Nonso Anozie brings a deep voice and an imposing build to parts that could settle for intimidation. We like him most when he softens the effect: his Moonface is reassuring, gently underplayed and free of compulsory cheerfulness.
Fi1m perspective
Nonso Anozie's Moonface in The Magic Faraway Tree (2026) is never quite as excited as the children would like him to be. Under that round pale face, he keeps a big, gentle character from becoming tiresomely eager to please. We warmed to him because he lets the children have their enthusiasm without competing for it. That takes judgement in a family fantasy: he finds the right pitch without treating every encounter as an invitation to perform harder. Alongside Nicola Coughlan's warm, slightly harassed Silky, he makes the company up the tree appealing.
The early screen work did not point exclusively towards fantasy. After small parts in 2007, Cass (2008) gave him his first film lead, playing Cass Pennant in a British crime drama. He also played Ezra in Mike Leigh's Happy-Go-Lucky (2008), a comedy whose kindness we found earned even when it wandered. We rate that film highly, though its occasional insistence on making its point is a reminder that warmth needs handling as carefully as menace.
His build has sometimes narrowed the parts offered to him, and he has deliberately sought work beyond the brute. Playing Xaro Xhoan Daxos in Game of Thrones (2012) widened his international profile; Sweet Tooth (2021–2024) gave him a sustained television lead as Tommy Jepperd. Those longer leading roles are an important counterweight to the supporting appearances: they give him time to establish something beyond a first impression. The question for any such casting is how much he is allowed to do once his physical presence has been established.
The Magic Faraway Tree also shows the limit of a well-judged supporting performance. Its determination not to worry anyone leaves too little happening for too long, and Anozie's restraint cannot supply the missing complications. He is good company in a film we recommend only with reservations. Choose it for a gentle family evening, with no expectation that Anozie can make the story more adventurous.
Biography
Nonso Anozie is an English actor. Born on 17 November 1978 in Camden, London, he graduated from the Central School of Speech and Drama in 2002. That summer he played the title role in a professional production of William Shakespeare's King Lear and won the Ian Charleson Award in 2004 for his performance in Othello.
He is known for film roles such as Tank in RocknRolla (2008), Jackson Burke in The Grey (2011), Sergeant Dap in Ender's Game (2013), the Captain in Cinderella (2015) and Bishop in Pan (2015). On television he has played Xaro Xhoan Daxos in Game of Thrones (2012), Abraham Kenyatta in Zoo (2015–2017) and Tommy Jepperd in Sweet Tooth (2021–2024), for which he won a Children's and Family Emmy Award. He appears as Moonface in The Magic Faraway Tree (2026).
