Winston Duke facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Winston Duke
Duke in 2020
Born	(1986-11-15) 15 November 1986 (age 38) Argyle, Saint Paul, Tobago, Trinidad and Tobago
Alma mater	University at Buffalo (BA) Yale University (MFA)
Occupation	Actor
Years active	2014–present
Relatives	Watson Duke (cousin)

Winston Duke (born 15 November 1986) is a Tobagonian actor. Duke was born in Tobago, but he moved to Brooklyn at age nine.

Duke began his career with minor roles in theatre productions and recurring roles on the science fiction series Person of Interest (2014–2015) and the sitcom Modern Family (2016). He rose to prominence after playing M'Baku in several films of the Marvel Cinematic Universe (2018–2022), which is one of the highest-grossing media franchises. He continued this success with leading roles in Jordan Peele's horror film Us (2019), the fantasy drama film Nine Days (2020), and the action comedy films Spenser Confidential (2020) and The Fall Guy (2024).

Early life, family and education

Winston Duke was born in the village of Argyle, Tobago in the country of Trinidad and Tobago on 15 November 1986. He was raised by Cora Pantin, a single mother who was a Tobagonian government worker and restaurant owner. He does not have a relationship with his father. He has an older sister, Cindy. His cousin is the Tobagonian politician and Progressive Democratic Patriots leader Watson Duke.

As a child, Duke worked at his mother's restaurant, seating customers at their tables and learned how to "charm" strangers at an early age. When he was nine years old, his mother decided to move her family to the US. She sold the restaurant and their possessions. The three of them settled in a studio apartment in Brooklyn, New York City, where Cindy could attend medical school.

Duke attended a public primary school in Crown Heights, and often frequented the local library and comic book store after school. He graduated from Brighton High School in Rochester, New York in 2004. He attended the University at Buffalo, earning a Bachelor of Arts in theatre. He subsequently earned a Master of Fine Arts in acting at Yale School of Drama, graduating in 2013. His mother died in 2022 at age 66.

Career

Duke promoting Black Panther at San Diego Comic-Con in 2017

Duke started acting in theatre productions for Portland Stage Company and Yale Repertory Theatre before being cast in Person of Interest. In 2012 Duke returned to his native Trinidad and Tobago to appear in the theatre production of An Echo in the Bone starring alongside actress Taromi Lourdes Joseph and directed by fellow Yale alumna Timmia Hearn Feldman.

He was cast in small roles in television series, such as a football star who commits a hate crime in Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, a gang leader in Person of Interest and a football player in Modern Family.

In September 2016, Duke was cast in the role of M'Baku in Black Panther after Marvel tested several actors for the role, including Yahya Abdul-Mateen II. It was released in 2018. Wesley Morris of The New York Times named his performance in Black Panther as one of the best in 2018, describing him as "funny, shameless [and] imposing". He reprised the role in Avengers: Infinity War (2018) and Avengers: Endgame (2019), which are among the highest-grossing films ever made.

In 2019, Duke starred in the hit horror film Us, directed by Jordan Peele. In October 2019, Duke signed on to headline in the Apple TV+ drama series Swagger, but due to an injury suffered on-set in February 2020, he was replaced by O'Shea Jackson Jr.. In September, Duke was named Actor of the Year by GQ Australia. He starred in Nine Days (2020), directed by Edson Oda, as a manager who interviews unborn souls and selects them to live on Earth. In March 2020, he starred alongside Mark Wahlberg in the Netflix thriller Spenser Confidential.

On October 24, 2021, Duke received the Maverick Award at the Newport Beach Film Festival. It was reported in July 2021 that Duke would be playing Bruce Wayne/Batman in the Spotify podcast audio drama Batman Unburied, which was released in 2022. Although Duke worried that backlash from fans about a Black actor playing Wayne would surface, his role was instead met with support and intrigue. Duke reprised his role as M'Baku in Black Panther: Wakanda Forever (2022). He has appeared in a Savage X Fenty fashion show.

Personal life

Duke is friends with actress Lupita Nyong'o, whom he met while attending Yale and went on to co-star with in several films. According to Esquire magazine, he is an "art fanatic".

Filmography

Film

Key

Denotes films that have not yet been released

Television

Podcast

Awards and nominations

See also

In Spanish: Winston Duke para niños