Mr. Eko Goes to Sundance
"The only way you can influence your fate is to put your soul into your performance and hope it registers with the audience." — Mr. Eko, LOST (Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje)
Now, Adewale is putting his heart and soul into FARMING, a film that was chosen for the annual June Directors and Screenwriters Labs, which was held at the Sundance Resort in Utah from May 28– June 28, 2007. My fellow Art Faculty member, Kai Kim and I are avid LOST fans. We both adored "Mr. Eko" and were horrified when they killed him off. 
A powerful actor, Adewale was amazing in his role. A little research reveals that Adewale has a Masters in Law from the University of London, where he was born and raised. He actually began his career as a model in Milan. He's fluent in (obviously) Italian, English, Swahili and Yoruba. Adewale's parents are Nigerian so it is not surprising to discover that his film is being made in Nigeria and the United Kingdom.
But despite his big screen success, it is in television that he has excelled. In 1997 he joined the cast of Oz, one of HBO-TV's most successful and challenging shows of the 1990s. He stayed with the series for three years, playing the drug-addicted rapist and murderer Adebisi with such depth and sensitivity that he became one of its best-known and most sympathetic characters. For this role he received NAACP Award nominations for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series and Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series. I'm looking forward to the film he's developing under Sundance tutelage.
"I kind of feel for the people on the show who are just coming into the business and this is their first gig. They've got a big letdown coming." — Adewale on his younger cast mates on LOST.
