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LaKeith Lee Stanfield (born August 12, 1991) is an American actor. He made his feature film debut in '' Short Term 12'' (2013), for which he was nominated for an Independent Spirit Award. He received further recognition for his roles in the films '' Get Out'' (2017), '' Sorry to Bother You'' (2018), '' Uncut Gems'' (2019), ''
Knives Out ''Knives Out'' is a 2019 American mystery film written and directed by Rian Johnson. Daniel Craig leads an eleven-actor ensemble cast as Benoit Blanc, a famed private detective who is summoned to investigate the death of the bestselling autho ...
'' (2019), and '' Judas and the Black Messiah'' (2021), the lattermost of which earned him a nomination for the
Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor The Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor is an award presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS). It has been awarded since the 9th Academy Awards to an actor who has delivered an outstanding performance in ...
. Stanfield has also appeared in the films '' Selma'' (2014), '' Dope'' (2015), '' Straight Outta Compton'' (2015), '' Crown Heights'' (2017), '' The Photograph'' (2020), '' The Harder They Fall'' (2021), '' Haunted Mansion'' (2023) and '' The Book of Clarence'' (2023). On television, he starred in the series ''
Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Georgia (U.S. state), most populous city in the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. It is the county seat, seat of Fulton County, Georg ...
'' (2016–2022), for which he won a Black Reel Award for Television, and in the horror series '' The Changeling'' (2023–present).


Early life

LaKeith Lee Stanfield was born in
San Bernardino, California San Bernardino ( ) is a city in and the county seat of San Bernardino County, California, United States. Located in the Inland Empire region of Southern California, the city had a population of 222,101 in the 2020 census, making it the List of ...
, on August 12, 1991,(July 21, 2017)
"Lakeith Stanfield Becomes Parents After His Dating Affair With Girlfriend Got Him A Baby!"
. ''LiveRampUp''.
and grew up in Riverside and Victorville. His mother's name is Karen. He has said that he "grew up very poor in a fractured family that was dysfunctional on both sides". He decided to become an actor when he was 14 after joining his high school's drama club. He attended the John Casablancas Modeling and Career Center in
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, ...
, where he was signed by an agency and began auditioning for commercials.


Career

Stanfield's first acting role was in the
short film A short film is a film with a low running time. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) defines a short film as "an original motion picture that has a running time of not more than 40 minutes including all credits". Other film o ...
''Short Term 12'', Destin Daniel Cretton's thesis project at
San Diego State University San Diego State University (SDSU) is a Public university, public research university in San Diego, California, United States. Founded in 1897, it is the third-oldest university and southernmost in the 23-member California State University (CS ...
, which won the Jury Award for U.S. Short Filmmaking at the 2009 Sundance Film Festival. A year later, he appeared in the short film ''Gimme Grace'' (2010). While continuing to keep his dreams of acting alive, he went on to work a number of different jobs such as roofing and gardening, and jobs at
AT&T AT&T Inc., an abbreviation for its predecessor's former name, the American Telephone and Telegraph Company, is an American multinational telecommunications holding company headquartered at Whitacre Tower in Downtown Dallas, Texas. It is the w ...
and a legal marijuana dispensary, before he was contacted by Cretton to reappear in a feature-length adaptation of ''Short Term 12''. It was his first feature film role. During production, Stanfield practiced
method acting Method acting, known as the Method, is a range of rehearsal techniques, as formulated by a number of different theatre practitioners, that seeks to encourage sincere and expressive performances through identifying with, understanding, and expe ...
, distancing himself from the other cast members like his character. He was the only actor to appear in both the short and feature versions. The film won the Grand Jury Prize for Best Narrative Feature at the 2013
South by Southwest South by Southwest (SXSW) is an annual conglomeration of parallel film, interactive media, and music festivals and Convention (meeting), conferences organized jointly that take place in mid-March in Austin, Texas. It began in 1987 and has conti ...
film festival, and Stanfield was nominated for the Independent Spirit Award for Best Supporting Male. In 2014, Stanfield co-starred in '' The Purge: Anarchy'' and '' Selma'', in the latter playing civil rights activist Jimmie Lee Jackson. In 2015, he appeared in the films ''
Memoria Memoria was the term for aspects involving memory in Western classical rhetoric. The word is Latin, and can be translated as "memory". It was one of five canons in classical rhetoric (the others being inventio, dispositio, elocutio, and pronun ...
'' and '' Miles Ahead''. He also starred in the fantasy horror thriller film ''King Ripple'' by filmmaker Luke Jaden, and appeared in the music video for the
Run the Jewels Run the Jewels, also known by the initials RTJ, is an American hip-hop Supergroup (music), superduo, composed of Brooklyn-based rapper and producer El-P and Atlanta-based rapper Killer Mike. They released their critically acclaimed Run the Jewe ...
song " Close Your Eyes (And Count to Fuck)". In 2015, he portrayed rapper
Snoop Dogg Calvin Cordozar Broadus Jr. ( ; born October 20, 1971), better known by his stage name Snoop Dogg (previously Snoop Doggy Dogg), is an American rapper, record producer, and actor. Rooted in West Coast hip-hop, he is widely regarded as one of t ...
in the biopic '' Straight Outta Compton''. In 2017, he played L in Adam Wingard's adaptation of the popular Japanese fantasy-thriller manga series ''
Death Note ''Death Note'' (stylized in all caps) is a Japanese manga series written by Tsugumi Ohba and illustrated by Takeshi Obata. It was serialized in Shueisha's Shōnen manga, manga magazine ''Weekly Shōnen Jump'' from December 2003 to ...
'', for
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. Also that year, he starred in the music video for the song "Cold Little Heart" by English singer Michael Kiwanuka, and appeared in the critically acclaimed horror film '' Get Out''. In 2018, he starred as Cassius "Cash" Green in the critically acclaimed
dark comedy Black comedy, also known as black humor, bleak comedy, dark comedy, dark humor, gallows humor or morbid humor, is a style of comedy that makes light of subject matter that is generally considered taboo, particularly subjects that are normally ...
film '' Sorry to Bother You''. In 2019, Stanfield starred as Nate Davis 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 ...
romantic comedy film '' Someone Great''. In the same year, he played Lieutenant Elliot in the mystery film ''
Knives Out ''Knives Out'' is a 2019 American mystery film written and directed by Rian Johnson. Daniel Craig leads an eleven-actor ensemble cast as Benoit Blanc, a famed private detective who is summoned to investigate the death of the bestselling autho ...
''. He had starring roles in the films '' The Photograph'' (2020) and '' Judas and the Black Messiah'' (2021). His portrayal of FBI informant William O'Neal in the latter was critically acclaimed and garnered him a nomination for the
Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor The Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor is an award presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS). It has been awarded since the 9th Academy Awards to an actor who has delivered an outstanding performance in ...
. Stanfield performs under the stage name Htiekal (his first name backwards) and is working on his debut album, titled ''Self Control''. He is a member of the band Moors, with Hrishikesh Hirway of Song Exploder.


Personal life

Stanfield lives in
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, ...
. Stanfield has a daughter born in 2017 with actress
Xosha Roquemore Xosha Roquemore ( ; born December 11, 1984) is an American actress. She is best known for her roles as Jo Ann in '' Precious'' and Tamra in '' The Mindy Project''. Early life and education Roquemore was born in in Los Angeles, and is named after ...
, and a second daughter born in 2022 with artist Tylor Hurd. In December 2022, Stanfield and model Kasmere Trice announced their engagement and by July 2023, they had privately married and had their first child together.


Filmography


Film


Television


Music videos


Awards and nominations


References


External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Stanfield, LaKeith 1991 births Living people 21st-century African-American male actors 21st-century American male actors American male film actors American male stage actors American male voice actors Male actors from Riverside, California Musicians from San Bernardino, California People from Victorville, California Rappers from California