Michelle Asante

Michelle recently finished playing a lead role in OUR LADY OF KIBEHO at the Theatre Royal Stratford East. The play transferred from its UK premiere at Royal & Derngate Theatre in early 2019. The production has recieved rave reviews - five stars from The Guardian and four stars from The Time, The Telegraph and The Stage - and Michelle herself has been singled out for praise - The Times Wrote, "The Acting is top notch, particularly... Michelle Asante as Sister Evangelique." The Arts Desk wrote, "Michelle Asante - a gem of a performance."

Over the summer of 2019, Michelle played Cassandra in the Theatre Royal Bath's UK premiere production of VANYA AND SONIA AND MASHA AND SPIKE. The Stage described the play as "wacky and ingenious" and awarded it four stars. She will reprise the role in early 2020 at the Charing Cross Theatre in the West End Transfer of the play.

In the spring of 2019, Michelle filmed the role of Officer Dooshima in the BBC adaptation on Malorie Blackman's NOUGHTS & CROSSES. Recent film credits include BONE (Proof of Concept) for Joi Productions and HELLFIGHTERS for Five Fifty Five Productions.

Over the summer of 2018, Michelle played Cali in THINGS OF DRY HOURS at the Young Vic, directed by Debbie Hannan. 

She played Jamaal in the 50^th episode edition of MOVING ON, written by Jimmy McGovern. Other recent credits include LUCKY MAN for Sky 1, FATHER BROWN Series 4 on BBC 1 and in the BBC's OUR GIRL. Also in 2016, Michelle played Juliette in the Donmar Warehouse's production of WELCOME HOME CAPTAIN FOX, directed by Blanche McIntyre, alongside Rory Keenan and Barnaby Kay.

Michelle also played the role of Helena in Danai Gurira's ECLIPSED at the Gate Theatre to much critical acclaim.

“Director Caroline Byrne offers us an intensely empathetic presentation of women in survival mode.” - The Telegraph ****

“Acted with an appealing directness and exuberance by a cast who make every character distinctive, complex and fully alive.” - The Guardian ****

Michelle played a key role in Sci-Fi thriller BRAND NEW-U which has been embraced by Sci-Fi critics and appeared at the L'Etrange Fantastic Film Festival as well as the Sitges IFF. The film was nominated for the best Fantastic European Film: The Silver Meliés. 

Michelle was nominated for a Broadway World Award for SUNSET BABY as Best Featured Actress in a Play and also for a Black Entertainment Film Fashion & Television Award (BEFFTA) for Best Actress in a Television Show in MONROE. She also received a Special mention in the Emerging Talent Category of the Screen Nation Awards.

Reviews of Michelles work include...

SUNSET BABY (The Gate Theatre)

Its Asante's firecracker performance- deftly switching between fury and vulnerability-that powers Charlotte Westenra's production'- The Metro

The performances, are first-rate and highly charged, with Asante particularly good as Nina, all blazing eyes and hostility one moment and lonely vulnerability the next- Financial Times

Asante offers a bruised, sensitive performance- Time Out

It is London-born Michelle Asante, however, who steals the show. With her coarse and convincing New York accent, she is hard and tough, but allows for poignant glimpses of vulnerability to shine through. There is a scene in which she is waiting for Kenyatta to visit: shedding her wig, tight dress and hooker boots for a demure trouser-jacket combination, she gets out her beloved Ethiopian honey wine which Damon has told us she adores, and fussily creates a coffee table out of an upturned box. Only a brilliant actor could marry the desperation to make a good impression with the defensive aggression required to strap a gun to her waist just seconds later. With such a guarded character, a lot of what we learn of Nina is subtext - and Asante brings that through marvellously. Complimented by the claustrophobia of the intimate Gate theatre and our subsequent proximity to the realistic stage setting, we are in Nina’s flat, in her life, in her head. We feel her frustrations, her anxieties, her sheer exhaustion - The New Statesman

RUINED (Almeida Theatre)

Salima – at once cowed and bullish (a tremendous performance by Michelle Asante)– The Observer

Michelle Asante…moving and dignified as Salima - Financial Times

SOME DOGS BITE (BBC3)

They meet similarly adrift, emotionally neglected girl, mouthy Venetia (Michelle Asante, especially good)- Variety Magazine