Nikki Amuka-Bird
| Nikki Amuka-Bird | |
|---|---|
.jpg) Amuka-Bird at the production of The Children's Monologues | |
| Born |
10 March 1976 Nigeria |
| Occupation | Actress |
| Years active | 1998 – present |
Nikki Amuka-Bird (born 27 February 1976) is a Nigerian-born British actress of the stage, television and film.
Early life
Nikki Amuka-Bird was born in Delta, Nigeria, where her father lives. She left there as a young child and was brought up by her mother in England and in Antigua. Attending boarding-school in Britain, Amuka-Bird originally hoped to be a dancer until that ambition was thwarted by injury: "I hurt my back and at that point was deciding what to do university-wise and I thought I would try for drama college because I knew you could do some dancing there but it didn’t have to take over everything. It was only really when I went to drama college that that world [acting] opened up to me and I fell in love with it and became obsessed like everybody else.”[1] She went to London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art (LAMDA) and subsequently performed with the Royal Shakespeare Company (RSC).
Career
Her theatrical credits include Welcome to Thebes (National Theatre); Twelfth Night (Bristol Old Vic, for which she won an Ian Charleson Award nomination in 2004 for playing Viola);[1] World Music (Crucible Theatre, Sheffield, and Donmar Warehouse); Top Girls (Oxford Stage Company); A Midsummer Night's Dream, The Tempest and The Servant of Two Masters (RSC); Doubt: A Parable (Tricycle Theatre).
Her film credits include The Omen (2006 remake), Cargo, Almost Heaven as well as the screen adaptation of Alexander McCall Smith's novel The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency.[2] On television, Amuka-Bird has appeared in Spooks, The Line of Beauty, The Last Enemy, Robin Hood, Torchwood, and a recurring role in the reimagined BBC apocalyptic series Survivors. In 2010 she appeared as Det. Supt Gaynor Jenkins in the BBC's Silent Witness.
She appeared in Small Island, the BBC adaptation of Andrea Levy's award-winning novel, broadcast in December 2009.[3] In June 2016 it was announced that she and Phoebe Fox would star in the production of Zadie Smith's novel NW.[4] It was broadcast on BBC2 on 14 November 2016.[5][6]
Personal life
In 2003, Amuka-Bird married actor Geoffrey Streatfeild, whom she met while touring with the RSC in Japan. They breed budgerigars.
Filmography
| Title | Duration | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| NW | 2016 | Natalie | BBC 2 |
| Inside No. 9 | 2015 | Joanne | Series 2, episode 4, "Cold Comfort" |
| Jupiter Ascending | 2015 | Diomika Tsing | |
| House of Fools | 2014 | Fiona | 1 episode |
| Death in Paradise | 2014 | Anna Jackson | 1 episode |
| Lovesick | 2014 | Anna | Channel 4 series |
| Sinbad | 2012 | The Professor | Sky 1 TV series Episode: "For Whom the Egg Shatters" |
| Luther | 2011–13 | Det. Sgt Erin Gray (Series 2), promoted to Det. Chief Inspector in Series 3 | BBC One TV series |
| Small Island | 2009 | Celia | BBC One |
| Survivors | 2008–10 | Samantha Willis MP | Notes BBC One TV series |
| The Disappeared | 2008 | Shelley Cartwright | Notes |
| The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency | 2008 | Alice Busang | Notes |
| The Last Enemy | 2008 | Susan Ross | TV mini-series |
| Torchwood | 2008 | Beth Halloran/Sleeper Agent | 1 episode |
| The Whistleblowers | 2007 | Helen Errol | 1 episode |
| Five Days | 2007 | PC Simone Farnes | TV mini-series |
| Born Equal | 2006 | Itshe | Notes |
| Robin Hood | 2006 | Abbess | 1 episode |
| Spooks | 2006 | Michelle Lopez | 1 episode |
| The Omen | 2006 | Dr. Becker | |
| The Line of Beauty | 2006 | Rosemary Charles | 2 episodes |
| Shoot the Messenger | 2006 | Heather | Notes |
| The True Voice of Prostitution | 2006 | ||
| Cargo | 2006 | Subira | |
| Silent Witness | 2005–10 | Det Supt Gaynor Jenkins, SImone Campbell | BBC One TV series |
| Casualty @ Holby City | 2005 | Moji Muzenda | 3 episodes |
| Holby City | 1999–2005 | various | 3 episodes |
| Casualty | 2005 | Moji Muzenda | 1 episode |
| Afterlife | 2005 | Sandra Petch | 1 episode |
| Almost Heaven | 2005 | Rosie | |
| Murder Prevention | 2004 | Gemma | 1 episode |
| Bad Girls | 2003–04 | Paula Miles | 8 episodes |
| Canterbury Tales | 2003 | Constance Musa | 1 episode |
| Doctors | 2000 | Nurse | 1 episode |
| Safe as Houses | 2000 | Carole | |
| Forgive and Forget | 2000 | Emma | |
| The Bill | 1999 | Doreen West | 1 episode |
| Grafters | 1998 | Martha | TV mini-series |
References
- 1 2 Caroline Bishop, "Nikki Amuka-Bird", Official London Theatre, 30 June 2010.
- ↑ "The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency - Nikki Amuka Bird plays Alice Busang", BBC Press Office.
- ↑ Alex Flatcher, "BBC One to adapt Levy's 'Small Island'", Digital Spy, 23 October 2008.
- ↑ Natasha Onwuemezi, "Amuka-Bird and Fox to star in NW adaptation", The Bookseller, 10 June 2016.
- ↑ Tom Meltzer, "NW star Nikki Amuka-Bird: 'Zadie is purposefully challenging the viewer'", The Guardian, 14 November 2016.
- ↑ Adrian Lobb, "NW Star Nikki Amuka-Bird Interview: 'Bursting through the glass ceiling can cause damage'", The Big Issue, 21 November 2016.
External links
- Nikki Amuka-Bird at the Internet Movie Database
- Nikki Amuka-Bird at Hamilton Hodell Talent Management.
- Survivors Interview
- Tola Ositelu, Interview with Nikki Amuka-Bird: “Our job as actors is to show the colour of our skin doesn’t matter”, Soul Culture, 17 June 2010.
- Sophia A. Jackson, "Afridiziak Theatre News interview with Nikki Amuka-Bird, Welcome to Thebes", Afridiziak Theatre News, 3 June 2010.
- Radhika Sanghani, "Meet Nikki Amuka-Bird - star of BBC's gritty new Zadie Smith adaptation, NW", The Telegraph, 14 November 2016.