Madekwe started her acting career with a film titled
Storm Damage. In 2005, shortly after graduating from
Royal Academy of Dramatic Art she played 'Jade' in Shan Khan's
Prayer Room at
Birmingham Repertory Theatre. She subsequently made guest appearances in the
Channel 4 series
Teachers, the
BBC One soap operas
Doctors Casualty, and the
BBC Three series
Drop Dead Gorgeous. Madekwe made her feature film debut in the 2007
Woody Allen film ''
Cassandra's Dream, opposite Colin Farrell and Ewan McGregor. Following that success, she played Elisha in the one-off BBC Three drama pilot West 10 LDN, and appeared in six episodes of Trexx and Flipside as Ollie. In 2008, she landed the role of Bambi on the ITV2 drama series Secret Diary of a Call Girl, appearing in series two and three. Madekwe starred in the 2008 comedy film How to Lose Friends & Alienate People. Her theatre credits include Little Sweet Thing
by Roy Williams and Flight Path'' by
David Watson. Madekwe made her official US debut in the 2009 drama series
The Beautiful Life, which only aired two episodes on
The CW before being cancelled. In February 2011, she was cast as
Ashley Davenport in the
ABC drama series
Revenge. After being a regular for the first two seasons, it was reported in late May 2013 that Madekwe would depart the series following a guest appearance in the first episode of the
third season. She starred as Tituba in the television series
Salem from 2014 to 2016. In 2018 Madekwe starred in the British film,
County Lines, and was subsequently nominated for a BAFTA in 2021 for the role of Toni. ==Personal life==