Adjoa Andoh will most likely be a name and face you recognise from TV over the years, especially as she currently plays the role of Lady Agatha Danbury in Bridgerton and its mini series spin-off, Queen Charlotte: A Bridgerton Story. But did you know that this super-talented actress was born right here in Bristol and made a name for herself while working for a Bristol TV institution?
She's starred in British and US shows, Hollywood movies and even lent her voice to a string of video games and audio books. Recently, she narrated another royal series which focussed on the real royal family - the ITV documentary series was titled 'The Real Crown: Inside the House of Windsor' and aired in April 2023.
From her royal links to her acting achievements and how her life started here in Bristol, here are some of the things you might not know about Adjoah Andoh...
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She was born in Clifton
Adjoa Andoh was born right here in Clifton, Bristol, but grew up in Wickwar in Gloucestershire, where her family moved after her father got a job with British Aerospace. Her mother was English and worked as a teacher, while her father had been a journalist and musician from Ghana.
Adjoa attended Katharine Lady Berkeley's School near Wotton-under-Edge and then began studying law at Bristol Polytechnic (now the University of the West of England), however she left after two years to pursue an acting career.
She's an Honorary Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature
You may see the letters 'HonFRSL' beside Adjoa Andoh's name - this means she is an Honorary Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature, a "learned society founded in 1820 by King George IV to reward literary merit and excite literary talent". A charity that represents the voice of literature in the UK, the RSL has about 600 Fellows which are elected from among the best writers in any genre currently at work - and Adjoah was elected a Fellow in 2022.
New fellows of the Royal Society of Literature are elected by its current fellows. To be nominated for fellowship, a writer must have published two works of literary merit and nominations must be seconded by an RSL fellow.
All nominations are presented to members of the Council of the Royal Society of Literature, who vote biannually to elect new fellows. Past and present fellows include J.R.R. Tolkien, Rudyard Kipling and J.K. Rowling.
She played a classic Casualty character
If you can remember the time when BBC's medical drama, Casualty, was filmed here in Bristol, then you will no doubt have seen Adjoa Andoh as a member of the cast. She played Colette Kierney/Griffiths between 2000 and 2003.
Colette was a nurse who married paramedic Josh Griffiths (played by Ian Bleasdale) and was at the centre of her fair share of dramatic storylines - from being attacked by a patient, to suffering a miscarriage. Adjoa left the show in 2003, with her character later revealed to have filed for divorce from the loveable paramedic,
She has starred alongside Morgan Freeman
In 2009, Adjoa played the role of Brenda Mazibuko, Nelson Mandela's Chief of Staff in Clint Eastwood's film Invictus, based on the true story of events in South Africa before and during the 1995 Rugby World Cup. The film starred Matt Damon as Francois Pienaar, the Springboks' captain, and Morgan Freeman who played Nelson Mandela.
Other films Adjoa has starred in include 'The Shadow in the North' (2007), 'Adulthood' (2008), 'Brotherhood' (2016) and 'Fractured' (2019), with castmates including the likes of Danny Dyer, Plan B, Stormzy, David Ajala, Sam Worthington, Lily Rabe and Stephen Tobolowsky. When it comes to TV, as well as her recent success in Bridgerton, she played the role of Nenneke in The Witcher, alongside Henry Cavill, too.
She's been voicing video games for more than 15 years
In addition to her film, TV, radio and theatre acting work, Adjoa has also lent her voice to a number of video game characters. These include the 'Fable' series, 'Age of Conan' (2008), 'Dante's Inferno' (2010), 'The Secret World' (2012) and 2017's 'Horizon Zero Dawn'.
She's a licensed 'lay preacher' in the Church of England
In October 2009, Adjoa was licensed as a lay preacher in the Church of England. A lay preacher is described as being "a preacher or religious proclaimer who is not a formally ordained cleric and who may not hold a formal university degree in theology".
She made history at Shakespeare's Globe Theatre
In 2019, Adjoa conceived, co-directed, and played Richard II at Shakespeare's Globe Theatre, in the UK's first all women of colour production.
She has narrated hundreds of audiobooks...
... More than 150 to be exact. Adjoa Andoh, having been a BBC radio actor for more than 30 years, is even an award-winning narrator. In 2022, AudioFile named her a 'Golden Voice narrator'.
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