My Favorite actor this week: Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje (a.k.a. Eko on ‘Lost’)

Mario Perez / 2005 ABC, INC.

Last night’s episode of “Lost” (see article at msnbc.com) was all about Eko played by Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje. I have really loved seeing him in bit parts since seeing him in the first season of “Oz” on HBO. He usually plays African characters (I wonder why?), but what intrigues me is that they tend to be complex people and he pulls off the performances so well. He is quite adept at conveying so much about his characters simply through his facial expressions and eyes.

And before I get accused of having a crush, I won’t deny that he is pretty damn fine, but that is aside from my point here (STEVE). Sometimes I just like to find out more abou the people I see on TV or in the movies.

SO – I wondered if IMBD.com (Internet Movie Database) had any info on him, so I checked out his entry an thought I’d share:
(From: http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0015382/)
Height
6′ 1″ (1.85 m)

Mini biography
Born and raised in London, England, Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje began his career as a model in Milan before moving to Los Angeles to make the transition to acting. Fluent in several languages, including English, Italian, Yoruba and Swahili, he is best known for his roles in the movies Congo (1995) and The Mummy Returns (2001), and the HBO series “Oz” (1997).

Trivia
Has a masters in Law from the University of London, but took a different career path when bitten by the acting bug.

Is perhaps best known for his role as the cunning, fierce super-criminal Adebisi on “Oz” (1997).

He went from playing Ernie Hudson’s good friend, the guide Kahega to Hudson’s Capt. Munro in “Congo,” to playing his enemy, the sociopathic Adebisi to Hudson’s hard-headed Warden Glynn in “Oz.”

The son of immigrants from Nigeria, he has played almost entirely African characters despite having been born and raised in England. He usually employs a deep, Nigerian timber while acting, while off-screen he has a very British, somewhat Cockney accent.

He is fluent in several languages including Italian, Yoruba, Swahili, and (of course) English. He can “get along” in a few other languages, including French.

Other links: http://abc.go.com/primetime/lost/cast/93544.html

Anyway…thought you might be interested in learning a little more about this cool actor.

PS – According to the ABC.com Lost bio, Akinnuoye-Agbaje is starring in a film opposite Aishwarya Rai – my (and about 1 billion otrher people’s) favorite Hindi actress! That ought to be interesting!

From the bio: “He also completed work on the film Mistress of Spices, a romantic comedy in which he stars opposite Aishwarya Rai.”