Sope Dirisu makes a convincing action lead, but his restraint is what keeps us watching. In Gangs of London and My Father's Shadow, he gives us reasons to care that have little to do with physical strength.
Fi1m perspective
Between the fights in Gangs of London (2020), Sope Dirisu makes Elliot Finch worth watching. His physical conviction suits a programme so dependent on what bodies can do, but the stretches without violence reveal why he is worth following. He can keep our attention without the writers manufacturing another outrage around him. The gangland plotting is less persuasive than the action, and his performance does not cure that. It does make the shortcomings easier to sit through.
The breakthrough came with Gangs of London and His House (2020), following years of supporting parts and television guest roles. In the latter, his Bol brings vulnerability to a horror story about refugees. Mr. Malcolm's List (2022) then gave him the title role in a period romantic comedy. The move into romance makes it harder to treat the action work as the only sensible use of him.
In Akinola Davies Jr.'s My Father's Shadow (2025), he plays Folarin, an absent father spending a day in Lagos with his two sons. This quieter paternal part makes good use of the restraint that serves him between fights elsewhere. He gives Folarin quiet authority without making his absence from the boys' lives seem unimportant. We were moved by the patience given to that day together, because the film lets the boys spend time with a father who has not been there. Davies allows the reunion room, and Dirisu's understated performance suits the pace.
Patience has its limits: the middle of My Father's Shadow drifts while everyone waits for news. Nor does Dirisu's presence make the relentless brutality of Gangs of London easy to recommend to anyone without a strong appetite for action. We value his work in both, but neither earns an evening simply by having him in it. For anyone who would rather not spend an evening watching bodies take punishment, start with My Father's Shadow.
Biography
Ṣọpẹ́ Dìrísù is a British actor. He was born on 9 January 1991 in Edgware, London, to Nigerian parents. He joined the National Youth Theatre in 2006, studied economics at the University of Birmingham, and trained with the Royal Shakespeare Company, where his early stage roles included Pericles.
Dirisu made his film debut in 2016 in Sand Castle, Criminal and The Huntsman: Winter's War. He is known for his leading role as Elliot Finch in the series Gangs of London (2020–), Bol Majur in the film His House (2020), and the title role in Mr. Malcolm's List (2022). He has also appeared in Slow Horses (2023) and Black Rabbit (2025).
In 2025 he played Folarin in My Father's Shadow, for which he received the Gotham Award for Outstanding Lead Performance. He has been nominated for a British Independent Film Award and a BAFTA Rising Star Award.
