Mamoudou Athie ( ; born 1988) is an American actor. He is known for his starring roles in the feature films '' Uncorked'' and ''

Black Box In science, computing, and engineering, a black box is a system which can be viewed in terms of its inputs and outputs (or transfer characteristics), without any knowledge of its internal workings. Its implementation is "opaque" (black). The te ...

'', and had the leading role 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 ...

horror series '' Archive 81'' (2022). He has also had supporting roles in many films, including '' The Burial'' (2023) and '' Kinds of Kindness'' (2024), as well as in the television series '' Sorry for Your Loss'' (2018–2019), the FXX anthology ''Cake'' (2019), and others. He has also appeared in several stage productions.

Early life and education

Mamadou Athie was born in 1988 in

Mauritania Mauritania, officially the Islamic Republic of Mauritania, is a sovereign country in Maghreb, Northwest Africa. It is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the west, Western Sahara to Mauritania–Western Sahara border, the north and northwest, ...

, the son of a diplomat father who received

political asylum The right of asylum, sometimes called right of political asylum (''asylum'' ), is a juridical concept, under which people persecuted by their own rulers might be protected by another sovereignty, sovereign authority, such as a second country or ...

in the U.S. when Athie was six months old. Athie grew up in

New Carrollton, Maryland New Carrollton is a city in central Prince George's County, Maryland, 10 miles (16 km) east of Washington, D.C. According to the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population was 13,715. History Developer Albert W. Turner acquir ...

, outside of

Washington, D.C. Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with ...

He studied acting at the William Esper Studio in the Two-Year Professional Actor Training Program. He graduated with an MFA from the

Yale School of Drama The David Geffen School of Drama at Yale University is a graduate professional school of Yale University, located in New Haven, Connecticut. Founded in 1924 as the Department of Drama in the School of Fine Arts, the school provides training in ...

in 2014.

Career

Athie began his career in theater, starring

off-Broadway An off-Broadway theatre is any professional theatre venue in New York City with a seating capacity between 100 and 499, inclusive. These theatres are smaller than Broadway theatres, but larger than off-off-Broadway theatres, which seat fewer tha ...

in 2015 in ''The Mystery of Love and Sex''. He had supporting roles in the films ''

Patti Cake$ ''Patti Cakes'' (stylized as ''Patti Cake$'') is a 2017 American drama film directed by Geremy Jasper. It was screened in the US Dramatic Competition section of the 2017 Sundance Film Festival. It was released on August 18, 2017, by Fox Searchl ...

'' (2017), '' The Circle'' (2017), '' Unicorn Store'' (2017), '' The Front Runner'' (2018), ''

Underwater An underwater environment is a environment of, and immersed in, liquid water in a natural or artificial feature (called a Water, body of water), such as an ocean, sea, lake, pond, reservoir, river, canal, or aquifer. Some characteristics of the ...

'' (2020), ''

Jurassic World Dominion ''Jurassic World Dominion'' is a 2022 American Science fiction film, science fiction action film directed by Colin Trevorrow, who co-wrote the screenplay with Emily Carmichael (filmmaker), Emily Carmichael from a story by Derek Connolly and Tre ...

'' (2022), '' The Burial'' (2023), and '' Kinds of Kindness'' (2024). He also starred in the television series ''

The Get Down ''The Get Down'' is an American musical drama television series created by Baz Luhrmann and Stephen Adly Guirgis. The series debuted on Netflix on August 12, 2016, and was cancelled after one season. Produced by Sony Pictures Television, the s ...

'' (2016–2017), ''The Detour'' (2017), '' Sorry for Your Loss'' (2018–2019), and the FXX anthology ''Cake'' (2019). He had his first feature film starring roles in 2020, starring in '' Uncorked'' and ''

'', and had the leading role in the

horror series '' Archive 81'' (2022). He also had a voice role in the

Pixar Pixar (), doing business as Pixar Animation Studios, is an American animation studio based in Emeryville, California, known for its critically and commercially successful computer-animated feature films. Pixar is a subsidiary of Walt Disney ...

animated film ''

Elemental An elemental is a mythic supernatural being that is described in occult and alchemy, alchemical works from around the time of the European Renaissance, and particularly elaborated in the 16th century works of Paracelsus. According to Paracelsu ...

'' (2023).

Awards and nominations

Athie was nominated for Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Actor in a Short Form Comedy or Drama Series for his performance in ''Cake''.

Filmography

Film

Television

Video games

Theater

Selected professional credits

References

External links

* Living people 1988 births American male film actors American male television actors American male voice actors Male actors from Maryland Mauritanian male actors People from Prince George's County, Maryland David Geffen School of Drama at Yale University alumni Mauritanian emigrants to the United States Date of birth missing (living people) 21st-century American actors 21st-century Mauritanian actors 21st-century African-American male actors 21st-century American male actors {{US-screen-actor-1980s-stub