10 Popular Nigerian Actors In Hollywood

Ever wonder if Nigeria has actors in Hollywood?

Oh yeah, there are a few Hollywood actors and actresses that are Nigerian nationals. Some people have taken these actors to be African-Americans, not knowing they are Nigerians.

Some of these movie stars were born in the country but grew up overseas. While some of them were not even birthed or raised here in Nigeria, they still have a bloodline with Nigeria.

Are you curious to know some of these Hollywood superstars who are Nigerians? If so, then there is no need to worry, as we are on the verge of listing some Nigerians who play films in the United States and beyond.

All you need to do now is to keep scrolling down to find answers for all the answers you’re seeking for.

Nigerians in the Hollywood Industry

Here are a couple of Nigerian nationals playing in the Hollywood industry.

• Hakeem Kae-Kazim

Have you ever watched X-Men? If you do, then this is one of the film stars. Hakeem has his origin in Ogun State, though he was birthed in Lagos State, Nigeria, in 1962. His family settled in Great Britain while he was a child.

Right there, he grew into a Hollywood movie star.

Aside from the above movie Hakeem acted on, there are other films which include ‘Hotel Rwanda’, ‘Black Sails’, ‘Pirates of the Caribbean’ and a lot more.

• Adetomiwa Edun

For those who watched the movie “Merlin”, it was Adetomiwa Edun who played the role of Sir Elyan. Surprise isn’t it? Bartender Adetomiwa Stafford Edun was birthed in Lagos but is half Nigerian and half Ghanaian.

At the age of 11, his family moved to the UK, where he received his education.

Adetomiwa Edun has also featured in some TV series and football video games like «Marcus Young in Bates Motel», Alex Hunter in FIFA 17, 18, and 19 respectively.

• Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje

Akinnuoye-Agbaje was birthed in Washington, D.C., but his parents are indigenous Nigerian nationals.  He was formally a fashion model in the film industry until he began acting professionally in the mid-1990s.

If you have ever watched «The Mummy Return», you will probably have met with this actor.

From the outset, Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje has played more than 50 roles in the movie industry.

In addition to the aforementioned film, he has also played films such as «Pompeii», «Lost», «Ace Ventura: When Nature Calls», «The Bourne Identity, «OZ» and so on.

• Chiwetel Ejiofor

He is an extremely talented Hollywood actor, birthed in 1977 in London. But his parents are typical Nigerians, an Igbo by the way, one of the ethnic groups in Nigeria.

It will be surprising to learn that Chiwetel began playing when he was 13. Around 1995, he joined the National Youth Theatre and was fortunate to find himself at the London Academy of Music and Dramatic art.

Some of the Chiwetel movies played include «Dirty Pretty Things», «12 Years a Slave», «Serenity» and many others. Because of his excellent performance in his acting career, he won several prizes.

• Caroline Chikezie

Do you know that although she was born in the United Kingdom, she speaks fluent Igbo? Caroline’s parents are native Nigerian nationals who gave birth to her in 1974.

If you look at television series like “occasionally”, “Crime Atories”, “Torchwood”, and so on, you’ll see how talented she was in her roles.

• David Oyelowo

This Hollywood actor was birthed by Nigerian parents, native to Oyo and Edo respectively.

Though he was born and buttered in England, at age 6 his family came and stuck around in Lagos for some time and returned to London when David was 14 years of age.

By 1998 he was a graduate of the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art.

He has since started to act professionally. Among the films he presented was «Queen of Katwe» in which he played the role of a chess coach.

There are other interesting ones, such as “Rise of the Planet of Apes”, “The Butler”, “Small Island”, and so on.

• Danny Glover

Danny was birthed in San Francisco on July 22, 1946.

He is another powerful Nigerian actor, who has been in the Hollywood movie industry for a while.  Because of the way he liked his ancestral home, every year Danny Glover visits Nigeria and spends time with his people in Onitsha.

His films include “Lethal Weapons”, “To Sleep with Anger”, “The Color Purple”, “Operation Dumbo Drop”, “Shooter”, and so on.

• Sophie Okonedo

You don’t get to mention a talented actress in London and miss Sophie.

Sophie was birthed on 11 August 1968 in London to Nigerian parents who are national by decency, making her a Nigerian as well. Likewise, she even has a Nigerian name.

Sophie began her career as an actress following her graduation from the Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts in London. Her films have included “Young Soul Rebels,” “Ace Ventura: When the Nature Calls,” “Dirty Pretty Things,” and many others.

• Uzoamaka Nwanneka Adobe

This Nigerian-related Igbo was birthed on 10 February 1981 in Boston, Massachusetts U.S. Uzo started her acting career in the United States from 2003 to date.

She has played key roles in films such as «American Pastoral», «Showing Roots», «My Little Pony», and «Candy Jack» and so on.

• Elizabeth Carmen Ejogo

This actress is semi-Nigerian, semi-Scottish.

That’s because she’s got a Nigerian dad and a Scottish mom. Carmen was birthed on 22 October 1973 in England. Around 1993-95, she began to host Disney on Saturday morning, in her early twenties.

But in 2000, she started acting, doing full-time movies. There she played spectacular films such as “Love’s Lab’s lost”, “What is Worst thing That Could Happen”, “Away We Go”, and many others.

Many talented actors in Hollywood are nationals of Nigeria. The ones we just cited are just but a few out of many of them out there.

Actually, if you can see that most of these Nigerian Hollywood actors mentioned above, they even have indigenous names from Nigeria.

That’s to tell you how far our cultures have moved.