Sope Dirisu

Sope Dirisu was born in 1991 in London to Nigerian parents. His father studied history and his mother law before becoming preachers. He later studied Economics at the University of Birmingham. While studying there he played quarterback for the University of Birmingham Lions American Football team. ==Career==

In 2012, Dirisu successfully auditioned for the Royal Shakespeare Company’s Open Stages Programme. He has subsequently acted in a number of television series including The Mill, Utopia, Humans, The Casual Vacancy, Siblings, and Undercover. Dirisu appeared in three 2016 films, Criminal, ''The Huntsman: Winter's War, and Sand Castle''. He was nominated as Best Actor for the 2020 British Independent Film Awards for his role as Bol in the film His House. In 2023, Dirisu played the role of Sean Donovan in the third season of the Apple TV series Slow Horses. In 2025, Dirisu played the role of Wes in the Netflix series "Black Rabbit". Dirisu will star alongside Nicole Beharie and John Douglas Thompson in the upcoming Netflix limited series adaptation All the Sinners Bleed, based on the S. A. Cosby novel of the same name. ==Filmography==

Film Television Stage From 6 October to 3 December 2016, Dirisu played Muhammad Ali in One Night in Miami by Kemp Powers, at Donmar Warehouse in London, alongside David Ajala as Jim Brown, Arinzé Kene as Sam Cooke, and Francois Battiste as Malcolm X. Other theatre includes The Whipping Man, Tory Boyz, Romeo and Juliet, Hamlet, Red Riding Hood, Our Days of Rage, Fallujah, and Pericles with the RSC. Dirisu received a Commendation at the Ian Charleson Awards for his 2017 performance as Coriolanus in Coriolanus at the Royal Shakespeare Company. ==Awards and nominations==