Jovan Adepo
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Adepo in 2016
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| Born |
Upper Heyford, Oxfordshire, England
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| Citizenship |
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| Education | Bowie State University (BA) |
| Occupation | Actor |
| Years active | 2012–present |
Jovan Adepo is a British-American actor. He made his feature film debut in the period drama Fences (2016), which was followed by roles in the psychological horror film Mother! (2017), the action horror film Overlord (2018), the period comedy-drama Babylon (2022), and the drama His Three Daughters (2023).
Adepo also starred in the HBO supernatural drama series The Leftovers (2015–2017), the Facebook Watch drama series Sorry for Your Loss (2018–2019), the Amazon Prime Video action thriller series Jack Ryan (2019), the Netflix true crime miniseries When They See Us (2019), the HBO superhero miniseries Watchmen (2019), the CBS All Access fantasy miniseries The Stand (2020–2021), and the Netflix science fiction series 3 Body Problem (2024).[1][2] For his performance as Hooded JusticeinWatchmen, he was nominated for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Limited Series or Movie.[3]
Adepo was born in 1988 in Upper Heyford, Oxfordshire. His mother is a British Nigerian from London,[4] while his father is an African American from Chattanooga, Tennessee.[5] His maternal grandfather Fatai Adepo was special adviser to former Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo.[6] He moved to the United States with his family at age 2.[7] Raised in Waldorf, Maryland, he acted in school and church plays.[5]
He attended college at Bowie State UniversityinMaryland, receiving his B.A.inpolitical science and philosophy.[5] While studying political science, he began taking creative writing classes.[citation needed]
Adepo holds British and United States citizenship.[citation needed]
Adepo moved to Los Angeles in 2011 after receiving his bachelor's degree. He intended to become a writer, but he started conducting commercial workshops to supplement his income.[7] He took acting classes in order to book commercials for extra income. His interest in acting grew. Adepo studied acting under the tutelage of a variety of notable instructors, including Ben Guillory of The Robey Theatre Company and Dianne Hull of the Actors Studio.[5] Through church in Maryland, he had met Viola Davis's older sister, who helped him get in contact with Davis. Davis directed him to study techniques, attend plays, and read as many plays as he could.[8][9]
He was part of Live in Front of a Studio Audience: Norman Lear's All in the Family and The Jeffersons. He played the role of Lionel Jefferson.[10] The special was conceptualized and hosted by Jimmy Kimmel, and the team took home the Emmy for Outstanding Variety Special (Live).[11] In 2016 he starred in Fences alongside Viola Davis and Denzel Washington.[12]InFences, he stars as Cory Maxson, the son of the main characters played by Davis and Washington.[13] Adepo was "the only member of the Fences cast who did not star in the play's 2010 Broadway revival before it made the jump to feature film."[14]
In 2017, he appeared as the central character[15] along with Wyatt RussellinOverlord, both playing American paratroopers confronted by Nazi super soldiers.[16] By 2017, he was also a series regular on The LeftoversonHBO,[16] appearing in the second and third seasons.[17] Adepo performed in the 2017 horror film Mother!byDarren Aronofsky.[18]
In May 2019, he appeared as the adult Antron McCray in When They See Us, nominated for an Emmy, about the Central Park Five.[10] In September 2019, he was cast as Larry Underwood in an upcoming version of Stephen King's The Stand.[1] As of November 2019, he was in Vancouver shooting The Stand.[11] In November 2019, he appeared as the central character in the sixth episode of Watchmen, playing the world's first superhero, Hooded Justice.[3] Also in November 2019, he was in an unreleased independent film called Violent Heart, to be released in 2020.[11] He was named one of Dazed Magazine's "Dazed 100".[19]
In March 2021, he was cast to star in Babylon.[20]
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 | Fences | Cory Maxson | |
| 2017 | Mother! | Cupbearer | |
| 2018 | Overlord | Private Edward Boyce | |
| 2019 | The Planters | Jesus (voice) | |
| 2020 | The Violent Heart | Daniel | |
| 2021 | 5150 | Celeb | Short film[21] |
| 2022 | Babylon | Sidney Palmer | |
| 2023 | To Catch a Killer | Jack McKenzie | |
| His Three Daughters | Benji |
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2014 | Blood Relatives | Dushaan Jackson | Episode: "House of Lies" |
| 2015–2017 | The Leftovers | Michael Murphy | Main role (seasons 2–3) |
| 2016 | NCIS: Los Angeles | Emmanuel Salim | Episode: "Revenge Deferred" |
| 2018–2019 | Sorry for Your Loss | Danny Greer | Main role |
| 2019 | Jack Ryan | Marcus Bishop | Main role (season 2) |
| 2019 | Live in Front of a Studio Audience | Lionel Jefferson | Episode: "All in the Family and The Jeffersons" |
| 2019 | When They See Us | Adult Antron McCray | Main role |
| 2019 | Watchmen | Will Reeves/Hooded Justice | 3 episodes |
| 2020–2021 | The Stand | Larry Underwood | Main role |
| 2024 | 3 Body Problem | Saul Durand | Main role |
| 2025 | Welcome to Derry | TBA | Upcoming series[22] |
| Year | Award | Category | Work | Result | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2017 | Black Reel Award | Outstanding Breakthrough Performance | Fences | Nominated | |
| Outstanding Supporting Actor | Nominated | ||||
| Screen Actors Guild Award | Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture | Nominated | |||
| 2020 | Primetime Emmy Award | Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Limited Series or Movie | Watchmen | Nominated | |
| 2023 | Screen Actors Guild Award | Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture | Babylon | Nominated |
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