Babou Ceesay

Babou Ceesay (born 1979) is an English actor. He is known for his roles in Guerrilla and Rogue One.

Babou Ceesay
Born
Baboucarr Alieu Ceesay

1979
London, England, UK
OccupationActor
Years active2006–present

Early life and education

Ceesay was born in London, England, and grew up in West Africa. He is a dual-national and is of Gambian descent.[1] He trained at Oxford School of Drama. He has also been involved in many significant projects on stage include The Overwhelming opposite Andrew Garfield and A Midsummer Night's Dream. He studied Microbiology at Imperial College London and also worked as an internal auditor at accounting firm, Deloitte.[2]

Career

Ceesay's first major role was in a Horror/comedy film, Severance after which he waited two years before he got a role on TV in an episode of Whistleblower. He then made guest appearance in multiple British TV shows including Silent Witness, Law & Order: UK, Casualty, Strike Back, Luther, Getting On and Lewis.

In 2013, he worked in the Nigerian film, Half of a Yellow Sun, alongside Thandie Newton, Chiwetel Ejiofor, and another rising star, John Boyega.[3] In 2014, he worked on '71 and in 2015, he was cast in NBC TV drama, A.D. The Bible Continues as John the Apostle.[4] He also appeared in the thriller Eye in the Sky (2015)[5] and the British action comedy Free Fire (2016), set in Boston, and starring Brie Larson, Sharlto Copley, and Armie Hammer.

He made a return to television with a major role in the Channel 4 drama, National Treasure as Jerome Sharp, Paul Finchley's (played by Robbie Coltrane) lawyer.[6] He then signed up for and starred in a BBC One television movie, Damilola, Our Loved Boy, based on the murder of Damilola Taylor, a ten-year old Nigerian boy living in Peckham, London and the trial which followed.[7] He played the role of the father, Richard Taylor for which he received a BAFTA nomination for Best Actor.[8]

In August 2016, he was cast in the British miniseries, Guerrilla, alongside Idris Elba and Freida Pinto.[9]

In 2019, he was cast as Manny Mensah in the BBC One drama television series Dark Money, with John Schwab and Joseph May.

In 2020, he was cast as DI Jackson Mendy in the Alibi television series We Hunt Together, with Eve Myles, Hermione Corfield, and Dipo Ola.[10]

Personal life

He lives in London with his wife, journalist Anna Ceesay, and their two children.[11]

Filmography

Film
Year Title Role Notes
2006 Severance Billy
2013 Half of a Yellow Sun Okeoma
2014 '71 Corporal
2015 Eye in the Sky Sergeant Mushtaq Saddiq
2016 Free Fire Martin
2016 Rogue One Lieutenant Sefla
2019 The Best of Enemies Bill Riddick

Television
Year Title Role Info
2008 Whistleblower Dr. Abdulrazzad 1 episode
2008 Silent Witness DS Gayle 1 episode
2009 Law & Order: UK Daniel Matoukou 1 episode
2011 Casualty Jake Maddick 1 episode
2011 Luther Adewale Omotoso 1 episode
2012 Strike Back Ozzy Osondu 2 episodes
2012 Getting On Hansley 5 episodes
2013 Lewis DC Alex Gray 2 episodes
2014 Puppy Love Dennis 3 episodes
2015 A.D. The Bible Continues John the Apostle 12 episodes
2016 National Treasure Jerome 4 episodes
2016 Damilola, Our Loved Boy Richard Taylor TV movie
2017 Guerrilla Marcus 6 episodes
2018–2019 Into the Badlands Pilgrim Series regular
2019 Dark Money Manny Mensah Series regular
2020 We Hunt Together DI Jackson Mendy Series regular

Awards and nominations
Year Award Category Work Result
2017 12th Screen Nation Film and Television Awards Male Performance in TV
Damilola, Our Loved Boy
 Nominated
63rd British Academy Television Awards Best Actor Nominated

References
  1. Thorpe, Vanessa. "Lewis's new sidekick breaks crime mould". The Guardian. Retrieved 14 April 2017.
  2. "Marcus Hill Played by Babou Ceesay – Guerrilla | SHOWTIME". SHOWTIME.com. Retrieved 14 April 2017.
  3. "TIFF Movie Review – Half of a Yellow Sun (2013)". Flickering Myth. Retrieved 14 April 2017.
  4. "Behind The Bible AD: Casting a More Diverse Bible Story". NBC News. Retrieved 14 April 2017. Babou Ceesay as John
  5. "Eye in the Sky". HuffPost. Retrieved 14 April 2017. Ceesay
  6. "Meet the cast of National Treasure". Radio Times. Retrieved 14 April 2017. Jerome Sharpe (Babou Ceesay)
  7. "Damilola Taylor: TV drama tells the story behind the headlines". BBC News. Retrieved 14 April 2017.
  8. Ellis-Petersen, Hannah. "The Crown royally sweeps the 2017 Bafta TV awards nominations". The Guardian. Retrieved 14 April 2017.
  9. "Babou Ceesay, Rory Kinnear and more join Idris Elba in Guerrilla". Empire. Retrieved 14 April 2017.
  10. "'We Hunt Together': TV Review". 7 August 2020.
  11. Wallis, Lucy (19 August 2019). "'I feared they'd take my child if I admitted how I felt'" – via www.bbc.co.uk.


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