{{short description|British actor (born 1977)}} {{Use British English|date=September 2025}} {{Use dmy dates|date=September 2025}} {{Infobox person | name = Obi Abili | image = | caption = | birth_name = Obi Abili | birth_date = {{birth year and age|1977}} | birth_place = London, England | alma_mater = Royal Academy of Dramatic Art | years_active = 2006–present | works = | occupation = Actor | spouse = | children = | father = | relatives = | awards = }}
'''Obi Abili''' is a British stage, television and film actor of Nigerian descent.
== Early life == Obi Abili was born in London, England in 1977 and lived in "material comfort" until the family moved to Nigeria and fell into poverty when he was around 8-years-old. Making his way back to London with his father and siblings by age 12, he spent most of his adolescence in foster homes.<ref name="NYT_bio">{{cite news |last1=Collins-Hughes |first1=Laura |title=From Lost Soul in London to Glory Off Broadway |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2017/04/03/theater/obi-abili-emperor-jones.html |access-date=6 September 2025 |work=The New York Times |date=3 Apr 2017 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20230207131511/https://www.nytimes.com/2017/04/03/theater/obi-abili-emperor-jones.html |archive-date=7 February 2023}}</ref>
== Career == Abili studied at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art in London (RADA). In 2006, he made his television debut with a role in the television series Afterlife. In 2012, Abili debuted in the film Gambit alongside Colin Firth and Cameron Diaz and in 2013 he starred as Tula: The Revolt.
== Filmography ==
=== Films === {| class="wikitable sortable" |- ! Year ! Title ! Role ! class="unsortable" | Notes |- | 2023 | ''Reunion'' | Mamadou Kargbo | |- | rowspan="2" | 2021 | ''Spinning Gold'' | Edwin Hawkins | |- | ''The Survivalist'' | John Larsson |- | rowspan="2" | 2020 | ''Violation'' | Caleb | |- | ''Here After'' | Stranger | Released as ''Faraway Eyes'' in 2020 at the Cinequest Film Festival and in the US as ''Here After'' in 2021.<ref name="fest_release">{{cite web |last1=Billington |first1=Alex |title=Dating in Purgatory Seems Like Hell in Trailer for Comedy 'Here After' |url=https://www.firstshowing.net/2021/dating-in-purgatory-seems-like-hell-in-trailer-for-comedy-here-after/ |website=www.firstshowing.net |access-date=7 September 2025 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20250907221221/https://www.firstshowing.net/2021/dating-in-purgatory-seems-like-hell-in-trailer-for-comedy-here-after/ |archive-date=7 September 2025 |date=15 June 2021}}</ref> |- | 2019 | ''21 Bridges'' | Sgt. Butchco | |- | 2018 | ''London Fields'' | Thelonius | |- | 2017 | ''Forgotten Man'' | Executive Slazenger | |- |2016 | ''Bachelor Games''| | Max | |- |2013 | ''Tula: The Revolt'' | Tula | |- |2012 | ''Gambit'' | Executive Slazenger | |}
=== Television === {| class="wikitable sortable" summary="List of television appearances and roles" |- ! Year ! Title ! Role ! class="unsortable" | Notes |- | 2022 | ''Step up: High Water'' | | |- | 2018 | ''Billions'' | Roland Aduba | 2 episodes |- | 2016 | ''Delicious'' | Reverend Norton | 3 episodes |- | 2011 | ''Injustice'' | DS Nick Taylor | 5 episodes |- | 2010 | ''The Nativity'' | Gaspar | |- | 2010 | ''Foyle’s War'' | Gabe Kelly | Series 6, ep. 2 |- | rowspan="2" | 2009 | ''The Take'' | Des | |- |''Moses Jones'' | Joseph | 3 episodes |- | 2008 | ''10 Days to War'' | James | |- | 2006 | ''Afterlife'' | Aaron | |}
=== Podcast Series === {| class="wikitable sortable" |- ! Year ! Title ! Role ! class="unsortable" | Notes |- | 2025 | ''The Hookup'' | PNPeter | Series Regular |- | 2021 | ''See You in Your Nightmares'' | |}
=== Theater === {| class="wikitable sortable" |- ! Year ! Title ! Role ! Venue(s) ! Notes ! Ref. |- | 2021 | The Oresteia | Agamemnon | Theatre for a New Audience | Virtual premiere | <ref>{{cite news |last1=Rabinowitz |first1=Chloe |title=Kathleen Chalfant, Obi Abili, Corey Allen & More to Star in Virtual Premeire of THE ORESTEIA |url=https://www.broadwayworld.com/off-broadway/article/Kathleen-Chalfant-Obi-Abili-Corey-Allen-More-to-Star-in-Virtual-Premeire-of-THE-ORESTEIA-20210616 |access-date=7 September 2025 |work=BroadwayWorld.com |language=en}}</ref> |- | 2017 | The Emperor Jones | Brutus Jones | Irish Repertory Theatre | | <ref name="irish_theat">{{cite news |title=Meet the Maker: John Douglas Thompson and Obi Abili |url=https://irishrep.org/event/irish-rep-online/meet-the-maker-john-douglas-thompson-and-obi-abili/ |access-date=7 September 2025 |work=Irish Repertory Theatre |archive-url=https://archive.today/20250907001350/https://irishrep.org/event/irish-rep-online/meet-the-maker-john-douglas-thompson-and-obi-abili/ |archive-date=7 September 2025}}</ref><ref name="NYT_bio" /> |- |2016 | Six Degrees of Separation | Paul | West End theatre | |<ref name="6degreeLondon">{{cite web |title=Six Degrees of Separation Review {{!}} LondonTheatre.co.uk |url=https://www.londontheatre.co.uk/reviews/six-degrees-of-separation |website=London Theatre |access-date=7 September 2025 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20250907001617/https://www.londontheatre.co.uk/reviews/six-degrees-of-separation |archive-date=7 September 2025 |language=en |date=8 June 2016}}</ref> |- |2015 | Antigone | Guard / chorus | Brooklyn Academy of Music | Performance released as a BBC 4 TV Movie titled, ''Antigone at the Barbican'' in 2015.<ref name="bbc4">{{cite news |last1=Beaumont-Thomas |first1=Ben |title=BBC4 to screen Juliette Binoche and Ivo van Hove's Antigone |url=https://www.theguardian.com/stage/2015/mar/06/bbc4-juliette-binoche-ivo-van-hove-antigone-barbican |access-date=7 September 2025 |work=The Guardian |date=6 March 2015 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20250907064624/https://www.theguardian.com/stage/2015/mar/06/bbc4-juliette-binoche-ivo-van-hove-antigone-barbican |archive-date=7 September 2025}}</ref> |<ref name="NYT_bio" /> |}
==References== {{Reflist}}
==External links== *{{IMDb name|nm2518190}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Abili, Obi}} Category:Living people Category:1977 births Category:20th-century English male actors Category:21st-century English male actors Category:English male film actors Category:English male Shakespearean actors Category:English male stage actors Category:English male television actors Category:English people of Nigerian descent Category:Alumni of the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art