Michael Obiora

Michael Obiora (born 8 October 1986) is a British actor, writer, director, and producer. Michael Obiora (pronounced OH-BEE-ORA) was born on 8 October 1986 in north-west London, England, to Nigerian-Igbo parents. As a six-year-old, he was determined to become an entertainer like his idol Michael Jackson, and his mother enrolled him in drama lessons.

He describes having challenging teen years, as he was once badly injured, later expelled from secondary school before his GCSEs, and then his father died. At the age of nine, Obiora became the youngest actor to have appeared in the children's television series Grange Hill; he played Max Abassi on the programme for five years. Just before his 18th birthday, Obiora landed a role playing the part of Gunner Jackson Clarke, a soldier in ITV's eight-part series Bombshell.

Shortly after filming that series, he started a seven-month run as one of the leads in the award-winning play Elmina's Kitchen, at the Garrick Theatre. He later had the lead role in the play Exclude Me, in an 11-week run at the Chelsea Theatre, and lead roles in the plays Fallout, at the Royal Court Theatre, Badnuff, at the Soho Theatre, and Headstone at the Arcola Theatre.