Winston Duke

Winston Duke was born in the village of Argyle, Tobago in the country of Trinidad and Tobago on 15 November 1986. He was raised by Cora Pantin, a single mother who was a Tobagonian government worker and restaurant owner. He does not have a relationship with his father. His cousin is the Tobagonian politician and Progressive Democratic Patriots leader Watson Duke. As a child, Duke worked at his mother's restaurant, seating customers at their tables and learned how to "charm" strangers at an early age. When he was nine years old, his mother decided to move her family to the US. She sold the restaurant and their possessions. The three of them settled in a studio apartment in Brooklyn, New York City, where Cindy could attend medical school. Duke attended a public primary school in Crown Heights, and often frequented the local library and comic book store after school. He attended the University at Buffalo, earning a Bachelor of Arts in theatre. He subsequently earned a Master of Fine Arts in acting at Yale School of Drama, graduating in 2013. His mother died in 2022 at age 66. ==Career==

Duke started acting in theatre productions for Portland Stage Company and Yale Repertory Theatre before being cast in Person of Interest. It was released in 2018. Wesley Morris of The New York Times named his performance in Black Panther as one of the best in 2018, describing him as "funny, shameless [and] imposing". He reprised the role in Avengers: Infinity War (2018) and Avengers: Endgame (2019), which are among the highest-grossing films ever made. In 2019, Duke starred in the hit horror film Us, directed by Jordan Peele. In October 2019, Duke signed on to headline in the Apple TV+ drama series Swagger, but due to an injury suffered on-set in February 2020, he was replaced by O'Shea Jackson Jr. In September, Duke was named Actor of the Year by GQ Australia. He starred in Nine Days (2020), directed by Edson Oda, as a manager who interviews unborn souls and selects them to live on Earth. On 24 October 2021, Duke received the Maverick Award at the Newport Beach Film Festival. It was reported in July 2021 that Duke would be playing Bruce Wayne/Batman in the Spotify podcast audio drama Batman Unburied, which was released in 2022. Although Duke worried that backlash from fans about a Black actor playing Wayne would surface, his role was instead met with support and intrigue. Duke reprised his role as M'Baku in Black Panther: Wakanda Forever (2022). He has appeared in a Savage X Fenty fashion show. ==Personal life==

Duke is friends with actress Lupita Nyong'o, whom he met while attending Yale and went on to co-star with in several films. According to Esquire magazine, he is an "art fanatic". In September 2023, Duke became a naturalized citizen of Rwanda. ==Filmography==

Film Television Podcast ==Awards and nominations==