Danny Sapani

Danny Sapani
Born15 November 1970 (1970-11-15) (age 54)
London, England
OccupationActor
Years active1992–present

Danny Sapani (born 15 November 1970) is a British actor who works in British, American and Indian films.[1] He is best known for appearing in Little Britain, Misfits, Doctor Who, Penny Dreadful, The Crown, Star Wars: The Last Jedi, Singam II and Black Panther.

Early life

Sapani was born in London, England, one of six children of immigrant Ghanaian parents. He was raised in Hackney, and first pursued his interest in acting at the Weekend Arts College in Kentish Town.[2] He trained at the Central School of Speech and Drama.[3]

Career

Sapani appeared in Danny Boyle's film Trance. His stage credits include August Wilson's Joe Turner's Come and Gone and Radio Golf, Errol John's Caribbean classic Moon on a Rainbow Shawl and The National Theatre production of Euripides' Medea. He has also acted in the 2013 Indian action film, Singam II as drug lord Michael Kong.[4]

In 2021, Sapani played alongside Adrian Lester in the streamed version of Lolita Chakrabarti's Hymn from the Almeida theatre in London. Their performances were described as "captivating, delicately picking out the nuances of two men who are simultaneously complete and broken".[5]

Sapani's TV roles include appearances on Misfits, Ultimate Force and Blackout, while his television guest appearances include Judge John Deed and the Doctor Who episode "A Good Man Goes to War." as Colonel Manton. For the first two seasons, Sapani played the role of Sembene in Showtime's Penny Dreadful.[6]

On 19 August 2019, Deadline reported that Sapani would be joining the cast of the BBC America and AMC series Killing Eve.[7]

Sapani will also be starring in the American espionage thriller, The Amateur, set for debut in 2025.[8]

Filmography

Film

Year Title Role Notes
2001 Tip of My Tongue Dave's mate Short film
Hotel AJ
2002 Pissboy Carl Short film
Anansi Adolph
2003 Song for a Raggy Boy Preston
2008 The Oxford Murders Scott
2009 Perfect Ike Short film
Bucco Blanco Zak Short film
2010 The Last Jazz Musician Van Hellier Short film
2011 Mercenaries Ambassador
2012 Hard Boiled Sweets Leroy
Tezz David Indian film
Parking Wars Imam Short film
2013 Trance Nate
Singam II Danny Sapani / Michael Kong Indian Tamil film
2016 The Siege of Jadotville Moise Tshombe
2017 Star Wars: The Last Jedi Medical Frigate Captain
2018 Black Panther M'Kathu
Tharakaasura Kalinga Indian film; Nominated – Filmibeat Award for Best Villain – Kannada
2021 Ear for Eye TBA
2022 Black Panther: Wakanda Forever M'Kathu
2023 Sumotherhood Leo DeMarco
2024 The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare Kambili Kalu

Television

Year Title Role Notes
1992 The Bill Leon Davies Episode: "Getting Through"
1993 Between the Lines Steve Coogan Episode: "Crack Up"
1997 Casualty Walker Bennett Episode: "Treasure"
Richard II Bagot Television movie
1998 Trial & Retribution Nicky Burton 2 episodes
2000 Fish Peter Cookson 6 episodes
2001 Holby City Craig Sefton Episode: "Family Ties"
Judge John Deed Johnny Latymer Episode: "Appropriate Response"
2002–03 Ultimate Force Cpl. Ricky Mann 12 episodes
2003 Serious and Organized D.I. Dennis Clifton 6 episodes
In Deep Davies 2 episodes
2005 Holby City Kumi Griffin Episode: "Tuesday's Child"
Little Britain Derek Episode: "#3.2"
2006 Blue Murder Gavin Busby Episode: "In Deep"
2007 The Bill Oscar Daniels 7 episodes
2008 Place of Execution Keith Slocombe 3 episodes
2009–11 Misfits Tony Morecombe 3 episodes
2010 Garrow's Law Gustavus Vassa Episode: "#2.1"
2011 Doctor Who Colonel Manton Episode: "A Good Man Goes to War"
Casualty Paul Caffrey Episode: "Mea Culpa"
The Jury DI Scott Episode: "#2.2"
Shirley Bobo Television movie
Documental Buzzy Television movie
2012 Blackout Detective Griffin 2 episodes
The Fear Wes 4 episodes
2014–15 Penny Dreadful Sembene 18 episodes
2015 The Bastard Executioner Berber the Moor 10 episodes
2017 Chewing Gum Marlon Episode: "Road Trip"
Broken Daniel Martin 2 episodes
2017–19 Harlots William North 22 episodes
2017 The Crown Dr. Kwame Nkrumah Episode: "Dear Mrs. Kennedy"
2018 Black Earth Rising Simon Nyamoya 8 episodes
2019 MotherFatherSon Jahan Zakari 6 episodes
Traitors Richard 2 episodes
2020 Killing Eve Jamie 7 episodes
2022–24 Halo Captain Jacob Keyes 10 episodes
2023 The Diplomat Colin Sutherland 6 episodes

References

  1. ^ Danny Sapani Archived 3 March 2016 at the Wayback Machine. Dannysapani.com. Retrieved on 6 July 2013.
  2. ^ Spridonova, Kristina (5 April 2012). "Interview with Danny Sapani". Flavour Magazine.
  3. ^ "Where Are They Now?" (PDF). Central School of Speech and Drama. Archived from the original (PDF) on 26 November 2012. Retrieved 23 June 2014.
  4. ^ "'Singam 2' latest teaser". The Times of India. 5 June 2013. Archived from the original on 17 June 2013. Retrieved 6 July 2013.
  5. ^ "★★★★ Review: Hymn at London's Almeida Theatre – 'captivating and nuanced'". The Stage. 19 February 2021. Retrieved 24 February 2021.
  6. ^ Obenson, Tambay A. (29 April 2014). "Danny Sapani Plays 'Sembene' – A "Mysterious" Man From The "Dark Continent" In Showtime's 'Penny Dreadful'". Indiewire. Archived from the original on 19 July 2014. Retrieved 23 June 2014.
  7. ^ Petski, Denise (19 August 2019). "'Killing Eve': Harriet Walter & Danny Sapani Join Cast As Production Begins on Season 3". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved 19 August 2019.
  8. ^ The Amateur (2025) | Action, Thriller. Retrieved 16 November 2024 – via m.imdb.com.