Arinzé Kene

Arinze Kene is a British actor and playwright. 2Early life In 1987, Kene was born in Lagos, Nigeria. Kene's father was a taxi driver. 2Career Kene has appeared in stage productions such as playing Simba in The Lion King, Daddy Cool, and in June 2009 played strutting lothario Raymond LeGrendre in the musical Been So Long, based on Ché Walker's 1998 play, which opened at the Young Vic. Kene also plays the lead in 2010 UK Film Council feature Freestyle.In 2010, he joined the cast of the BBC's EastEnders as Connor Stanley, for which he was nominated for Best Newcomer at the 2011 All About Soap Bubble Awards.In January 2011, his play Suffocation opened at the Oval House Theatre in London.He won the 2010 award for Most Promising Playwright at The Offies (Off West End award). His latest play, Little Baby Jesus at the Oval House, has been nominated for Best New Play in The Offies 2011. He is a member of the series 3 writing team for EastEnders: E20. In April 2011, his casting as Rocco in Hollyoaks was announced.In 2014 he played Corporal Kinders in the first series of the BBC One military drama Our Girl. In 2016, he starred in The Pass alongside Russell Tovey, a film about two gay footballers which premiered at the British Film Institute's Flare Festival of LGBT films. In 2016 he portrayed Tyler in the television series Crazyhead.From 6 October to 3 December 2016 Kene acted and sang in the role of Sam Cooke in the Donmar Warehouse production of the European premiere of One Night in Miami, a play by Kemp PowersHe will appear opposite Beanie Feldstein and Alfie Allen in How to Build a Girl, directed by Coky Giedroyc.In 2018, Arinze starred in Misty, which in September transferred to Trafalgar Studios, following a sold-out run at the Bush Theatre earlier in the yea