Sam Adegoke

Sam Adegoke
Born
Samuel Oluwaseyi Adegoke

(1982-09-20) September 20, 1982 (age 42)
Lagos, Nigeria[1]
Alma materUniversity of Minnesota
OccupationActor
Years active2014–present

Samuel Oluwaseyi Adegoke is a Nigerian-American actor known for playing Jeff Colby in the Dynasty reboot series.

Personal life

Adegoke was born in Lagos, Nigeria,[1] but raised in Minneapolis, Minnesota and St. Paul, Minnesota. His parents were missionary ministers and came to the United States when he was a young child.[2][3] He is the youngest of seven children.[2][4] Adegoke studied marketing and finance at the University of Minnesota, and was president of the Black Student Union, vice-president of his fraternity, and served in student government.[4]

In 2015, after a two-week nationwide search that garnered more than 7,000 submissions, Adegoke was named the winner of the third annual ABC Discovers: Digital Talent Competition.[1] Adegoke lives in Los Angeles.[1]

Career

On January 30, 2017, Adegoke was cast as a lead in the Lifetime biopic Michael Jackson: Searching for Neverland playing Michael Jackson's bodyguard Javon Beard.[5] Adegoke also recurred on Murder in the First and had guest spots on Code Black and NCIS: Los Angeles.[5]

In February 2017, he was cast as Jeff Colby in a Dynasty reboot for The CW,[6] which premiered in October 2017.[7] Adegoke pitched the idea to showrunner Sallie Patrick for his character to be Nigerian, who involved him in the casting of Hakeem Kae-Kazim as Cecil Colby, Jeff's father. This allowed for scenes to incorporate this lingual and cultural interaction, featuring both English and Yoruba language in the characters' dialogue.[4]

In 2018, Adegoke was cast in 8000 Shots, an indie film written and directed by Talia Lugacy, and co-produced by Rosario Dawson. Adegoke was set to star as Will Larue, "a combat veteran who served in the Iraq war, who loses his friend and fellow vet to suicide, which resurrects his past and forces him to confront the fact that healing from war is not possible."[8] The film was renamed This Is Not a War Story and was released in 2021.

In June 2023, Adegoke was cast in Dark Days & the Dawn, the latest film from This Is Not a War Story director Talia Lugacy. "I count This Is Not a War Story as one of the most impactful experiences of my life both as an actor and on a personal level," Adegoke said in a statement to Variety, "When Talia [Lugacy] told me she wanted to work hand-in-hand developing this film together, I didn't hesitate for even a second. Our mutual trust is unwavering and I believe this is just a second step in a long road of collaboration together."[9]

In 2024, Adegoke was cast in a recurring role for the Peacock miniseries, Fight Night: The Million Dollar Heist.[10]

Filmography

Film

Year Title Role Notes
2014 I'm Good Bunie Short film
Find Your Instrument Falu Short film
2016 Melody Slick Short film
2019 The Drone Detective Allen
2021 This Is Not a War Story Will LaRue Co-executive producer
TBA Dark Days & the Dawn [9]

Television

Year Title Role Notes
2015 Wicked City Graham Walker Episode: "The Very Thought of You"
2016 Brooklyn Nine-Nine Ship Photographer Episode: "The Cruise"
Criminal Minds: Beyond Borders Hank Willis Episode: "Denial"
Murder in the First Billy James Recurring role; 5 episodes
Code Black Eric Hawkins Episode: "Sleight of Hand"
2017 NCIS: LA Junior Sancho Episode: "Kulinda"
Switched at Birth Chris Walker Recurring role; 6 episodes
Michael Jackson: Searching for Neverland Javon Beard Television film
2017–22 Dynasty Jeff Colby Series regular
2024 Fight Night: The Million Dollar Heist Emerson Recurring role

References

  1. ^ a b c d Denise Petski (July 20, 2015). "ABC Announces Winner Of Its 2015 Digital Talent Competition". Retrieved November 3, 2017.
  2. ^ a b "Actor Sam Adegoke Keeps Impacting The World Through The Art of Acting". Parlé Mag. December 12, 2017. Archived from the original on July 12, 2018. Retrieved February 8, 2018.
  3. ^ "Actor Sam Adegoke Keeps Impacting The World Through The Art of Acting". 2018-02-09. Archived from the original on 2018-02-09. Retrieved 2024-01-02.
  4. ^ a b c Isama, Antoinette (March 26, 2018). "Sam Adegoke Is the Actor Bringing Nigerian Flair to Mainstream". OkayAfrica.com. Retrieved April 9, 2018.
  5. ^ a b Petski, Denise (January 30, 2017). "Michael Jackson: Searching for Neverland: Sam Adegoke Cast as Lead of Lifetime Biopic". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved April 29, 2018.
  6. ^ Andreeva, Nellie (February 14, 2017). "Dynasty: Sam Adegoke To Star In The CW Reboot". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved May 11, 2017.
  7. ^ Andreeva, Nellie (June 8, 2017). "The CW Sets Fall 2017 Premiere Dates For Dynasty & Valor and Returning Series". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved April 29, 2018.
  8. ^ N'Duka, Amanda (July 17, 2018). "'Dynasty's Sam Adegoke, Frances Fisher Star in Rosario Dawson-Produced Indie '8000 Shots'". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved April 7, 2024.
  9. ^ a b Lang, Brent (June 8, 2023). "Rosario Dawson, Sam Adegoke Join Cast of Talia Lugacy's 'Dark Days & the Dawn' (EXCLUSIVE)". Variety. Retrieved April 7, 2024.
  10. ^ Seitz, Loree (March 21, 2024). "Peacock's 'Fight Night: The Million Dollar Heist' Adds 'Dynasty' Star Sam Adegoke". TheWrap. Retrieved April 7, 2024.