Sally Amaka Okafor is a British actress. She is known for her work in theatre, and her roles in the film Greatest Days (2023) as well as the BBC One series The Responder (2022) and the Netflix series Bodies (2023).
Early life and education
Okafor was born in Birmingham to a Nigerian reggae artist father and an Indian journalist mother, and moved around the UK growing up.[1][2] She studied theatre devising at Liverpool John Moores University.[1][3] She began her career touring community theatre in schools, prisons, and churches, and was a member of the Unicorn Theatre ensemble in London for two years.[4][5]
Career
Originally credited as Sally Amaka Okafor, she made her West End theatre debut playing Sofia in Florian Zeller's The Son, which transferred from Kilburn's Kiln Theatre to the Duke of York's theatre in October 2019.[3][6] In 2016 she appeared in Peter Pan at the National Theatre, and played Lady Macduff in Macbeth at the same theatre in 2018.[7][8] She has appeared at the Royal Court Theatre in Hope Has A Happy Meal (2023), Grimly Handsome (2017), It's All Made Up, The Space Between, and I See You.[9][10][11]
In one of her most prominent roles to date, Okafor stars alongside Aisling Bea, Alice Lowe, and Jayde Adams in Greatest Days, a 2023 cinematic adaptation of Take That's smash-hit stage musical, The Band.[18]Greatest Days portrays a group of school friends reuniting after 25 years.[19][20] The BFI's review says that Okafor and her co-stars "make the most of the film’s more predictable plotlines and gags".[21] Her other film work includes upcoming UK indie comedy drama Sweet Sue, directed by Leo Leigh.[1][9]