Judith Iyabo Shekoni is an English actress, television personality and businesswoman.

Early life and education

Born to a Yoruba Nigerian father and a British mother of English and Spanish descent, Shekoni is from

Gorton Gorton is an area of Manchester in Greater Manchester, England. It is to the southeast of Manchester city centre. The population at the United Kingdom Census 2011, 2011 census was 36,055. Neighbouring areas include Levenshulme and Openshaw. A ...

, Manchester.

Career

Shekoni began her television career with a breakout role as Marjorie "Precious" Hudson (née Hulton) in the BBC1 soap ''

EastEnders ''EastEnders'' is a British television soap opera created by Julia Smith (producer), Julia Smith and Tony Holland which has been broadcast on BBC One since February 1985. Set in the fictional borough of Walford in the East End of London, the ...

''. She then moved into film with roles including ''

Garfield 2 ''Garfield: A Tail of Two Kitties'' (released in some countries as ''Garfield 2'') is a 2006 adventure comedy film directed by Tim Hill and written by Joel Cohen and Alec Sokolow. It is the sequel to '' Garfield: The Movie'' (2004), and stars ...

'' for Fox, ''

The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde ''Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde'' is an 1886 Gothic horror novella by Scottish author Robert Louis Stevenson. It follows Gabriel John Utterson, a London-based legal practitioner who investigates a series of strange occurrences between ...

'' as Renee and ''

Ali G Indahouse ''Ali G Indahouse'' is a 2002 comedy film written by Sacha Baron Cohen and Dan Mazer, directed by Mark Mylod, and starring Baron Cohen as Ali G, the character he originally played on the Channel 4 comedy series '' The 11 O'Clock Show'' and ''D ...

''. Shekoni lived and studied in Los Angeles for 10 years and appeared on US television shows including ''

NCIS NCIS or N.C.I.S. may refer to: Law enforcement * National Criminal Intelligence Service, the predecessor to the Serious Organised Crime Agency of the United Kingdom * Naval Criminal Investigative Service, a United States law enforcement and intelli ...

'', ''

All of Us ''All of Us'' is an American sitcom that premiered on the UPN network in the United States on September 16, 2003, where it aired for its first three seasons. On October 1, 2006, the show moved to The CW, a new network formed by the merger of UP ...

'' and ''

Damages At common law, damages are a remedy in the form of a monetary award to be paid to a claimant as compensation for loss or injury. To warrant the award, the claimant must show that a breach of duty has caused foreseeable loss. To be recognized at ...

'', ''

Fat Friends ''Fat Friends'' is a British drama that aired on ITV from 12 October 2000 to 24 March 2005, consisting of 25 episodes over four series. Set in Leeds, the series explores the lives of several slimming club members, with a focus on the various ...

'' and ''

The King of Queens ''The King of Queens'' is an American television sitcom that ran on CBS from September 21, 1998, to May 14, 2007, with a total of 207 half-hour episodes spanning nine seasons. The series was created by Michael J. Weithorn and David Litt, who al ...

''. Whilst in Los Angeles she worked with

Bill Condon William Condon (born October 22, 1955) is an American director and screenwriter. Condon is known for writing and/or directing numerous successful and acclaimed films including ''Gods and Monsters (film), Gods and Monsters'', ''Chicago (2002 fi ...

in the film '' The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn Part 2''. She joined the cast as a lead in ''Heroes Reborn'' in 2015, the NBC reboot of the original show, where she played Joanne Collins opposite

Zachary Levi Zachary Levi Pugh ( ; born September 29, 1980) is an American actor. He starred as Chuck Bartowski in the action comedy series ''Chuck (TV series), Chuck'' (2007–2012), and as Captain Marvel (DC Comics), the titular character in the superher ...

. Relocating back to the UK in 2016, Shekoni appeared in the second season of the

BBC1 BBC One is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by the BBC. It is the corporation's oldest and Flagship (broadcasting), flagship channel, and is known for broadcasting mainstream programming, which includ ...

drama ''

Ordinary Lies ''Ordinary Lies'' is a British television drama series that was first broadcast on BBC One on 17 March 2015. The six-part first series, written by Danny Brocklehurst, is set in a car showroom. The second, also in six-parts, is set in the warehouse ...

'' written by Bafta winning writer Danny Brocklehurst, airing in November 2016. She then filmed two seasons as the female lead opposite Donald Sutherland and Ray Winston for the American cable series ''

Ice Ice is water that is frozen into a solid state, typically forming at or below temperatures of 0 ° C, 32 ° F, or 273.15 K. It occurs naturally on Earth, on other planets, in Oort cloud objects, and as interstellar ice. As a naturally oc ...

'', directed by Antoine Fuqua (''Training Day'', ''Magnificent Seven'') appearing as Lady Rah, the kingpin of LA Diamond Trade. Remaining in London, she starred as Shrike in '' Maleficent: Mistress of Evil'' for Disney, with Angelina Jolie and Michelle Pfieffer. Shekoni joined the cast of the Apple TV series ''Foundation'' as She-Bends-Light in 2023.

Business interests

Shekoni co-founded with British model Amanda Van Annan Extension Evolution, a company supplying hair extensions, and is also the founder of two other companies, Make It America and Actors Evolution. She is the CEO of Global WPM, Atap Productions and is affiliated with the Helen Bamber Foundation.

Filmography

Film

Television

References

External links

* * * http://www.makeitamerica.com/ {{DEFAULTSORT:Shekoni, Judi Living people 1978 births 20th-century English actresses 21st-century English actresses Actresses from Manchester Black British actresses English child actresses English female models English film actresses English people of Nigerian descent English people of Spanish descent English people of Yoruba descent English soap opera actresses English television actresses English television presenters People from Gorton Models from Manchester