Rakie Ayola facts for kids

Rakie Olufunmilayo Ayola (born in May 1968) is a talented Welsh actress. She is well-known for her work in theatre, television, and radio.

In 2023, Rakie Ayola received the special BAFTA Cymru Siân Phillips Award. She also won the Bafta Cymru Best Actress Award for her role in the BBC1 series The Pact Season 2. She was also an Executive Producer for that show. In 2021, Rakie Ayola won a BAFTA for Best Supporting Actress. This was for her role in the BBC1 film Anthony by Jimmy McGovern.

Ayola has appeared in many popular TV shows. These include Kaos, The Pact Season 1, Grace, and Shetland. She has also been in No Offence, Midsomer Murders, Black Mirror, Noughts + Crosses, Doctor Who, Silent Witness, and EastEnders.

She has performed in many Shakespearean plays. Rakie has also been in films like Been So Long, Now Is Good, Dredd, and Sahara. From 2006 to 2008, she played Kyla Tyson in the BBC medical drama Holby City.

In 2017, Ayola took on the role of Hermione Granger in the Harry Potter and the Cursed Child play in London's West End. In 2020, she won an award for Best Female Actor in a Play. This was for her performance in On Bear Ridge. She performed this for National Theatre Wales and the Royal Court.

In 2017, Ayola started Shanty Productions with her husband Adam Smethurst. Ayola also speaks out for more diverse actors in the entertainment world.

Early Life and Education

Rakie Ayola was born in Cardiff, Wales, in May 1968. Her mother was from Sierra Leone and her father was from Nigeria. She was raised by her mother's cousin and his wife in Ely, Cardiff. Rakie is of Yoruba descent.

She went to Windsor Clive Primary and Glan Ely High School. She was part of several youth theatre and choir groups. Rakie decided she wanted to be an actress at 16. She then studied acting at the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama.

Her first acting role was in primary school. She played a lady-in-waiting for King Arthur at the Welsh Eisteddfod. Rakie says that Barbra Streisand's performance in Hello, Dolly! inspired her to act. Her adoptive mother also encouraged her to become a professional actress.

Acting Career

Rakie Ayola started her career in theatre. She performed in many Shakespearean plays. These include Twelfth Night, A Midsummer Night's Dream, and Macbeth. She enjoys playing characters who are very expressive. In 1991, she played Hazel in Up 'n' Under. She has also played both Olivia and Viola in Twelfth Night.

In 2003, she played the main role in Dido, Queen of Carthage at the Globe Theatre in London. She called this role "a dream."

Film Roles

Ayola's first film was Great Moments in Aviation in 1993. A reviewer said she was "a constant pleasure to watch." She found working with famous actors exciting.

Her other films include The Secret Laughter of Women and the thriller The i Inside. She also appeared in Sahara in 2005. Rakie enjoys making films.

Television Roles

Ayola's first big TV role was in the ITV drama Soldier Soldier in 1993. She played Bernie Roberts, a soldier's wife. She then appeared in Scarlett, a sequel to Gone With the Wind. She also starred in the Welsh soap opera Tiger Bay.

In 2001, she became a presenter for the BBC Wales arts show Double Yellow. She has also appeared in EastEnders and Waking the Dead. In 2008, she was in the Doctor Who episode "Midnight". She played a Hostess alongside David Tennant's Tenth Doctor.

In 2009, Ayola starred in the CBBC musical comedy My Almost Famous Family. She liked that the show had a diverse cast. It showed a family that was half-black, half-white, and half-American, half-British. One character was mixed-race and deaf, and the show treated her disability naturally.

In 2016, she played Amber Haleford in Vera. From May 2017, she played Hermione Granger in Harry Potter and the Cursed Child in London.

Holby City Role

From 2006 to 2008, Ayola played nurse Kyla Tyson in the BBC medical drama Holby City. She had been on Holby City before as a patient. The BBC asked her to join the show full-time. She agreed, even though she was nervous about a long contract. She wanted a steady job after her first child was born.

Rakie signed a three-year contract for the role. She felt she was similar to her character, Kyla. She enjoyed working with her co-stars and liked the storylines. In 2008, Ayola left Holby City because she was expecting her second child. She said she would miss playing Kyla.

Advocacy and Awards

Rakie Ayola has often spoken about fairness in the entertainment industry. She believes that black actors sometimes get less attention than white actors. She feels her career would have been different if she were white. She also noted that it was hard for casting directors to see characters as both black and Welsh.

In 2001, Ayola started her own production company. She made a short film called Persephone's Playground. She showed it at the Cannes film festival. She used this film to campaign for more black actors in theatre, films, and TV.

In 2008, Ayola supported the Action for Southern Africa campaign. This campaign aimed to help women in Zimbabwe get affordable sanitary products.

Awards and Recognition

Ayola was nominated for 'Female Performance in TV' at the 2006 Screen Nation Awards. This was for her role as Kyla Tyson in Holby City. She received an Honourable Mention the next year and was nominated again in 2008.

Rakie is a Trustee for ACT, the Actors' Children's Trust. She is also an Ambassador for PIPA, Parents in Performing Arts.

Personal Life

Rakie Ayola enjoys watching TV, theatre, cinema, and concerts. She also likes indoor wall climbing, yoga, and aerobics to stay fit. She has a collection of Troll dolls.

She loves to travel and has visited Peru and Kenya. She hopes to visit Brazil and Argentina one day. Rakie is proud of her Welsh upbringing. She calls herself "an Ely girl through and through." In 2003, she was made a Fellow of the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama.

In 1998, Rakie met her husband, actor Adam Smethurst, during a play. Adam is the son of actor Jack Smethurst. They met again two years later and became a couple. They married in May 2004. Their first daughter, Tansy, was born in July 2004. Their second daughter, Shani, was born in January 2009.

Filmography

Ayola has been in many films and TV shows since 1993.

Film roles

Television roles

Video games