Arinze Kene

Arinze Mokwe Kene MBE, popularly called Arinze Kene, is a British playwright and actor. He was born in 1987 in Lagos, Nigeria. He is an award-winning playwright and actor, having won the Most Promising New Playwright in the Off West End Theatre Award and Best Male Actor in a Play Black in the British Theatre Award. He also has several nominations to his name. Arinze became a Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) in 2020 for his contribution to screenwriting and drama.

Theatre:

Arinze has been in multiple stage-shows to date. He performed in Daddy Cool: The Musical, the role of Simba in Disney’s The Lion King, and Raymond LeGrendre in Been So Long: The Musical. In 2016, he sang and acted as Sam Cooke in the European premiere of One Night in Miami; in 2018, he starred in Misty. He originated the role of Bob Marley in Get Up Stand Up! The Bob Marley Musical. He earned an Olivier nomination for Best Actor in a Musical for his work in the show.

Film:

He worked in the feature films I’m Your Woman (2020), How To Build A Girl as Kenny (2019), Been So Long as Raymond (2018), Fantastic Beasts And Where To Find Them as Auror 6 (2016), The Pass as Ade (2016) and Freestyle as Leon (2010).

TV:

His television credits include playing Tyler in Crazyhead (2016), Corp. Kinders in Our Girl (2014), Ashley in Youngers (2013), Rocco in Hollyoaks (2011) and Connor Stanley in EastEnders (2010).