Person
Rakie Ayola
Cardiff, Wales, UK
Rakie Olufunmilayo Ayola is a Welsh actress. She was born in Cardiff in May 1968, to a Sierra Leonean mother and a Nigerian father, and was raised by her mother's cousin and his…
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Rakie Olufunmilayo Ayola is a Welsh actress. She was born in Cardiff in May 1968, to a Sierra Leonean mother and a Nigerian father, and was raised by her mother's cousin and his wife in the Ely district of the city. She studied at Glan Ely High School, and was a member of the Orbit Youth Theatre, South Glamorgan Youth Theatre, South Glamorgan Youth Choir and the National Youth Theatre of Wales. She went on to attend the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama, studying for a three-year acting diploma. In 2023 Rakie Ayola was the 18th recipient of the prestigious BAFTA Cymru Siân Phillips Award. At the same ceremony she also won the Bafta Cymru Best Actress Award for her performance in BBC1 series The Pact Season 2 on which she was an Executive Producer. In 2021 Rakie Ayola won BAFTA Best Supporting Actress for BBC1 film Anthony by Jimmy McGovern. Ayola has appeared in television shows including Kaos, The Pact Season 1, Grace, Shetland, No Offence, Midsomer Murders, Black Mirror, Noughts + Crosses, Doctor Who, Silent Witness and EastEnders, a number of Shakespearean theatrical performances and feature films such as Been So Long, Now Is Good, Great Moments in Aviation, The i Inside, Dredd, and Sahara. She appeared as Kyla Tyson in the BBC medical drama Holby City from its eighth to eleventh series.
Filmography
Movies and shows, newest first
-
2026
Black Church Bay
Movie Mrs Munroe
-
2026
Bad Apples
Movie Sylvia
-
2026
National Theatre Live: The Authenticator
Movie Abi
-
2026
Falling
TV show Muriel
-
2025
Diamond Sky
Movie Suzzane Kirk
-
2025
Hope Is Lost
Movie Hope (voice)
-
2024
Gavin & Stacey: The Finale
Movie Registrar
-
2024
KAOS
TV show Persephone
-
2024
Saving Lives in Cardiff
TV show Self - Narrator
-
2024
Hedgehog
Movie Consultant
-
2021
Mothers, Missiles and the American President
Movie Narrator
-
2021
The Pact
TV show DS Holland
-
2021
Grace
TV show ACC Alison Vosper
-
2020
Alex Rider
TV show Jo Byrne
-
2020
Anthony
Movie Gee Walker
-
2019
Brexit: The Uncivil War
Movie Camilla
More credits
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2018
Twelfth Night
Movie Executive Producer
-
2018
Been So Long
Movie Martina
-
2016
King Lear
Movie Goneril
-
2016
Flowers
TV show Morag
-
2015
No Offence
TV show Nora Attah
-
2015
Code of a Killer
TV show Helena Adarkwa
-
2014
Under Milk Wood
Movie Voice
-
2013
Shetland
TV show Olivia Lennox
-
2012
Now Is Good
Movie Phillippa
-
2012
Dredd
Movie Chief Judge
-
2011
Black Mirror
TV show Shelly
-
2011
Vera
TV show Amber Haleford
-
2009
My Almost Famous Family
TV show Shalondra
-
2008
Bargain Hunt Famous Finds
TV show
-
2005
Sahara
Movie Mrs. Nwokolo
-
2005
Doctor Who
TV show Hostess
-
2004
The I Inside
Movie Nurse Clayton
-
2004
Sea of Souls
TV show Yemi
-
2003
Canterbury Tales
TV show Nicky Constable
-
2002
Being April
TV show Taneshia
-
2001
Waking the Dead
TV show Pauline
-
2001
Murder in Mind
TV show Cally
-
1999
The Secret Laughter of Women
Movie Talking Drum
-
1999
Holby City
TV show Kyla Tyson
