Winston Duke (born November 15, 1986) is a Tobagonian actor and producer. He portrayed Dwight in Modern Family. He is best known for his role as M'Baku in the Marvel Cinematic Universe films Black Panther (2018), Avengers: Infinity War (2018), Avengers: Endgame (2019) and Black Panther: Wakanda Forever (2022). He also starred in Jordan Peele's horror film Us (2019).
Early and personal life[]
Duke was born in Argyle, Saint Paul, Tobago and moved to the United States with his mother, Cora Pantin, and sister when he was nine years old. He graduated from Brighton High School in Rochester, New York in 2004. He attended University at Buffalo, receiving a Bachelor of Arts in theatre. He then moved on to Yale School of Drama where he received a Master of Fine Arts (MFA) in acting and graduated in 2013. His cousin is the Tobagonian politician and Progressive Democratic Patriots leader Watson Duke.
Career[]
Duke started acting in theater productions for Portland Stage Company and Yale Repertory Theatre before being cast in Person of Interest. While at Yale, he befriended fellow actor Lupita Nyong'o, with whom he later starred in Black Panther and Us. In 2012 Duke returned to his native Trinidad and Tobago to appear in the theatre production of An Echo in the Bone starring alongside actress Taromi Lourdes Joseph and directed by fellow Yale alumna Timmia Hearn Feldman.
Duke has starred in Marvel Cinematic Universe's Black Panther, Avengers: Infinity War, and Avengers Endgame as M'Baku. In 2019, Duke starred in the blockbuster horror film Us, directed by Jordan Peele. In October 2019, Duke signed on to headline in the upcoming Apple TV+ drama series Swagger, but was replaced by O'Shea Jackson Jr. due to an injury suffered on-set in February 2020. In March 2020, he starred alongside Mark Wahlberg in the Netflix thriller Spenser Confidential.
It was reported in July 2021 that Duke would be playing Bruce Wayne/Batman in the podcast audio drama Batman Unburied. The podcast was released in 2022.
On October 24, 2021, Duke received the Maverick Award at the Newport Beach Film Festival.
Notes and Trivia[]
- He is 6' 5" (1,96 m)
- His trademark is his towering height
- He went to school with YouTube star Jenna Marbles.
- He attended Yale School of Drama with fellow Black Panther co-star Lupita Nyong'o. They used to talk as students of working together one day on a Marvel movie.
- He was born in Argyle, Trinidad and Tobago, and moved to Rochester, New York, when he was nine.
- His western zodiac sign is Scorpio and his Chinese zodiac sign is a Tiger.