| Araya Mengesha | |
| Birth Date: | 23 July 1987 |
| Birth Place: | Toronto, Ontario, Canada |
| Occupation: | Actor |
| Height: | [1] |
| Years Active: | 2002–present |
| Father: | Prince Stefanos Mengesha Seyoum |
| Family: | Weyni Mengesha (cousin) |
Araya Mengesha[2] (born July 23, 1987) is a Canadian actor, best known for his roles as Kandae in Nurse.Fighter.Boy, Michael in Cul de sac and Zoffi in Ruby Skye P.I.: The Maltese Puppy. He is a claimant to the throne of Ethiopia, abolished in 1974.
Mengesha was born in Toronto to Ethiopian-Canadian International business consultant Prince Stefanos Mengesha Seyoum and Eritrean-Canadian Selamawit Kiros. Through his father, he is a member of the Imperial family of Ethiopia. He is the cousin of theatre director Weyni Mengesha.[3]
From 2002 to 2009, together with David Acer and Christina Broccolini he was a presenter of the documentary television series Mystery Hunters.[4]
His short film Defund, co-directed with Khadijah Roberts-Abdullah, premiered at the 2021 Toronto International Film Festival,[5] and was named to TIFF's annual year-end Canada's Top Ten list for 2021.[6]
| Year | Title | Role | Notes | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2002–2009 | Mystery Hunters | Himself | |||
| 2002 | Conviction | William Conamacher | TV movie | ||
| 2008 | Nurse.Fighter.Boy | Kandae | |||
| 2010 | Nikita | Ben Prentice | |||
| 2011 | Frat Guy #1 | ||||
| 2012 | Cul de sac | Michael | Short | ||
| 2013 | Saving Hope | Den Bailli | |||
| 2014 | Ruby Skye P.I.: The Maltese Puppy | Zoffi | Web series | ||
| Ryan Gosling Must Be Stopped | Bus Stop Guy | TV Miniseries | |||
| 2018–2019 | Anne With An E | Elijah | 5 episodes | ||
| 2020 | Tiny Pretty Things | Tyler Stroyer | 5 episodes | ||
| 2021 | Nobody | Pavel | |||
| Defund | Brother | ||||
| 2022 | Revenge of the Black Best Friend | Phil | |||
| Hello (Again) | Douggie | Series regular | |||
| 2023 | Regular | Reggie | Short film | ||
| 2024 | Mark Yohannes | Series regular |