Lucian Gabriel Wiina Msamati (born 5 March 1976) is a British-Tanzanian actor. He played Salladhor Saan in HBO series ''

Game of Thrones ''Game of Thrones'' is an American fantasy drama television series created by David Benioff and D. B. Weiss for HBO. It is an adaptation of '' A Song of Ice and Fire'', a series of fantasy novels by George R. R. Martin, the fir ...

'', and was the first black actor to play

Iago Iago () is a fictional character in Shakespeare's ''Othello'' (c. 1601–1604). Iago is the play's main antagonist, and Othello's standard-bearer. He is the husband of Emilia, who is in turn the attendant of Othello's wife Desdemona. Iago ha ...

in the

Royal Shakespeare Company The Royal Shakespeare Company (RSC) is a major British theatre company, based in Stratford-upon-Avon, Warwickshire, England. The company employs over 1,000 staff and produces around 20 productions a year. The RSC plays regularly in London, St ...

's 2015 production of ''

Othello ''Othello'' (full title: ''The Tragedy of Othello, the Moor of Venice'') is a tragedy written by William Shakespeare, probably in 1603, set in the contemporary Ottoman–Venetian War (1570–1573) fought for the control of the Island of Cyp ...

''.

Early life and education

Msamati was born in London on 5 March 1976 and brought up in Zimbabwe by his Tanzanian parents, a doctor and a nurse. After secondary education at

Prince Edward School , streetaddress = , city = Harare , country = Zimbabwe , coordinates = , type = State school, boarding and day school , established = , headmaster = Dr. Aggrippa G. Sora , gender = Boys , lower_age = 13 , upper_age = 1 ...

in Harare, he studied towards a BA honours degree in French and Portuguese at the

University of Zimbabwe The University of Zimbabwe (UZ) is a public university in Harare, Zimbabwe. It opened in 1952 as the University College of Rhodesia and Nyasaland, and was initially affiliated with the University of London. It was later renamed the University ...

from 1995 to 1997.

Career

Theatre

Lenny Henry in The Comedy of Errors 2011

After university, he took a day-job as an advertising

copywriter Copywriting is the act or occupation of writing text for the purpose of advertising or other forms of marketing. The product, called copy or sales copy, is written content that aims to increase brand awareness and ultimately persuade a person or ...

and freelance radio presenter. He also worked as a voice-over artist, compere and after-dinner speaker. In 1994, Msamati and school friends Shaheen Jassat (deceased), Craig and Gavin Peter, Kevin Hanssen, Roy Chizivano, Sarah Norman founded what would become Zimbabwe's acclaimed Over the Edge Theatre Company in

Harare Harare (; formerly Salisbury ) is the capital and most populous city of Zimbabwe. The city proper has an area of 940 km2 (371 mi2) and a population of 2.12 million in the 2012 census and an estimated 3.12 million in its metropolitan ...

, later joined by Erica Glyn-Jones, Zane E. Lucas,

Chipo Chung Chipo Tariro Chung (born 17 August 1977) is a Zimbabwean actress and activist based in London. Early life and education Chung was born as a refugee in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. Her given name Chipo means "gift" in the Shona language. She spent h ...

, Karin Alexander, Rob Hollands and Michael Pearce. The company celebrated its 10th anniversary in December 2004, having flown the Zimbabwe flag across Europe, the United States and

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the Atlantic Ocean, South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the ...

. The last few years have seen individual members pursuing other interests. Though not officially disbanded, there are no immediate plans of an Over the Edge reunion. From 1998 to 2001, the company performed at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe in Edinburgh,

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a Anglo-Scottish border, border with England to the southeast ...

; some plays were written by Msamati. In November 2010, Msamati was appointed the Artistic Director of British-African theatre company

Tiata Fahodzi Tiata Fahodzi (ti∙a∙ta fa∙hoon∙zi) – meaning "theatre of the emancipated" – is a British African theatre company founded in 1997 by Femi Elufowoju Jr. It receives funding as a National Portfolio Organisation of the Arts Council England ...

, until being succeeded in 2014 by Natalie Ibu. He has continued to work with Tiata Fahodzi, directing ''Boi Boi is Dead'' in February–March 2015. In the spring of 2015, Msamati became the first black actor ever to play

in a

production of ''

'' (with

Hugh Quarshie Hugh Anthony Quarshie (born 22 December 1954) is a Ghanaian-born British actor. Some of his best-known roles include his appearances in the films ''Highlander'' (1986), '' The Church'' (1989), ''Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace'' (1 ...

in the title role). From October 2016 to March 2017 and from February to 24 April 2018, he performed in the leading role of

Antonio Salieri Antonio Salieri (18 August 17507 May 1825) was an Italian classical composer, conductor, and teacher. He was born in Legnago, south of Verona, in the Republic of Venice, and spent his adult life and career as a subject of the Habsburg monarchy ...

Peter Shaffer Sir Peter Levin Shaffer (; 15 May 1926 – 6 June 2016) was an English playwright, screenwriter, and novelist. He wrote numerous award-winning plays, of which several were adapted into films. Early life Shaffer was born to a Jewish family in L ...

's play ''

Amadeus Amadeus may refer to: *Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756–1791), prolific and influential composer of classical music *Amadeus (name), a given name and people with the name * ''Amadeus'' (play), 1979 stage play by Peter Shaffer * ''Amadeus'' (film), ...

'' at the National Theatre, a performance which Michael Billington, in a four-starred review for ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

'', described as "excellent". In 2019 he starred as Sam in '' Master Harold and the Boys'' at the Royal National Theatre. Msamati has appeared in several other theatrical productions in London, UK, including: *''

Fabulation In literary criticism, the term fabulation was popularized by Robert Scholes, in his work ''The Fabulators'', to describe the large and growing class of mostly 20th century novels that are in a style similar to magical realism, and do not fit in ...

'',

Tricycle Theatre The Kiln Theatre (formerly the Tricycle Theatre) is a theatre located in Kilburn, in the London Borough of Brent, England. Since 1980, the theatre has presented a wide range of plays reflecting the cultural diversity of the area, as well as ...

*'' Gem of the Ocean'', Tricycle Theatre *'' I.D.'',

Almeida Theatre The Almeida Theatre, opened in 1980, is a 325-seat producing house with an international reputation, which takes its name from the street on which it is located, off Upper Street, in the London Borough of Islington. The theatre produces a diver ...

*''

Mourning Becomes Electra ''Mourning Becomes Electra'' is a play cycle written by American playwright Eugene O'Neill. The play premiered on Broadway at the Guild Theatre on 26 October 1931 where it ran for 150 performances before closing in March 1932, starring Lee Baker ...

'', Royal National Theatre *'' The Overwhelming'', Royal National Theatre *''

Pericles, Prince of Tyre ''Pericles, Prince of Tyre'' is a Jacobean play written at least in part by William Shakespeare and included in modern editions of his collected works despite questions over its authorship, as it was not included in the First Folio. It was p ...

'', played the title role,

*'' President of an Empty Room'', Royal National Theatre *'' The Resistible Rise of Arturo Ui'',

Lyric Hammersmith The Lyric Theatre, also known as the Lyric Hammersmith, is a theatre on Lyric Square, off King Street, Hammersmith, London.

*''

Walk Hard Walking (also known as ambulation) is one of the main gaits of terrestrial locomotion among legged animals. Walking is typically slower than running and other gaits. Walking is defined by an 'inverted pendulum' gait in which the body vaults o ...

'', Tricycle Theatre *''

Death and the King's Horseman ''Death and the King's Horseman'' is a play by Wole Soyinka based on a real incident that took place in Nigeria during the colonial era: the horseman of a Yoruba King was prevented from committing ritual suicide by the colonial authorities. In ...

'', Royal National Theatre *'' Ruined'', Almeida Theatre *''

Clybourne Park ''Clybourne Park'' is a 2010 play by Bruce Norris written as a spin-off to Lorraine Hansberry's play '' A Raisin in the Sun'' (1959). It portrays fictional events set during and after the Hansberry play, and is loosely based on historical event ...

'',

Royal Court Theatre The Royal Court Theatre, at different times known as the Court Theatre, the New Chelsea Theatre, and the Belgravia Theatre, is a non-commercial West End theatre in Sloane Square, in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, London, England ...

Television

He has also appeared in several television productions, including episodes of the television series ''

Ultimate Force ''Ultimate Force'' is a British television action drama series that was shown on ITV, which deals with the activities of Red Troop of the SAS (Special Air Service). The first episode was broadcast on 16 September 2002, and a total of four s ...

'' and '' Spooks''. In 2008, he took on his most prominent role, playing JLB Matekoni in the

BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...

...

Early life and education

Career

Theatre

Television

Film

Radio

Personal life

Filmography

Television

Film

References

External links