Hakeem Kae-Kazim

Kae-Kazim was born in Lagos, Nigeria, where he spent his early years before his family re-located to London, England.[2] His interest in acting began with school plays and The National Youth Theatre,[3] which is when he discovered that he had "a love for theatre, for acting".[2] He trained at the Bristol Old Vic Theatre School, graduating in 1987[4] and was offered a space with The Royal Shakespeare Company,[3] where he continued his classical training.

After working alongside Brian Cox and Ian McKellen for The Royal National Theatre, Kae-Kazim made a successful transition into British television, appearing in The Bill, Trial & Retribution and multiple episodes of popular BBC series Grange Hill.[2] He then moved to South Africa, where he became well known for film and television roles.[2] However, it was his role as Georges Rutaganda in the critically acclaimed and Oscar nominated film Hotel Rwanda, which brought him to international attention.[5]

Following the success of Hotel Rwanda, Kae-Kazim re-located to Los Angeles, which brought a range of new opportunities his way. He went on to appear in Slipstream alongside Sean Astin and The Front Line before starring in the hugely successful Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End as Captain Jocard. He followed it with a role in the blockbuster, X-Men Origins: Wolverine.[5]

Kae-Kazim appeared in various hit television shows including Lost, Law & Order: Special Victims Unit and Criminal Minds.[2] He also starred as Colonel Iké Dubaku in season 7 of the Fox television series 24 and the television movie tie-in 24: Redemption. Kae-Kazim continued to build up a following with roles in Gotham and Dominion, although his longest running role has been in the Michael Bay produced Starz series, Black Sails. Speaking about his character, Mr Scott, Kae-Kazim claimed to have based him on pirate of the time, Black Caesar.[3] He played Samson in part one of the 2016 miniseries remake Roots.[6] In November 2017, Kae-Kazim was cast in the recurring role of Cesil Colby on The CW reboot series Dynasty.[7]

Kae-Kazim is currently starring in the BBC fantasy series Troy: Fall of a City as Zeus, king of the Olympians.

Called the 'Man with a Beautiful Voice', Kae-Kazim has also done extensive voiceover work ranging from television and radio to video games.[8] His voice has been featured in a number of well known video games including Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3, Final Fantasy XIV, Halo 3 ODST, Halo: Reach, Guild Wars, Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End, The Golden Compass and The Saboteur.[9] Kae-Kazim has spoken of voice over work as being "a lot of fun", and something he enjoys doing.[8]

Kae-Kazim is an appointed global ambassador for Africa 2.0,[10] a civil society organisation providing a platform for emerging and established African leaders to drive forward the transformation of Africa.

Speaking about his role as ambassador, Kae-Kazim said: “I am truly honoured to be associated with Africa 2.0 – a pioneering platform for a new generation of African leaders to inspire and create a solid infrastructure- to shape a brighter future for our continent”.[11]

• Hakeem Kae-Kazim on IMDb