| LaKeith Stanfield | |
| Birth Name: | LaKeith Lee Stanfield |
| Birth Date: | 12 August 1991 |
| Birth Place: | San Bernardino, California, U.S. |
| Other Names: | Keith Stanfield |
| Years Active: | 2008–present |
| Children: | 3 |
LaKeith Lee Stanfield (born August 12, 1991) is an American actor and musician. He made his feature film debut in Short Term 12 (2013), for which he was nominated for an Independent Spirit Award. He received further recognition for his roles in the films Get Out (2017), Sorry to Bother You (2018), Uncut Gems (2019), Knives Out (2019), and Judas and the Black Messiah (2021), the lattermost of which earned him a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor.
Stanfield has also appeared in the films Selma (2014), Dope (2015), Straight Outta Compton (2015), Crown Heights (2017), The Photograph (2020), The Harder They Fall (2021), Haunted Mansion (2023) and The Book of Clarence (2023). On television, he played Darius Epps in the series Atlanta (2016–2022), for which he won a Black Reel Award for Television, and starred in the horror series The Changeling (2023–present). He has also been nominated for a Critics' Choice Movie Award, a Gotham Award, two Satellite Awards, two Screen Actors Guild Awards, and five Black Reel Awards.
LaKeith Lee Stanfield was born in San Bernardino, California, on August 12, 1991,[1] [2] and grew up in Riverside and Victorville.[3] His mother's name is Karen.[4] He has said that he "grew up very poor in a fractured family that was dysfunctional on both sides". He decided to become an actor when he was 14 after joining his high school's drama club. He attended the John Casablancas Modeling and Career Center in Los Angeles,[5] where he was signed by an agency and began auditioning for commercials.[3]
Stanfield's first acting role was in the short film Short Term 12, Destin Daniel Cretton's thesis project at San Diego State University, which won the Jury Award for U.S. Short Filmmaking at the 2009 Sundance Film Festival.[5] A year later, he appeared in the short film Gimme Grace (2010). While continuing to keep his dreams of acting alive, he went on to work a number of different jobs such as roofing and gardening, and jobs at AT&T and a legal marijuana dispensary, before he was contacted by Cretton to reappear in a feature-length adaptation of Short Term 12. It was his first feature film role. During production, Stanfield practiced method acting, distancing himself from the other cast members like his character.[3] He was the only actor to appear in both the short and feature versions.[6] The film won the Grand Jury Prize for Best Narrative Feature at the 2013 South by Southwest film festival, and Stanfield was nominated for the Independent Spirit Award for Best Supporting Male.
In 2014, Stanfield co-starred in and Selma, in the latter playing civil rights activist Jimmie Lee Jackson. In 2015, he appeared in the films Memoria[5] and Miles Ahead.[7] He also starred in the fantasy horror thriller film King Ripple by filmmaker Luke Jaden,[8] and appeared in the music video for the Run the Jewels song "Close Your Eyes (And Count to Fuck)".[9] In 2015, he portrayed rapper Snoop Dogg in the biopic Straight Outta Compton.[10] In 2017, he played L in Adam Wingard's adaptation of the popular Japanese fantasy-thriller manga series Death Note, for Netflix. Also that year, he starred in the music video for the song "Cold Little Heart" by English singer Michael Kiwanuka,[11] and appeared in the critically acclaimed horror film Get Out.[12] In 2018, he starred as Cassius "Cash" Green in the critically acclaimed dark comedy film Sorry to Bother You.[13] [14]
In 2019, Stanfield starred as Nate Davis in the Netflix romantic comedy film Someone Great. In the same year, he played Lieutenant Elliot in the mystery film Knives Out.[15] He had starring roles in the films The Photograph (2020) and Judas and the Black Messiah (2021). His portrayal of FBI informant William O'Neal in the latter was critically acclaimed and garnered him a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor.[16] [17]
Stanfield performs under the stage name Htiekal (his first name backwards) and is working on his debut album, titled Self Control.[18] He is a member of the band Moors, with Hrishikesh Hirway of Song Exploder.[19] [20]
Stanfield lives in Los Angeles.[21] Stanfield has a daughter born in 2017 with actress Xosha Roquemore,[4] [22] and a second daughter born in 2022 with artist Tylor Hurd.[23] [24] In December 2022, Stanfield and model Kasmere Trice announced their engagement and by July 2023, they had privately married and had their first child together.[25]
| Year | Title | Role | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2008 | Short Term 12 | Mark | Short film | |
| 2013 | Short Term 12 | Marcus | ||
| 2014 | Young Ghoul Face | |||
| Selma | Jimmie Lee Jackson | |||
| The Fires, Howling | The Staying One | Short film | ||
| 2015 | King Ripple | King Ripple | Short film | |
| The Ferguson Case, Verbatim | Dorian Johnson | Short film | ||
| Tracks | Lawrence | |||
| Dope | Marquis a.k.a. Bug | |||
| Straight Outta Compton | Snoop Dogg | |||
| Miles Ahead | Junior | |||
| Memoria | Max | |||
| 2016 | Live Cargo | Lewis | ||
| Hard World for Small Things | Sev | Short film | ||
| Snowden | Patrick Haynes | |||
| 2017 | Crown Heights | Colin Warner | ||
| Get Out | Andre Hayworth / Logan King | |||
| The Incredible Jessica James | Damon | |||
| War Machine | Corporal Billy Cole | |||
| Izzy Gets the F*ck Across Town | George | |||
| Death Note | Lebensborn Atubia / L | |||
| Quest | Diego | |||
| 2018 | Sorry to Bother You | Cassius "Cash" Green | ||
| Come Sunday | Reggie | |||
| The Girl in the Spider's Web | Edwin Needham | |||
| Time of Day | Himself | Short film[26] | ||
| 2019 | Someone Great | Nate Davis | ||
| Uncut Gems | Demany | |||
| Knives Out | Detective Lieutenant Elliot | |||
| 2020 | The Photograph | Michael Block | ||
| 2021 | Judas and the Black Messiah | William O'Neal | ||
| The Harder They Fall | Cherokee Bill | |||
| 2023 | Haunted Mansion | Ben Matthias | ||
| The Book of Clarence | Clarence / Thomas | |||
| 2024 | Ernest Cole (voice) | Documentary[27] | ||
| TBA | Play Dirty | Grofield | Post-production | |
| TBA | Die, My Love | Filming |
| Year | Title | Role | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2016–2022 | Atlanta | Darius Epps | 25 episodes | |
| 2018 | Random Acts of Flyness | Himself | Episode: "What are your thoughts on raising free black children?" | |
| 2019–2020 | BoJack Horseman | Guy (voice) | 7 episodes | |
| 2020 | The Eric Andre Show | Himself (co-host) | 2 episodes | |
| 2021 | Yasuke | Yasuke (voice) | 6 episodes; also executive producer | |
| 2023 | The Changeling | Apollo | 8 episodes; also executive producer |
| Year | Title | Artist | Role |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2014 | "When My Train Pulls In" | Gary Clark Jr. | Keith |
| 2015 | "Close Your Eyes (And Count to Fuck)" | Run the Jewels | Kid |
| 2017 | "Moonlight" | Jay-Z | Chandler |
| "Cold Little Heart" | Michael Kiwanuka | ||
| 2022 | "I Hate U" | SZA | |
| "Shirt" |
| Year | Nominated work | Award | Category | Result | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2014 | Short Term 12 | [28] | |||
| Best Original Score | |||||
| Best Original Song | |||||
| 2015 | Tracks | Special Jury Citation | |||
| Selma | Best Ensemble | ||||
| Straight Outta Compton | Breakthrough Performer | ||||
| 2018 | Sorry to Bother You | ||||
| Get Out | |||||
| 2019 | Atlanta | ||||
| 2021 | Judas and the Black Messiah | ||||
| [29] | |||||
| The Harder They Fall |