Toheeb Jimoh

Jimoh was born on April 15, 1997 [4] in the United Kingdom to parents of Nigerian descent.[5] Though he was mostly raised in the UK, he spent time living in Nigeria when he was growing up.[5] He attended The Norwood School[6] and then trained at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama, graduating in 2018.[7]

Jimoh was a relative newcomer to acting when he was cast to play Anthony Walker, the victim of a 2005 racist attack, in BBC One's Anthony,[8] which imagines Walker's life if he had not been killed.[9][10] His portrayal was called "utterly magnetic".[11] He then portrayed Marcus in the Amazon series The Feed.[12]

Jimoh was in a stage production of A Midsummer Night's Dream at the Sheffield Crucible[11] and in 2020, was one of six performers in the Almeida Theatre's Christmas Play Nine Lessons and Carols, the theatre's first production post London's COVID-19 lockdown.[13]

When Jimoh auditioned for Ted Lasso, the character of Sam Obisanya was written as Ghanaian, but his background was changed to Nigerian to match Jimoh's own.[14][15] His performance has received praise, with his character called the "heartbeat" of the show.[1]

Jimoh portrays another Nigerian character, journalist Tunde, in the upcoming Amazon thriller series The Power, based on Naomi Alderman's novel of the same name.[16] He also has a small part in the Wes Anderson film The French Dispatch.[10]

Jimoh was nominated for an I Talk Telly Best Breakthrough Award in 2020.[10] He was nominated alongside his Ted Lasso castmates for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble Cast in a Comedy Series at the 2021 Screen Actors Guild Awards.[17]

In December 2021, Jimoh received the Breakthrough Award at the Critics Choice Awards Celebration of Black Cinema and Television.[18]

• Toheeb Jimoh at IMDb