Hammed Animashaun (born 6 May 1991) is a British stage, film and television actor. He won Best Male Comedy Performance at the 2024

Royal Television Society Programme Awards The Royal Television Society Programme Awards, (often referred to as the RTS Awards) seek to recognise programmes or individuals who have made a positive and material contribution to their genre: either because their content or originality in for ...

Early life

Animashaun was born into a Nigerian family in

Whitechapel Whitechapel () is an area in London, England, and is located in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. It is in east London and part of the East End of London, East End. It is the location of Tower Hamlets Town Hall and therefore the borough tow ...

in London. His father was a bus driver and his mother a voluntary worker. He had a growth spurt in college and one summer grew five inches. His younger brother is 2m 6cm (6 ft 9”). Hammed Animashaun is 1m 91cm (6 ft 3”). He was encouraged by his school drama teacher to join the Half Moon Children's Theatre in London's

Limehouse Limehouse is a district in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets in East London. It is east of Charing Cross, on the northern bank of the River Thames. Its proximity to the river has given it a strong maritime character, which it retains throu ...

. He studied philosophy with drama at university but dropped out when offered theatre roles.

Career

Stage

He received second prize in the 2021

Ian Charleson Awards The Ian Charleson Awards are theatrical awards that reward the best classical stage performances in Britain by actors under age 30. The awards are named in memory of the British actor Ian Charleson, and are run by the '' Sunday Times'' newspaper ...

which recognise actors under the age of 30 in classical roles, for his role as Bottom in ''

A Midsummer Night's Dream ''A Midsummer Night's Dream'' is a Comedy (drama), comedy play written by William Shakespeare in about 1595 or 1596. The play is set in Athens, and consists of several subplots that revolve around the marriage of Theseus and Hippolyta. One s ...

'' at the

Bridge Theatre The Bridge Theatre is a commercial theatre near Tower Bridge in London that opened in October 2017. It was developed by Nick Starr and Nicholas Hytner as the home of the London Theatre Company, which they founded following their tenancy as execu ...

. He also won Best Supporting Actor at the

WhatsOnStage Awards The WhatsOnStage Awards (WOS Awards), formerly known as the Theatregoers' Choice Awards, are organised by the theatre website WhatsOnStage.com. The awards celebrate outstanding achievements in UK theatre, with categories covering both regional p ...

for the same production. Other stage roles have included ''"Master Harold"...and the Boys'',

Athol Fugard Harold Athol Lanigan Fugard (; 11 June 19328 March 2025) was a South African playwright, novelist, actor and director. Widely regarded as South Africa's greatest playwright and acclaimed as "the greatest active playwright in the English-speaki ...

's drama set in apartheid South Africa, one of the Ugly Sisters in ''Cinderella'' at the

Lyric Hammersmith The Lyric Theatre, also known as the Lyric Hammersmith, is a nonprofit theatre on Lyric Square, off King Street, Hammersmith, London."About the Lyric" > "History" ''Lyric'' official website. Retrieved January 2024. Background The Lyric Theatre ...

, '' The Producers'' at the

Manchester Royal Exchange The Royal Exchange is a grade II listed building in Manchester, England. It is located in the city centre on land bounded by St Ann's Square, Exchange Street, Market Street, Cross Street and Old Bank Street. The complex includes the Royal Exc ...

, the original production of the ''

Barber Shop Chronicles Inua Marc Mohammed Onore de Ellams II (born 23 October 1984) is a Nigerian-born British poet, playwright and performer. He was appointed Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) in the 2023 Birthday Honours for services to the arts. E ...

'',

Rufus Norris Sir Rufus John Norris (born 16 January 1965) is a British theatre and film director, who was the artistic director and chief executive of the National Theatre from 2015 to 2025. He received the Society of London Theatre Special Award in 2025 f ...

's staging of ''The Threepenny Opera'' at the National and

Michael Longhurst Michael Longhurst (born 1981) was artistic director of the Donmar Warehouse theatre in Covent Garden, London (2019-2024). He was appointed as its fourth artistic director, succeeding Josie Rourke in the role. Longhurst grew up in Bromley, London. ...

's revival of ''Amadeus''. During 2024, Hammed Animashaun played a Gangster in a revival of ''

Kiss Me, Kate ''Kiss Me, Kate'' is a musical with music and lyrics by Cole Porter and a book by Bella and Samuel Spewack. The story involves the production of a musical version of William Shakespeare's ''The Taming of the Shrew'' and the conflict on and off- ...

'', directed by

Bartlett Sher Bartlett B. Sher (born March 27, 1959) is an American theatre director. ''The New York Times'' has described him as "one of the most original and exciting directors, not only in the American theater but also in the international world of opera". ...

at the

Barbican Theatre The Barbican Centre is a performing arts centre in the Barbican Estate of the City of London, England, and the largest of its kind in Europe. The centre hosts classical and contemporary music concerts, theatre performances, film screenings an ...

, performing "Brush Up Your Shakespeare" alongside fellow Gangster

Nigel Lindsay Nigel Lindsay (born 17 January 1969) is an English actor. He is best known on television for his roles as Sir Robert Peel in the first two seasons of ''Victoria'', Jo Jo Marshall in the Netflix series ''Safe'' and as Barry in the BAFTA-winning ...

. Their performances were hailed as "hilarious Runyonesque theatre-enthusiast gangsters"

Television

Animashaun appeared as Loial in the

Amazon Prime Video Amazon Prime Video, known simply as Prime Video, is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming television service owned by Amazon. The service primarily distributes films and television series produced or co-produced by ...

series ''

The Wheel of Time ''The Wheel of Time'' is a series of high fantasy novels by the American author Robert Jordan, with American author Brandon Sanderson as co-writer of the final three installments. Originally planned as a trilogy, ''The Wheel of Time'' came to ...

'' beginning in 2021. He stars in the 2023

BBC One 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 channel, and is known for broadcasting mainstream programming, which includes BBC News television b ...

comedy television series ''

Black Ops A covert operation or undercover operation is a military or police operation involving a covert agent or troops acting under an assumed cover to conceal the identity of the party responsible. US law Under US law, the Central Intelligence Ag ...

'', alongside

Gbemisola Ikumelo Gbemisola Ikumelo is a British actress, comedian and writer. She has won a BAFTA award for her short ''Brain in Gear'' and best female comedy performance from the Royal Television Society for her role in her show '' Famalam''. Life and career Ik ...

and Akemnji Ndifornyen, playing an undercover policeman woefully out of his depth. His character, Kay, has been described as a "glass-half-full, God-fearing gentle giant and the opposite of street-smart." He described the role on the show as a "dream come true" and that he kept expecting to be replaced for a bigger named actor in the role. He has been praised for his chemistry with Ikumelo. He won Best Male Comedy Performance at the 2024

. In March 2024, Animashaun was nominated in the Male performance in a comedy programme category at the

2024 British Academy Television Awards The 2024 British Academy Television Awards ceremony was held on 12 May 2024 at the Royal Festival Hall in London, to recognise the excellence in British television of 2023. The ceremony was hosted by Rob Beckett and Romesh Ranganathan for the se ...

Writing

In 2023, he was awarded one of two scripted creators in residence for

BBC Studios BBC Studios Limited is a British content company. It is a commercial subsidiary of the BBC that was formed in April 2018 through the merger of the BBC's commercial production arm and the BBC's commercial international distribution arm, BBC Wor ...

TalentWorks to work with producers on scripted comedy and drama.

Partial filmography

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:animashaun, hammed Living people Black British male actors English people of Nigerian descent Male actors from London Actors from the London Borough of Tower Hamlets 1991 births People from Whitechapel