| Thomas Antony Olajide | |
| Birth Name: | Thomas Antony Olajide |
| Birth Place: | Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada |
| Occupation: | Actor, writer |
| Years Active: | 2010s–present |
Thomas Antony Olajide, sometimes also credited as Thomas Olajide, is a Canadian actor and writer from Vancouver, British Columbia.[1] He is most noted for his performance in the 2021 film Learn to Swim, for which he received a Canadian Screen Award nomination for Best Actor at the 10th Canadian Screen Awards in 2022,[2] and as co-creator with Tawiah M'carthy and Stephen Jackman-Torkoff of Black Boys, a theatrical show about Black Canadian LGBTQ+ identities which was staged by Buddies in Bad Times in 2016.[3] Olajide, M'carthy, and Jackman-Torkoff were collectively nominated for Outstanding Ensemble Performance at the Dora Mavor Moore Awards in 2017.[4]
His other stage roles have included productions of William Shakespeare's The Winter's Tale for The Dream in High Park;[5] King Lear,[6] A Midsummer Night's Dream[7] and Love's Labour's Lost[8] for the Stratford Festival; Lynn Nottage's Ruined for Canadian Stage;[9] and Michel Nadeau's And Slowly Beauty for the Belfry Theatre and the National Arts Centre.[10]
Olajide has also starred in the short film Mariner and the feature film White Lie.[11] [12] [13] He had regular roles in the web series Inhuman Condition and Nomades, and received a Prix Gémeaux nomination for Best Actor in a Youth Digital Series in 2020 for the latter.[14]
In 2023, he played a regular supporting role in the television series The Spencer Sisters as police officer Zane Graham.[15] That year, he also starred in the Canadian sports film Backspot,[16] which premiered in the Discovery program at the 2023 Toronto International Film Festival.[17]
He is a graduate of the National Theatre School of Canada, and of the Actors Conservatory at the Canadian Film Centre.[1]