Joivan Wade facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Joivan Wade
Wade in 2018
Born	(1993-07-23) 23 July 1993 (age 31) Bromley, South London, England
Nationality	English
Occupation	Actor, writer, director, producer
Years active	2011–present

Joivan Wade (born 23 July 1993) is an English actor. He is well-known for playing Manyou in the BBC comedy TV show Big School. He also played Jordan Johnson in the BBC soap opera EastEnders. Later, he became famous for his role as Victor Stone / Cyborg in the Max series Doom Patrol and Titans.

Early Life and Education

Joivan Wade was born on 23 July 1993. His parents are Derek and Andrea Wade. His father was a social worker and a member of a gospel music group called The Wades. He also started a project to help young people reach their goals. Joivan's mother is a minister and a life coach. Joivan has three brothers. His father passed away in 2014, and his mother later remarried. When he was younger, Joivan loved reading comic books.

Joivan was a very energetic child. At 13, he joined the D&B Academy of Performing Arts in his hometown of Bromley. He also played football and was good enough to try out for professional youth teams like Charlton Athletic and Crystal Palace. Joivan says his parents always supported him. They taught him to believe he could achieve anything he wanted. When he was 15, he decided he loved acting more than football.

Friends told him about the BRIT School, a famous performing arts school. He applied just three days before the deadline. His father drove him to the school to hand in his application on the very last day. The BRIT School mainly taught serious acting. Joivan performed in many plays by William Shakespeare. Joivan's biggest inspiration is Will Smith. Smith is an actor who also directs, produces, and writes. Joivan wants to follow in his footsteps by creating his own projects and starting his own production company. He also looks up to actors like Michael Fassbender and Dwayne Johnson. While at the BRIT School, Joivan met Percelle Ascott, and they became close friends. After graduating, Joivan successfully joined the National Youth Theatre.

Career Highlights

Starting with Comedy: Mandem on the Wall

Joivan wanted to speed up his acting career. He decided to start with comedy because funny videos were most likely to go viral on social media. In 2010, a dance and comedy group called Twist and Pulse asked Joivan and Percelle Ascott to perform a comedy sketch. They wrote their sketch the night before the show. The audience loved it. After the show, they met Dee Kaate, another comedian. The three immediately started planning how to create their own videos to boost their careers.

Their web series, Mandem on the Wall, started on December 24, 2011. In just one month, the first episode had 1.1 million views on YouTube. The trio became very famous among teens and young adults in Britain. Joivan's father helped manage the Mandem project. It even had a live show at the Hackney Empire theatre in 2015.

British TV and Film Debut

The success of Mandem helped Joivan get noticed by TV producers. In 2013, he was cast in the first series of the BBC comedy Big School. A production company called Big Talk Productions also became interested in Joivan, Percelle, and Dee. They cast the trio in the teen drama Youngers on E4. Youngers ran for two series. Big Talk Productions even encouraged them to pitch their own show. In 2014 and 2015, Joivan appeared in two episodes of Doctor Who. He played Rigsy, a young graffiti artist who helps save the world.

In February 2016, Joivan joined the cast of the BBC soap opera EastEnders. He played Jordan Johnson. Filming four episodes a week for four months was very busy. Joivan said it took a lot of time away from his other projects. In mid-2016, Joivan, Percelle, and Dee filmed The JPD Show for BBC Three, but it was not picked up for a full series. The trio also starred in the 2016 film The Weekend. It was a comedy about three young friends who find a gangster's money and spend it all. The Weekend was Joivan's first British feature film.

Wall of Comedy and Shiro's Story

Joivan said that his acting roles took too much time away from Mandem on the Wall. Because of this, the web series lost its audience and ended. The trio wrote, directed, and acted in their own projects. But they needed a new place to share them. They decided not to bring back Mandem. Instead, Joivan, Percelle, and Dee created a Facebook page called Wall of Comedy in 2015. This became their new platform.

Wall of Comedy quickly started showing videos from other comedians too. Soon, it had channels on Instagram, Twitter, YouTube, and other social media. Wall of Comedy started with posts getting about 300,000 "likes" on YouTube. Within six months, posts were getting 1.5 million "likes" or more. By July 2019, Wall of Comedy had more than 3.5 billion views across all platforms. The trio then started Wall of Music to promote music and Wall of Talent to help new actors and performers.

In 2018, Joivan and Percelle produced and starred in the short film Shiro's Story. The story is about a young man whose life gets complicated when he finds out the girl he thought was his daughter was actually fathered by one of his friends. The story is mostly told through rap music lyrics that the actors Lip sync to. The film was released in three parts on YouTube. The last episode got 1 million views in its first five hours online.

American Success

Producer Greg Berlanti saw Joivan in the film The First Purge. Three days after the film came out, Berlanti asked Joivan to audition for his new DC Universe series Doom Patrol. Joivan sent in an audition tape. When he heard it would be 13 one-hour episodes, he wasn't very interested. He didn't want to be away from his production company for too long.

A month later, Berlanti's casting office in the UK asked why he hadn't followed up. Only then did Joivan learn the role was for Victor Stone / Cyborg. Joivan still wasn't sure. Two hours later, his agent in Los Angeles called. Berlanti had just sent an email asking Joivan to take the role. His Los Angeles agent set up a Skype call to explain the series more. Four days later, Joivan flew to Los Angeles for an in-person audition. Two days after that, Berlanti gave him the role.

Other Projects and Awards

Joivan, Percelle, and Dee Kaate together own JPD3 Entertainment. This is their own production company.

Joivan also started a charitable foundation called Wade's World with one of his brothers. Joivan says it helps people learn how to work a regular job while still chasing their dreams. It also teaches them to ignore negative comments from others. The foundation creates videos for its own YouTube channel.

In 2019, Variety magazine named Joivan as one of the "10 Brits to Watch." This means he was seen as one of the most promising British talents.

Personal Life

Joivan Wade is a Christian.

Filmography

Film

Television

Web

Awards and Nominations