His Story

Chris Obi was an internationally recognized film and TV actor who broke out in America in 2017 when he joined the cast of the new fantasy series “American Gods” (Starz, 2017- ). Obi’s career began in England in the early 2000s. He nabbed his very first TV role on the British police procedural “Trial & Retribution” (ITV, 1997-2009) in 2002, and the following year appeared in a small role on the British mini-series “State of Play” (BBC, 2003).

2003 was also the year that Obi nabbed his first recurring TV part. That role came on the popular British medical soap opera “Doctors” (BBC, 2000- ). In 2004 Obi appeared in the comedy “The Calcium Kid.” That film, about an amateur boxer who unexpectedly lands a title fight against the world champion, also starred Orlando Bloom. Obi continued appearing in British movies and TV shows over the next several years, most notably 2010’s “Burke and Hare” and a 2011 episode of “Doctor Who” (BBC, 1963- ).

By 2016, however, Obi was beginning to make a name for himself in the United States. In addition to appearing in the 2016 remake of the 1977 mini-series “Roots,” in which he played the role of Kintango, Obi also joined the cast of the Starz original series “American Gods” (2017- ), which was inspired by a popular book of the same name by British sci-fi author Neil Gaiman.