Fisayo Akinade was born Adeleke Olugbade S O A Akinade in Liverpool on the 28th of December 1987. Having spent four years of his childhood in Nigeria before returning to the UK, he grew up in the Moss Side and Fallowfield areas of Manchester. Growing up he wanted to be a gymnast, however, after suffering injury, and the closure of the place where he practiced, and having always acted when he was younger, which had always been more of a hobby than anything else, he would go to Drama Drop at Contact Theatre and attend workshops at The Royal Exchange in Manchester. Then later he became a member of the Contact Young Actors Company in 2006 and loved his time in there. However, despite loving it and wanting to do, it he didn't consider acting a valid profession until much later as he had settled on the idea of being a drama teacher instead. When he was in college he went to see a production of Ma Rainey’s 'Black Bottom' at the Royal Exchange which was the first time he'd seen more than one or two Black people on stage at the same time and Kobna Holdbrook-Smith’s performance as Levee in particular really inspired him. Telling his parents that he wanted to pursue an acting career professionally, he auditioned for drama schools and got a place on his second attempt and went on to train at the Royal Central School of Speech and Drama in London. His first proper job was playing The Boy in 'Waiting for Godot' at what is now called the Leeds Playhouse but back then was the West Yorkshire Playhouse.
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| as Dean Munroe in Cucumber |
His television breakthrough came in 2015, when he starred as Dean Monroe in Russell T Davies' drama 'Cucumber' and its offshoots 'Banana' (2015) and 'Tofu' (2015). His dark and comedic portrayal of contemporary gay life
gave him the platform to play a sexually adventurous 19-year-old
with an overactive imagination. He says, "Cucumber and Banana will forever be two of my favourite jobs of all time." Following his appearance as Ziggy in 5 episodes of 'Ordinary Lives' (2015), in 2016 he starred alongside Glenn Close, Gemma Arteton and Paddy Consisdine in 'The Girl with All the Gifts'. This was followed by appearances in 'In The Dark' (2017), 'A Very English Scandal' (2018), 'Silent Witness' (2019) and in 8 episodes of 'Dangerous Liasons' (2022) in which he starred as Chevalier de Saint-Jacques. Then he had a long running role as Mr. Ajayi in 14 episodes of the Netflix series 'Heartstopper' (2022- 2024).
In February 2022, he starred in Alistair McDowall's time travel fantasy play 'The Glow' which was performed at Royal Court Theatre Downstairs in Chelsea, London. He cites the play, in which he played four roles, led to one of the most total performances he's had saying, "the dexterity required to snap in and out of one character to another was thrilling!" Then there was Arthur Miller’s 'The Crucible' (2023), directed by Lyndsey Turner at the National Theatre and set during the 17th-century Salem Witch Trials. Here he played Reverend Hague, who is determined to root out evil only to realise the injustice of it all after irreparable harm is caused. "I learned to commit to the arc and the story," he says, "because that's what shines through not only for you, but for an audience." Described as "an actor with an eye for detail and a gift" by critic Lyn Gardner, "Akinade brings to life irresistibly captivating performances borne out of the profound moments he lists."
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| In The Crucible |
He has had a flourishing theatre career, including 'The Crucible', 'Romeo and Juliet', 'The Antipodes', 'Antony and Cleopatra' and 'Barber Shop Chronicles' at the National Theatre; 'The Glow, Pigs and Dogs' and 'The Crossing Plays' at the Royal Court; 'Shipwreck' at the Almeida; 'The Way of the World', 'Saint Joan' (Ian Charleson second prize) and 'The Vote' at the Donmar; 'The Tempest' at Shakespeare's Globe; 'Barbarians' at the Young Vic; 'As You Like It' (Ian Charleson nomination) at the New Wolsey, Ipswich; 'Refugee Boy' and 'Waiting for Godot' at West Yorkshire Playhouse and 'Neighbours' at HighTide.
see also :- http://www.thefootballvoice.com/2025/04/a-history-of-liverpool-thespians-jason.html
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