--- name: "Ony Uhiara" canonical: "https://film.one/person/ony-uhiara" fi1m_id: "ony-uhiara" imdb_id: "nm1446450" tmdb_id: 75062 wikidata_id: "Q7095132" roles: ["Actor"] born: "1 January 1978" reviewed_on_fi1m: 3 average_fi1m_score: 64 average_as: "actor" average_over: 3 updated: "2026-10-07T18:15:21.584119+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." --- # Ony Uhiara ## Identity Ony Uhiara - **Canonical:** https://film.one/person/ony-uhiara - **Type:** Person - **Fi1m ID:** ony-uhiara - **IMDb ID:** nm1446450 - **TMDB ID:** 75062 - **Wikidata ID:** Q7095132 - **Same entity:** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ony_Uhiara, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q7095132, https://www.imdb.com/name/nm1446450/, https://www.themoviedb.org/person/75062 Actor. Born 1 January 1978 in UK (east London). ## Details - **Work:** Actor - **Born:** 1 January 1978, UK (east London) - **Active:** 2006–2017 - **Average Fi1m score:** 64, as actor, over 3 titles - **Fi1m score by decade:** 2000s 72 (1), 2010s 60 (2) - **Score spread:** 0 at 80+, 2 at 60–79, 1 under 60 - **Lead roles:** 1 of 1 acting credits billed first or second - **Genres:** Drama 3, Action 1, Comedy 1, Romance 1, Sport 1 - **Screen time:** 3 hours of reviewed films - **Elsewhere:** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ony_Uhiara, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q7095132, https://www.imdb.com/name/nm1446450/, https://www.themoviedb.org/person/75062 ## Fi1m on Ony Uhiara > Ony Uhiara can make us attend to a character with little more than her eyes. In *The State*, she gives Shakira a credibility the writing cannot consistently supply; we would like to see her given more to work with. In *The State* (2017), Ony Uhiara has to convey Shakira Boothe’s feelings with much of her face covered. She gives us enough through her eyes to keep watching a character whom the writing has not fully explained. The performance holds our attention even as the story becomes predictable. We found ourselves caring about Shakira when we were losing patience with the series, because Uhiara made her disillusionment convincing. It is a strong performance in a drama we cannot recommend without substantial reservations. Uhiara’s screen work moved from a regular role as Adele Crouch in the sitcom *The Crouches* (2003–2005) to supporting parts in *Venus* and *Sixty Six* (both 2006). The lead in Peter Kosminsky’s *The State* gave her greater responsibility for holding a drama together. Film appearances in *Jawbone* (2017) and Simon Bird’s *Days of the Bagnold Summer* (2019) remained supporting parts. We would not take the size of those film roles as a measure of what she can carry. Uhiara researched Shakira through testimonies and learned Arabic phonetically for the role. Alongside the restricted visibility of her face, that gave her several practical difficulties to solve before an audience could begin to care about the character. The work does not solve the series’ central problem: its people are too often asked to explain its subject before we know enough about them. Kosminsky gives her a demanding part, but the writing leaves too much of the motivation unexplained for the character to be fully persuasive. Quiet determination suits Uhiara, though it cannot compensate indefinitely for missing detail in a script. She is often cast as people whose choices are constrained, and Shakira makes us want more time with the individual making those choices. We would welcome another substantial screen role that lets her character be particular before asking her to represent anything. If its subject already interests you, *The State* is worth trying for Uhiara; expect to be frustrated by the writing. ## Biography Ony Uhiara is a British actress of Nigerian descent who grew up in east London. She graduated from the Guildhall School of Music and Drama in 2002. She first gained prominence playing Adele Crouch in the BBC sitcom *The Crouches* (2003–2005). Her screen credits include the films *Venus* (2006), *Sixty Six* (2006), *Jawbone* (2017) and *Days of the Bagnold Summer* (2019), and the television series *Waking the Dead* (2003), *Law & Order: UK* (2013) and *The State* (2017), in which she played Shakira Boothe. Stage work includes leading roles at the Royal Exchange Theatre, West Yorkshire Playhouse and Shakespeare's Globe. She is the sister of actor Ofo Uhiara. *Sources: en.wikipedia.org, imdb.com, theartistspartnership.co.uk, channel4.com.* ## On Fi1m (3) - *Jawbone* (2017), Fi1m 70, as Waitress — [page](https://film.one/film/jawbone.md) - *The State* (2017), Fi1m 49, as Shakira — [page](https://film.one/tv/the-state.md) - *Venus* (2006), Fi1m 72, as Royal Court Actress — [page](https://film.one/film/venus.md) ## Complete filmography (12) Every credit, newest first. Titles without a page can be requested for review on the HTML page. - *Nome and the Worm* (2023), as Ellis - *Days of the Bagnold Summer* (2020), as Esther - *The State* (2017), series, as Shakira — Fi1m 49, [page](https://film.one/tv/the-state.md) - *Jawbone* (2017), as Waitress — Fi1m 70, [page](https://film.one/film/jawbone.md) - *Much Ado About Nothing - Live at Shakespeare's Globe* (2012), as Hero - *White Van Man* (2011), series, as Claire - *Sixty Six* (2006), as Nurse - *Venus* (2006), as Royal Court Actress — Fi1m 72, [page](https://film.one/film/venus.md) - *The Crouches* (2003), series, as Adele Crouch - *Rosemary & Thyme* (2003), series, as Grace Oluwu - *Waking the Dead* (2001), series, as Janice - *The Vice* (1999), series, as Prostitute --- © 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/ony-uhiara