeer

Enola Holmes is a 2020 mystery film starring Millie Bobby Brown as the title character, the teenage sister of the already famous Victorian-era detective Sherlock Holmes. The film is directed by Harry Bradbeer from a screenplay by Jack Thorne that adapts the first novel in The Enola Holmes Mysteries series by Nancy Springer. In the film, Enola travels to London to find her missing mother but ends up on a thrilling adventure, pairing up with a runaway lord as they attempt to solve a mystery that threatens the entire country. In addition to Brown, the film also stars Sam Claflin, Henry Cavill, and Helena Bonham Carter.

Harry Bradbeer is a British director, producer, and writer. He is known for his work on the television series Fleabag and Killing Eve, and the films Enola Holmes and Enola Holmes 2.

<i>Enola Holmes 2</i> 2022 mystery film by Harry Bradbeer

Enola Holmes 2 is a 2022 mystery film and the sequel to the 2020 film Enola Holmes, both of which star Millie Bobby Brown as the title character, the teenage sister of the already-famous Victorian-era detective Sherlock Holmes. The film is directed by Harry Bradbeer from a screenplay by Jack Thorne that adapts the book series The Enola Holmes Mysteries by Nancy Springer. Unlike the film's predecessor, it does not adapt one of Springer's novels and instead takes real-life inspiration from the 1888 matchgirls' strike. In addition to Brown, Henry Cavill, Louis Partridge, Susie Wokoma, Adeel Akhtar, and Helena Bonham Carter reprise their supporting roles, while David Thewlis and Sharon Duncan-Brewster join the cast.

References

  1. ↑ "BAFTA Announces Breakthrough Brits of 2017". BAFTA.org . 25 October 2017. Retrieved 17 May 2018.
  2. ↑ "BBC - Press Office - Serious Jungle". BBC.co.uk . Retrieved 24 November 2022.
  3. ↑ Fabrique. "Susan Wokoma — RADA". RADA.ac.uk . Retrieved 24 November 2022.
  4. 1 2 3 "Meet the cast of Enola Holmes 2". Radio Times . Retrieved 24 November 2022.
  5. 1 2 3 4 Paz, Maggie Dela (8 November 2022). "Where You've Seen The Cast Of Enola Homes 2 Before". Looper.com . Retrieved 24 November 2022.
  6. 1 2 3 Wild, Stephi (1 September 2022). "Susan Wokoma Announced as Host of The Stage Debut Awards 2022 Alongside Presenters and Performers". BroadwayWorld.com . Retrieved 24 November 2022.
  7. ↑ "RTS West of England Awards 2017". Royal Television Society. 29 March 2017.
  8. ↑ Anderson, Jane (1 February 2016). "I get stage fright, June Whitfield gets laughs and Terry Wogan gets a fitting send-off at the BBC Audio Drama Awards". Radio Times . Retrieved 24 November 2022.
  9. ↑ Marshall, Cass (7 July 2020). "Everything we know about the lore leading up to World of Warcraft: Shadowlands".
  10. ↑ Davies, Hannah J (29 October 2020). "Susan Wokoma: 'I thought that TV belonged to size zero models'". The Guardian. Retrieved 24 November 2022.
  11. ↑ "Joy to the World…". BFI. Archived from the original on 5 August 2020.
  12. ↑ "Best British Short Film Long List 2019". BIFA. 25 October 2019.
  13. ↑ Lockett, Dee (22 January 2019). "Sex Education's Ncuti Gatwa Doesn't Want to Play the Gay Best Friend". Vulture.com .
  14. ↑ Allfree, Claire (6 July 2019). "A Midsummer Night's Dream, Open Air Theatre Regent's Park, review: Toxic masculinity and trippy tiffs make for a spellbinding evening". The Telegraph .
  15. ↑ N'Duka, Amanda (2 July 2019). "'Enola Holmes': 'Chewing Gum' Actress Susan Wokoma Cast in Legendary Movie". Deadline.com .
  16. ↑ Richardson, Jay (12 May 2022). "Susan Wokoma directs her first film, abortion rom-com Three Weeks". British Comedy Guide .
  17. ↑ Rosseinsky, Katie (20 September 2023). "Taskmaster season 16: Release date, line-up and latest news". Radio Times . Retrieved 3 October 2023.
  18. 1 2 3 "Susan Wokoma". Royal Television Society . Retrieved 24 November 2022.
  19. ↑ "Rules Of The Game". BBC.co.uk . Retrieved 3 January 2022.
  20. ↑ Robinson, Abby (15 February 2022). "Cheaters' Susan Wokoma praises sitcom's 'non-judgemental' exploration of infidelity". Radio Times .
  21. ↑ "BBC announces Tabby McTat, a star-studded animation based on the book by Julia Donaldson and Axel Scheffler". BBC.co.uk . 11 May 2023. Retrieved 16 May 2023.
  22. ↑ Guide, British Comedy (1 June 2023). "Taskmaster Series 16 line-up revealed". British Comedy Guide . Retrieved 1 June 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.