Adesuwa Oni (born 1989) is a British actress. She is known for her roles as Queen Njinga in the

Netflix Netflix is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service. The service primarily distributes original and acquired films and television shows from various genres, and it is available internationally in multiple lang ...

docudrama series '' African Queens: Njinga'' and Ngozi Okoye in the

BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

medical drama series ''

Casualty Casualty may refer to: *Casualty (person), a person who is killed or rendered unfit for service in a war or natural disaster **Civilian casualty, a non-combatant killed or injured in warfare * The emergency department of a hospital, also known as ...

''.

Life and career

Oni attended

Millfield Millfield is a public school (English fee-charging boarding and day school for pupils aged 13–18) located in Street, Somerset, England. It was founded in 1935. Millfield is a registered charity and is the largest co-educational boarding ...

Somerset Somerset ( , ), Archaism, archaically Somersetshire ( , , ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South West England. It is bordered by the Bristol Channel, Gloucestershire, and Bristol to the north, Wiltshire to the east ...

, where she studied drama for her

A-levels The A-level (Advanced Level) is a subject-based qualification conferred as part of the General Certificate of Education, as well as a school leaving qualification offered by the educational bodies in the United Kingdom and the educational ...

. Oni had a passion for acting since the age of five, which she accredits to watching ''

Singin' in the Rain ''Singin' in the Rain'' is a 1952 American musical romantic comedy film directed and choreographed by Gene Kelly and Stanley Donen, starring Kelly, Donald O'Connor and Debbie Reynolds, and featuring Jean Hagen, Millard Mitchell, Rita Moreno a ...

'' as a child in

Nigeria Nigeria, officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a country in West Africa. It is situated between the Sahel to the north and the Gulf of Guinea in the Atlantic Ocean to the south. It covers an area of . With Demographics of Nigeria, ...

. Despite this, she did not believe she was on the road to an acting path, feeling as though she was one of the least favourites in her drama class at Millfield. She has instead credited her dance teacher for instilling confidence in her, stating: "She saw something in me I did not see in myself, and she pushed me harder than the other dancers in Bazique to do more ballet exams in a year than anyone else at the time. So, she and I had a lot of private lessons over break and lunch times." Oni then attended the

University of Southampton The University of Southampton (abbreviated as ''Soton'' in post-nominal letters) is a public university, public research university in Southampton, England. Southampton is a founding member of the Russell Group of research-intensive universit ...

, where she studied economics. Whilst there, she was part of various dance and threatre groups, as well as being the president of the

Jazz dance Jazz Dance is a performance dance and style that arose in the United States in the early 20th century. Jazz Dance may allude to vernacular Jazz, Broadway or dramatic Jazz. The two types expand on African American vernacular styles of dance that ...

society A society () is a group of individuals involved in persistent social interaction or a large social group sharing the same spatial or social territory, typically subject to the same political authority and dominant cultural expectations. ...

. She went on to study at the

London School of Economics The London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE), established in 1895, is a public research university in London, England, and a member institution of the University of London. The school specialises in the social sciences. Founded ...

, where she studied economic history but did not graduate, as well as participating in their drama society. She then worked at

Deloitte Deloitte is a multinational professional services network based in London, United Kingdom. It is the largest professional services network in the world by revenue and number of employees, and is one of the Big Four accounting firms, along wi ...

for three years as a management consultant. In 2016, Oni made her professional acting debut in the film ''

Housefull 3 ''Housefull 3'' is a 2016 Indian Hindi-language comedy film co-written and directed by Sajid-Farhad and produced by Nadiadwala Grandson Entertainment. The film is the third installment of the ''Housefull'' series. It stars an ensemble cast of ...

''. She continued to make various film and television appearances, including roles in '' Years and Years'', ''

The Witcher ''The Witcher'' (, ) is a series of 9 fantasy novels and 15 short stories by Polish author Andrzej Sapkowski. The series revolves around the eponymous witcher, Geralt of Rivia. Witchers are monster hunters given superhuman abilities for the ...

'' and '' Hanna''. Then in 2023, she was cast in the

docudrama series '' African Queens: Njinga''. She portrayed Queen Njinga. A year later, she was cast in the

medical drama series ''

''. She made her first appearance as Ngozi Okoye, a

staff nurse Nursing is a health care profession that "integrates the art and science of caring and focuses on the protection, promotion, and optimization of health and human functioning; prevention of illness and injury; facilitation of healing; and alle ...

, on 6 January 2024.

Filmography

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Oni, Adesuwa 1989 births 21st-century British actresses Actresses from Somerset Alumni of the London School of Economics Alumni of the University of Southampton Black British actresses British people of Nigerian descent Living people People educated at Millfield