Oluniké Adeliyi
Adeliyi in 2013
Born (1977-01-05) January 5, 1977
Brampton, Ontario, Canada
OccupationActress
Years active1996–present

Oluniké Adeliyi (born January 5, 1977[1]) is a Canadian actress. She appeared in the 2010 horror film Saw 3D and starred as Leah Kerns in the television series Flashpoint.

Early life

Adeliyi was born in Brampton, Ontario, of Jamaican-Nigerian descent.[2][3] She frequently visited Brooklyn, New York to pursue acting. She graduated from the American Academy of Dramatic Arts, performing in local theater, before returning to Toronto in 2008.[4]

Career

Adeliyi began acting when she was cast as the Artful Dodger in her middle school play Oliver Twist. After graduating high school, she went to the American Academy of Dramatic Arts in New York City, and has since performed in theatres throughout Canada and the U.S. playing leading roles in Blue Window, A Midsummer Night's Dream, The Children's Hour, Jitney, and Michael Cristofer's play The Shadow Box.[4]

One of her earliest film roles was an uncredited bit part in the film John Q.; on set, she met Denzel Washington, who she said "inspired" her to continue pursuing acting.[5] In 2009 she starred as the lead in the AfriCan Theatre Ensemble production of Efua Sutherland's The Marriage of Anansewa.[6][7] Also that year, she starred in the Canadian TV series Flashpoint.[5] She was nominated for Best Performance by a Female – Film at the 2012 Canadian Comedy Awards for her performance in French Immersion.[4]

In 2014, Adeliyi was dubbed "Shakespeare’s First Jamaican-Nigerian Lady Macbeth" when she played the role at the Sterling Theatre in Toronto.[2]

As of 2017, Adeliyi stars on the CBC series Workin' Moms.[8]

In 2018 she received a Canadian Screen Award nomination for Best Supporting Actress at the 6th Canadian Screen Awards, for her role in the film Boost.

Personal life

Controversy

In 2017, Adeliyi attracted media attention in Canada after an incident at Toronto's Kingsway Theatre. The establishment does not allow backpacks into its theatre, and Adeliyi would not leave her backpack for safekeeping with theatre staff. The theatre staff refused to sell her a ticket, and when she refused to leave, the police were called.[9] Adeliyi claimed she was discriminated against by the theatre staff, who filmed her,[10] while the theatre staff claim they were following protocol.[11][12] After police were called, Adeliyi was escorted out of the theatre.[13] Adeliyi described the experience as "dehumanizing," and in an interview with the Toronto Star, she spoke further of the experience, saying:

I take offence to being labelled dangerous and that is what happened . . . When things happen like that, it can go any way, and people can get hurt . . . it compromises the person who [is] accused of something, and that is not fair.[14]

Theatre owner Rui Pereira described Adeliyi as "abusive", saying she "slammed her bag on the counter and demanded a ticket", and then refused to leave when told to by staff.[14]

Filmography

Film

Year Title Role Notes
2002 John Q Insurance Rep
Undercover Brother Bank Patron
2004 New York Minute Big Shirl's Beautician
2010 Saw 3D Sidney
Book Club Pattie Short
Two Cities Mpumi Short
2011 French Immersion Aretha
2013 Three Days in Havana Night
The Returned Return Unit Nurse
Half Way Home (voice) Short
2014 Agape Veronica Short
2015 A Christmas Horror Story Kim Peters
2016 Boost Amina Nour
2017 The Drop In Grace Short
Darken Kali
The Emissary Ren Short
2018 GUION Linda Bluford Short
The Parting Glass Sue
Deep Space Julianna Black
2019 The Prodigy Rebecca
ShoeGazer Wanda Short
Tammy's Always Dying Pascal
She Never Died Lacey
2020 Promise Me Yolonda Thomas Short
Akilla's Escape Thetis
Sila Yaz Haiti Short
2021 Chaos Walking Piper
Cinema of Sleep Omoni
2022 Puppy The Rescuer Short
2024 Flint Strong Jackie Shields

Television

Year Title Role Notes
2003 Blue Murder Hooker #2 Episode: "Ambush"
DoUlike2watch.com Charisma TV movie
2008 The Border Aide Episode: "Going Dark"
2009–12 Flashpoint Cst. Leah Kerns Recurring cast (seasons 2-3), main cast (season 5)
2011 Who Is Simon Miller? Jasmine TV movie
Combat Hospital Yolanda Cullerne Episode: "Brothers in Arms"
2012 Being Human Cecilia Recurring cast (season 2)
The Listener Rebecca Kalb Episode: "Poisoned Minds"
2013 Cracked Solange Oowuszhu Episode: "Faces"
Her Husband's Betrayal Officer Bobby Lee TV movie
2014 Republic of Doyle Harley Denief Recurring cast (season 5)
Remedy Gabby Episode: "Bad Blood"
Odd Squad DJ K-Berg Episode: "Blob on the Job/Party of 5,4,3,2,1"
2015 Saving Hope Tammy "Armageddon" Jenkins Episode: "The Parent Trap"
A Wish Come True Abby TV movie
Lost Girl Suri Middleton Episode: "Like Father, Like Daughter"
2016 Killjoys Artura Senbek Episode: "Heart-Shaped Box"
Group Home Mrs. Rice TV movie
2017 Taken Too Far Officer Daniels TV movie
The Girlfriend Experience - Episode: "Donors"
2017–21 Workin' Moms Giselle Bois Recurring cast (seasons 1-5)
2018 Deep Six Julianne Main cast
2019 Little Dog Phyllis Smallwood Recurring cast: season 2
Titans Matti Matisse Episode: "Bruce Wayne"
Frankie Drake Mysteries Etta Rose Episode: "Ward of the Roses"
2019–21 American Gods Shadow's Mom Recurring cast (season 2), guest (season 3)
2020 Coroner Noor Armias Main cast (season 2)
Transplant Makayla Episode: "Under Pressure"
2020–21 The Expanse Karal Recurring cast (season 5)
2021 Guilty Party Yvette Episode: "A Denver Ten"
Revenge Delivered Victoria Brooks TV movie
2022 Revenge of the Black Best Friend Dr. Toni Shakur Main cast
The Porter Queenie Main cast

Video games

Year Title Role Notes
2014 Watch Dogs Donna 'Poppy' Dean (voice)
2019 Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon Breakpoint Cpt Maya Coleman (voice)
2020 Hyper Scape Ultimate Grace (voice)

References

  1. ↑ Oluniké Adeliyi's bio at www.northernstars.ca
  2. 1 2 "Olunike Adeliyi is Shakepeare's first black Lady Macbeth". thecaribbeancurrent.com. Retrieved 2017-03-14.
  3. ↑ Monique Savin, "Keeping in fighting trim", The Globe and Mail, 6 June 2011, L3.
  4. 1 2 3 "Video | 10 Questions with Wendy Olunike Adeliyi (Actress, Producer, Philanthropist)". eBOSS Canada. 2017-03-09. Retrieved 2017-03-14.
  5. 1 2 "New Flashpoint star fits role perfectly". sharenews.com. Share News. Archived from the original on 2017-03-15. Retrieved 2017-03-14.
  6. ↑ AfriCan Theatre Ensemble
  7. ↑ Harbourfront Centre.
  8. ↑ "Workin' Moms: Frankie's Struggles Hit Close to Home for Juno Rinaldi - The TV Junkies". The TV Junkies. 2017-02-07. Retrieved 2017-03-14.
  9. ↑ "The Kingsway Theatre dispute is a lesson in why we need to take claims of discrimination seriously". NOW Magazine. 2017-03-09. Retrieved 2017-03-14.
  10. ↑ "Actress claims she was discriminated against by theatre — while going to see film about race". CBC News. Retrieved 2017-03-14.
  11. ↑ "Actress at odds with Toronto movie theatre over discrimination case | Metro Toronto". metronews.ca. Retrieved 2017-03-14.
  12. ↑ "Was Kingsway Theatre saga an act of racism or jerk-ism?: Paradkar | Toronto Star". thestar.com. 10 March 2017. Retrieved 2017-03-14.
  13. ↑ ICI.Radio-Canada.ca, Zone Arts -. "L'actrice Oluniké Adeliyi expulsée du cinéma : un gest discriminatory, Selon elle". Radio-Canada.ca (in Canadian French). Retrieved 2017-03-14.
  14. 1 2 "Social media skirmish escalates over Toronto actress's discrimination claim | Toronto Star". thestar.com. 6 March 2017. Retrieved 2017-03-14.
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