Winston Duke

Winston Duke (born 15 November 1986) is a Tobagonian actor. Duke was born in Tobago and moved to Brooklyn, New York, United States, at age nine.

Duke began his career with minor roles in theatre productions and recurring roles on the science fiction series ''Person of Interest'' (2014–2015) and the sitcom ''Modern Family'' (2016). He rose to prominence after playing M'Baku in several films of the Marvel Cinematic Universe (2018–2022), which is one of the highest-grossing media franchises. He continued this success with leading roles in Jordan Peele's horror film '' Us'' (2019), the fantasy drama film ''Nine Days'' (2020), and the action comedy films ''Spenser Confidential'' (2020) and ''The Fall Guy'' (2024).

Early life, family and education

Winston Duke was born in the village of Argyle, Tobago in the country of Trinidad and Tobago on 15 November 1986. He was raised by Cora Pantin, a single mother who was a Tobagonian government worker and restaurant owner. He does not have a relationship with his father. He has an older sister, Cindy. His cousin is the Tobagonian politician and Progressive Democratic Patriots leader Watson Duke.

As a child, Duke worked at his mother's restaurant, seating customers at their tables and learned how to "charm" strangers at an early age. When he was nine years old, his mother decided to move her family to the US. She sold the restaurant and their possessions. The three of them settled in a studio apartment in Brooklyn, New York City, where Cindy could attend medical school.

Duke attended a public primary school in Crown Heights, and often frequented the local library and comic book store after school. He graduated from Brighton High School in Rochester, New York in 2004. He attended the University at Buffalo, earning a Bachelor of Arts in theatre. He subsequently earned a Master of Fine Arts in acting at Yale School of Drama, graduating in 2013. His mother died in 2022 at age 66.

Career

Duke started acting in theatre productions for Portland Stage Company and Yale Repertory Theatre before being cast in ''Person of Interest''. In 2012 Duke returned to his native Trinidad and Tobago to appear in the theatre production of ''An Echo in the Bone'' starring alongside actress Taromi Lourdes Joseph and directed by fellow Yale alumna Timmia Hearn Feldman.

He was cast in a few roles in television series, such as a football star who becomes a victim of a so called prank and in turn he commits a hate crime in '' Law & Order: Special Victims Unit'', a gang leader in ''Person of Interest'' and a football player in ''Modern Family''.

In September 2016, Duke was cast in the role of M'Baku in ''Black Panther'' after Marvel tested several actors for the role, including Yahya Abdul-Mateen II. It was released in 2018. Wesley Morris of ''The New York Times'' named his performance in ''Black Panther'' as one of the best in 2018, describing him as "funny, shameless ndimposing". He reprised the role in '' Avengers: Infinity War'' (2018) and '' Avengers: Endgame'' (2019), which are among the highest-grossing films ever made.

In 2019, Duke starred in the hit horror film '' Us'', directed by Jordan Peele. In October 2019, Duke signed on to headline in the Apple TV+ drama series ''Swagger'', but due to an injury suffered on-set in February 2020, he was replaced by O'Shea Jackson Jr.. In September, Duke was named Actor of the Year by ''GQ Australia''. He starred in ''Nine Days'' (2020), directed by Edson Oda, as a manager who interviews unborn souls and selects them to live on Earth. In March 2020, he starred alongside Mark Wahlberg in the Netflix thriller ''Spenser Confidential''.

On 24 October 2021, Duke received the Maverick Award at the Newport Beach Film Festival. It was reported in July 2021 that Duke would be playing Bruce Wayne/Batman in the Spotify podcast audio drama ''Batman Unburied'', which was released in 2022. Although Duke worried that backlash from fans about a Black actor playing Wayne would surface, his role was instead met with support and intrigue. Duke reprised his role as M'Baku in '' Black Panther: Wakanda Forever'' (2022). He has appeared in a Savage X Fenty fashion show.

Personal life

Duke is friends with actress Lupita Nyong'o, whom he met while attending Yale and went on to co-star with in several films. According to ''Esquire'' magazine, he is an "art fanatic".

Filmography

Film

Television

Podcast

Awards and nominations

Notes

References

External links

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Duke, Winston
21st-century Trinidad and Tobago male actors
1986 births
American male film actors
American male television actors
Trinidad and Tobago emigrants to the United States
Living people
Male actors from Rochester, New York
Trinidad and Tobago male film actors
Trinidad and Tobago male television actors
University at Buffalo alumni
David Geffen School of Drama at Yale University alumni
Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture Screen Actors Guild Award winners
21st-century Trinidad and Tobago actors