About

Known credits:
22
Birthday:
1968-05-11
Place of birth:
Cardiff, Wales, UK
Website:

Rakie Ayola

Overview

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.

Known for

Acting

2025 Bad Apples Actor Sylvia N/A
N/A
2024 Saving Lives in Cardiff Actor Self - Narrator N/A
N/A
2021 Mothers, Missiles and the American President Actor Narrator N/A
N/A
2021 The Pact Actor Christine Rees 70
Good
2020 Anthony Actor Gee Walker 58
Average
2019 Brexit: The Uncivil War Actor Camilla 61
Fair
2018 Been So Long Actor Martina 58
Average
2016 King Lear Actor Goneril 59
Average
2015 Code of a Killer Actor Helena Adarkwa 70
Good
2014 Under Milk Wood Actor Voice 58
Average
2012 Now Is Good Actor Phillippa 68
Fair
2012 Dredd Actor Chief Judge 67
Fair
2009 My Almost Famous Family Actor Shalondra N/A
N/A
2005 Sahara Actor Mrs. Nwokolo 58
Average
2004 The I Inside Actor Nurse Clayton 58
Average
2002 Being April Actor 69
Fair
1999 The Secret Laughter of Women Actor Talking Drum 58
Average
1998 Maisie Raine Actor D.C. Helen Tomlin N/A
N/A
1994 Great Moments in Aviation Actor Gabriel Angel 58
Average
Hope is Lost Actor Hope N/A
N/A

Production

2018 Twelfth Night Production Executive Producer N/A
N/A
Hope is Lost Production Executive Producer N/A
N/A