---
name: "Kingsley Ben-Adir"
canonical: "https://film.one/person/kingsley-ben-adir"
fi1m_id: "kingsley-ben-adir"
imdb_id: "nm4667984"
tmdb_id: 1417352
wikidata_id: "Q24572132"
roles: ["Actor"]
born: "20 November 1986"
reviewed_on_fi1m: 7
average_fi1m_score: 71
average_as: "actor"
average_over: 7
updated: "2026-10-05T14:48:38.260250+00:00"
licence: "© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL."
---

# Kingsley Ben-Adir

## Identity

Kingsley Ben-Adir

- **Canonical:** https://film.one/person/kingsley-ben-adir
- **Type:** Person
- **Fi1m ID:** kingsley-ben-adir
- **IMDb ID:** nm4667984
- **TMDB ID:** 1417352
- **Wikidata ID:** Q24572132
- **Same entity:** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kingsley_Ben-Adir, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q24572132, https://www.imdb.com/name/nm4667984/, https://www.themoviedb.org/person/1417352

Actor. Born 20 November 1986 in London, England, UK.

## Details

- **Work:** Actor
- **Born:** 20 November 1986, London, England, UK
- **Active:** 2011–present
- **SAG Awards:** 1 SAG Award nomination
- **Average Fi1m score:** 71, as actor, over 7 titles
- **Fi1m score by decade:** 2010s 73 (3), 2020s 70 (4)
- **Fi1m against the critics:** 71 to 66 across 6 titles
- **Score spread:** 1 at 80+, 5 at 60–79, 1 under 60
- **Lead roles:** 2 of 3 acting credits billed first or second
- **Genres:** Drama 5, Comedy 2, Crime 2, Mystery 2, Action 1, Adventure 1
- **Screen time:** 7 hours of reviewed films
- **Box office:** $1,748m across 3 films with figures
- **Elsewhere:** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kingsley_Ben-Adir, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q24572132, https://www.imdb.com/name/nm4667984/, https://www.themoviedb.org/person/1417352

## Coming up

- *Frank & Louis* (2026-12-10), as Frank

## Streaming the US now

- **Amazon Prime Video:** [*One Night in Miami...*](https://film.one/film/one-night-in-miami.md) (84)
- **Apple TV:** [*Vera*](https://film.one/tv/vera.md) (72)
- **Paramount+:** [*Bob Marley: One Love*](https://film.one/film/bob-marley-one-love.md) (48)

For United States; add `?region=XX` for another country.

## Fi1m on Kingsley Ben-Adir

> Kingsley Ben-Adir makes familiar public figures convincing through the voice, the walk and small changes in manner. We rate his precision, though *Bob Marley: One Love* shows how much a careful performance can lose to a script that protects its subject.

On stage in *Bob Marley: One Love* (2024), Kingsley Ben-Adir has the swaying shoulders and the walk, but he is not forever asking us to notice them. He moves through the songs with enough conviction that we stop checking the resemblance. We sat forward during the early concert because he made Marley's determination to perform despite the danger convincing. This is precise, committed acting in a film we cannot recommend.

Before the film leads, there was supporting television work, including Dr Marcus Summer in *Vera*, a part he played from 2014 to 2018. Our liking for that programme rests chiefly on Brenda Blethyn, with the rest of the cast too often short of things to do. Malcolm X in *One Night in Miami...* (2020) was the breakthrough, bringing vulnerability to a figure familiar from public life. Basketball Ken in *Barbie* (2023) is a useful exception to that casting in historical roles. His work on Marley included language coaches and family input, preparation that can be heard in the finished performance.

Listen to how his accent softens for Rita and hardens for the money men. That gives the conversations more life than a fixed impersonation would, and Lashana Lynch supplies much of the marriage's fire. Director Reinaldo Marcus Green gives him his strongest stretch in the early concert, with Robert Elswit lighting the stage hot and keeping the crowd dark beyond it.

The trouble comes when the screenplay has to let Marley be difficult. It gives Ben-Adir brief flashes of temper, then hurries him back to serenity, without allowing a scene in which Marley is wrong. The resulting smoothness is a real limitation, however much of it belongs to the writing, and his command of the voice cannot make up for it. We would like to see him play someone the screenplay is prepared to dislike.

## Biography

Kingsley Ben-Adir is a British actor. He was born on 20 November 1986 in Kentish Town, London, and trained at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama, graduating in 2011.

His television credits include Marcus Summer in *Vera* (2014–2018), Karim Washington in *The OA* (2016–2019), Colonel Ben Younger in *Peaky Blinders* (2017–2019) and Gravik in *Secret Invasion* (2023). Film roles include Tristan in *King Arthur: Legend of the Sword* (2017), Malcolm X in *One Night in Miami...* (2020) and Ken in *Barbie* (2023). He starred as Bob Marley in *Bob Marley: One Love* (2024).

For his performance in *One Night in Miami...*, Ben-Adir won the Gotham Independent Film Award for Breakthrough Performer.

*Sources: en.wikipedia.org, people.com.*

## On Fi1m (7)

- *Bob Marley: One Love* (2024), Fi1m 48, as Bob Marley — [page](https://film.one/film/bob-marley-one-love.md)
- *Barbie* (2023), Fi1m 76, as Ken — [page](https://film.one/film/barbie.md)
- *High Fidelity* (2020), Fi1m 70, as Russell 'Mac' McCormack — [page](https://film.one/tv/high-fidelity-2020.md)
- *One Night in Miami...* (2020), Fi1m 84, as Malcolm X — [page](https://film.one/film/one-night-in-miami.md)
- *The Commuter* (2018), Fi1m 71, as Agent Garcia — [page](https://film.one/film/the-commuter.md)
- *Peaky Blinders* (2013), Fi1m 77, as Col Ben Younger — [page](https://film.one/tv/peaky-blinders.md)
- *Vera* (2011), Fi1m 72, as Dr Marcus Summer — [page](https://film.one/tv/vera.md)

## Complete filmography (24)

Every credit, newest first. Titles without a page can be requested for review on the HTML page.

- *Frank & Louis* (2026), as Frank
- *Bob Marley: One Love* (2024), as Bob Marley — Fi1m 48, [page](https://film.one/film/bob-marley-one-love.md)
- *Barbie* (2023), as Ken — Fi1m 76, [page](https://film.one/film/barbie.md)
- *Secret Invasion* (2023), series, as Gravik
- *One Night in Miami...* (2020), as Malcolm X — Fi1m 84, [page](https://film.one/film/one-night-in-miami.md)
- *Soulmates* (2020), series, as Franklin
- *The Comey Rule* (2020), series, as Barack Obama
- *Love Life* (2020), series, as Grant
- *High Fidelity* (2020), series, as Russell 'Mac' McCormack — Fi1m 70, [page](https://film.one/tv/high-fidelity-2020.md)
- *Noelle* (2019), as Jake Hapman
- *The Commuter* (2018), as Agent Garcia — Fi1m 71, [page](https://film.one/film/the-commuter.md)
- *Diana and I* (2017), as Russell
- *King Arthur: Legend of the Sword* (2017), as Tristan "Wet Stick"
- *The OA* (2016), series, as Karim Washington
- *Trespass Against Us* (2016), as Sampson
- *Peaky Blinders* (2013), series, as Col Ben Younger — Fi1m 77, [page](https://film.one/tv/peaky-blinders.md)
- *City Slacker* (2012), as Thug
- *Death in Paradise* (2011), series, as Irie Johnson
- *Vera* (2011), series, as Dr Marcus Summer — Fi1m 72, [page](https://film.one/tv/vera.md)
- *Agatha Christie's Marple* (2004), series, as Errol
- *Midsomer Murders* (1997), series, as Bartholomew Hines — Fi1m 66, [page](https://film.one/tv/midsomer-murders.md)
- *The Arrival*, as Tom
- *The Husbands*, series, as Michael
- *Scorn*, Actor

## Gallery

- ![Kingsley Ben-Adir](https://film.one/media/person/12001/gallery-2baadd8f191d.png) Kingsley Ben-Adir — AMFM STUDIOS LLC, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons (https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/78/Kingsley_Ben-Adir_during_an_interview%2C_January_2021.png?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail_unscaled)
- ![Avant-première de "Bob Marley: One Love" au Grand Rex, en février 2024.](https://film.one/media/person/12001/gallery-dccd66baad6a.jpg) Avant-première de "Bob Marley: One Love" au Grand Rex, en février 2024. — ManoSolo13241324, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons (https://thumb.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/a1/Bob_Marley-_One_Love_avant-premi%C3%A8re_Grand_Rex.jpg/1280px-Bob_Marley-_One_Love_avant-premi%C3%A8re_Grand_Rex.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail)
- ![Kingsley Ben-Adir and Rob Morgan attend "Frank & Louis" photocall during the 79th Locarno Film Festival on August 10, 2026 in Locarno, Switzerland](https://film.one/media/person/12001/gallery-84224c7f37e7.jpg) Kingsley Ben-Adir and Rob Morgan attend "Frank & Louis" photocall during the 79th Locarno Film Festival on August 10, 2026 in Locarno, Switzerland — Segolene Liger, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons (https://thumb.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/7/7b/Kingsley_Ben-Adir_and_Rob_Morgan_at_the_79th_Locarno_Film_Festival.jpg/1280px-Kingsley_Ben-Adir_and_Rob_Morgan_at_the_79th_Locarno_Film_Festival.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail)
- ![Kingsley Ben-Adir attends "Frank & Louis" photocall during the 79th Locarno Film Festival on August 10, 2026 in Locarno, Switzerland](https://film.one/media/person/12001/gallery-a059e4754ca1.jpg) Kingsley Ben-Adir attends "Frank & Louis" photocall during the 79th Locarno Film Festival on August 10, 2026 in Locarno, Switzerland — Segolene Liger, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons (https://thumb.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/c/c1/Kingsley_Ben-Adir_at_the_79th_Locarno_Film_Festival_02.jpg/1280px-Kingsley_Ben-Adir_at_the_79th_Locarno_Film_Festival_02.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail)
- ![Kingsley Ben-Adir](https://film.one/media/person/12001/gallery-26fc01e4bbde.jpg) Kingsley Ben-Adir — Image via TMDB
- ![Kingsley Ben-Adir](https://film.one/media/person/12001/gallery-9ceab0489a9e.jpg) Kingsley Ben-Adir — Image via TMDB
- ![Kingsley Ben-Adir attends "Frank & Louis" photocall during the 79th Locarno Film Festival on August 10, 2026 in Locarno, Switzerland](https://film.one/media/person/12001/gallery-fd8b0e82494a.jpg) Kingsley Ben-Adir attends "Frank & Louis" photocall during the 79th Locarno Film Festival on August 10, 2026 in Locarno, Switzerland — Segolene Liger, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons (https://thumb.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/c/cd/Kingsley_Ben-Adir_at_the_79th_Locarno_Film_Festival_02_%28cropped%29.jpg/1280px-Kingsley_Ben-Adir_at_the_79th_Locarno_Film_Festival_02_%28cropped%29.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail)

## Awards

### SAG Awards — 0 won, 1 nominated

- 2021: Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture (nominated), for *One Night in Miami...*

*From Wikidata, which records wins more completely than nominations.*

---
© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL. Canonical: https://film.one/person/kingsley-ben-adir