Jovan Adepo (born 1988) is a British-American actor. He made his feature film debut in the period drama '' Fences'' (2016), which was followed by roles in the psychological horror film '' Mother!'' (2017), the action horror film ''

Overlord An overlord in the English feudal system was a lord of a manor who had subinfeudated a particular manor, estate or fee, to a tenant. The tenant thenceforth owed to the overlord one of a variety of services, usually military service or ...

'' (2018), the period comedy-drama ''

Babylon Babylon ( ) was an ancient city located on the lower Euphrates river in southern Mesopotamia, within modern-day Hillah, Iraq, about south of modern-day Baghdad. Babylon functioned as the main cultural and political centre of the Akkadian-s ...

'' (2022), and the drama '' His Three Daughters'' (2023). Adepo also starred in the

HBO Home Box Office (HBO) is an American pay television service, which is the flagship property of namesake parent-subsidiary Home Box Office, Inc., itself a unit owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. The overall Home Box Office business unit is based a ...

supernatural drama series '' The Leftovers'' (2015–2017), the

Facebook Watch Facebook Watch (currently rebranding to Facebook Video) is a video on demand service operated by American company Meta Platforms (previously named Facebook, Inc.). The company announced the service in August 2017 and it was available to all U.S. ...

drama series '' Sorry for Your Loss'' (2018–2019), 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 ...

action thriller series '' Jack Ryan'' (2019), 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 ...

true crime miniseries '' When They See Us'' (2019), the HBO superhero miniseries ''

Watchmen ''Watchmen'' is a comic book Limited series (comics), limited series by the British creative team of writer Alan Moore, artist Dave Gibbons, and colorist John Higgins (comics), John Higgins. It was published monthly by DC Comics in 1986 and 19 ...

'' (2019), the

CBS All Access Paramount+ (formerly known as CBS All Access in the United States and 10 All Access in Australia) is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service owned by Paramount Global. The service's content is drawn primarily ...

fantasy miniseries '' The Stand'' (2020–2021), and the Netflix science fiction series '' 3 Body Problem'' (2024). For his performance as Hooded Justice in ''Watchmen'', he was nominated for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Limited Series or Movie.

Early life and education

Adepo was born in 1988 in Upper Heyford, Oxfordshire. His mother is a British Nigerian from

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

, while his father is an

African American African Americans, also known as Black Americans and formerly also called Afro-Americans, are an Race and ethnicity in the United States, American racial and ethnic group that consists of Americans who have total or partial ancestry from an ...

from

Chattanooga, Tennessee Chattanooga ( ) is a city in Hamilton County, Tennessee, United States, and its county seat. It is located along the Tennessee River and borders Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the south. With a population of 181,099 in 2020, it is Tennessee ...

. His maternal grandfather Fatai Adepo was special adviser to former Nigerian President

Olusegun Obasanjo Chief Olusegun Matthew Okikiola Ogunboye Aremu Obasanjo (; ; born 5 March 1937) is a Nigerian former army general, politician and statesman who served as Nigeria's head of state from 1976 to 1979 and later as its president from 1999 to 200 ...

. He moved to the United States with his family at age 2. Raised in

Waldorf, Maryland Waldorf is a census-designated place in Charles County, Maryland, United States. Located south-southeast of Washington, D.C., Waldorf is part of Southern Maryland. Its population was 81,410 at the 2020 census. Waldorf has experienced dramatic gr ...

, he acted in school and church plays. He attended college at

Bowie State University Bowie State University (Bowie State or BSU) is a public historically black university in Prince George's County, Maryland, north of Bowie. It is part of the University System of Maryland. Founded in 1865, Bowie State is Maryland's oldest his ...

Maryland Maryland ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It borders the states of Virginia to its south, West Virginia to its west, Pennsylvania to its north, and Delaware to its east ...

, receiving his B.A. in

political science Political science is the scientific study of politics. It is a social science dealing with systems of governance and Power (social and political), power, and the analysis of political activities, political philosophy, political thought, polit ...

and

philosophy Philosophy ('love of wisdom' in Ancient Greek) is a systematic study of general and fundamental questions concerning topics like existence, reason, knowledge, Value (ethics and social sciences), value, mind, and language. It is a rational an ...

. While studying political science, he began taking creative writing classes.

Career

Early workshops and roles

Adepo moved to

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

in 2011 after receiving his bachelor's degree. He intended to become a writer, but he started conducting commercial workshops to supplement his income. He took acting classes in order to book commercials for extra income. His interest in acting grew. Adepo studied acting under the tutelage of a variety of notable instructors, including Ben Guillory of The Robey Theatre Company and

Dianne Hull Dianne Hull (born November 24, 1949) is an American former actress whose film career spanned from 1969 to the early 1990s. The films she has acted in include '' The Magic Garden of Stanley Sweetheart'', '' Aloha, Bobby and Rose'', '' The Arrange ...

of the

Actors Studio The Actors Studio is a membership organization for professional actors, theatre directors and playwrights located on West 44th Street in Hell's Kitchen in New York City. The studio is best known for its work refining and teaching method actin ...

. Through church in Maryland, he had met

Viola Davis Viola Davis ( ; born August 11, 1965) is an American actress and film producer. List of awards and nominations received by Viola Davis, Her accolades include both the Triple Crown of Acting and EGOT. ''Time (magazine), Time'' named her one of ...

's older sister, who helped him get in contact with Davis. Davis directed him to study techniques, attend plays, and read as many plays as he could.

Film and television roles

He was part of ''Live in Front of a Studio Audience: Norman Lear's All in the Family and The Jeffersons''. He played the role of Lionel Jefferson. The special was conceptualized and hosted by

Jimmy Kimmel James Christian Kimmel (born November 13, 1967), known professionally as Jimmy Kimmel, is an American television host, comedian, writer, voice actor, and producer. He has been the host and executive producer of '' Jimmy Kimmel Live!'', a late-n ...

, and the team took home the Emmy for Outstanding Variety Special (Live). In 2016 he starred in '' Fences'' alongside

and

Denzel Washington Denzel Hayes Washington Jr. (born December 28, 1954) is an American actor, producer, and director. Known for his dramatic roles Denzel Washington on screen and stage, on stage and screen, Washington has received List of awards and nominations ...

. In ''Fences'', he stars as Cory Maxson, the son of the main characters played by Davis and Washington. Adepo was "the only member of the ''Fences'' cast who did not star in the play's 2010 Broadway revival before it made the jump to feature film." In 2017, he appeared as the central character along with Wyatt Russell in ''

'', both playing American paratroopers confronted by Nazi super soldiers. By 2017, he was also a series regular on '' The Leftovers'' on

, appearing in the second and third seasons. Adepo performed in the 2017 horror film '' Mother!'' by

Darren Aronofsky Darren Aronofsky (born February 12, 1969) is an American Filmmaking, filmmaker. His films are noted for their surreal, dramatic, and often disturbing elements, frequently in the form of psychological realism. His accolades include a Golden Lion ...

. In May 2019, he appeared as the adult Antron McCray in '' When They See Us'', nominated for an Emmy, about the Central Park Five. Adepo played the role of Larry Underwood in the 2020 miniseries adaptation of

Stephen King Stephen Edwin King (born September 21, 1947) is an American author. Dubbed the "King of Horror", he is widely known for his horror novels and has also explored other genres, among them Thriller (genre), suspense, crime fiction, crime, scienc ...

's '' The Stand''. In November 2019, he appeared as the central character in the sixth episode of ''

'', playing the world's first superhero, Hooded Justice. Also in November 2019, he was in an unreleased independent film called ''Violent Heart'', to be released in 2020. He was named one of ''

Dazed Magazine ''Dazed'' (''Dazed & Confused'' until February 2014) is a quarterly British lifestyle magazine founded in 1991. It covers music, fashion, film, art, and literature. ''Dazed'' is published by Dazed Media, an independent media group known for produ ...

's'' "Dazed 100". In March 2021, he was cast to star in ''

''. In 2024, Adepo co-starred as one of the major characters in the Netflix science-fiction series "3 Body Problem." He will reprise his role in at least one of the two new seasons greenlit by Netflix.

Filmography

Film

Television

Awards and nominations

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Adepo, Jovan Living people 21st-century English male actors African-American Christians 21st-century African-American male actors 21st-century American male actors American male film actors American male television actors American people of Nigerian descent Black British male actors Bowie State University alumni Christians from Maryland English emigrants to the United States English male actors English male television actors English male film actors English people of African-American descent English people of Nigerian descent Male actors from Oxfordshire Actors from Cherwell District People from Waldorf, Maryland 1988 births