Ariyon Bakare

English actor

Ariyon Bakare is an English actor. He has appeared in the BBC One soap opera Doctors as Ben Kwarme, the Amazon Prime television series Good Omens and Carnival Row, and the BBC One and HBO series His Dark Materials. Prior to this, Bakare made appearances on British dramas such as The Bill, Casualty, and Holby City.

Ariyon Bakare was born around 1971, of a Nigerian father. Growing up, he lived all around east London. Due to conflict with his father, Bakare left his family home at the age of 15, and completed his education while homeless for a year. He was close to his stepmother.

From 2001 to 2005, Bakare portrayed the role of Ben Kwarme in the BBC soap opera Doctors. After leaving Doctors, Bakare returned to direct and write several episodes. He then co wrote and starred in the Channel drama Stealing Lives. In November 2008, he appeared as a villain in the BBC drama Spooks, and in October 2009, he made an appearance in Casualty. In 2011, Bakare played a mini cab driver, Carl Lucas, in the last episode of the sixth series of Law & Order UK, first broadcast in 2012. He appeared in Dancing on the Edge, first broadcast in 2013, as Wesley Holt, a band manager. Bakare later appeared in Doctor Who, in the 2015 episode, "The Woman Who Lived", alongside Maisie Williams. He played the antagonist of the episode, a lion like creature called Leandro. He had a cameo as a Rebel pilot in Rogue One: A Star Wars Story. In 2019, he began appearing in the BBC TV series His Dark Materials, in the role of Lord Boreal.

For his role in Doctors, Bakare was nominated for Best Actor at the 2004 British Soap Awards. He was nominated for an Ian Charleson Award for the role of Florindo in A Servant to Two Masters at the Young Vic.