ACTORS from Ethiopia

Top 2

The following people are considered by Pantheon to be the most legendary Ethiopian Actors of all time. This list of famous Ethiopian Actors is sorted by HPI (Historical Popularity Index), a metric that aggregates information on a biography's online popularity.

1. Ruth Negga (b. 1982)

With an HPI of 48.61, Ruth Negga is the most famous Ethiopian Actor.  Her biography has been translated into 42 different languages on wikipedia.

Ruth Negga ( NAY-gə; born 4 May 1981) is an Irish actress known for her roles on stage and screen. She has received various accolades including nominations for an Academy Award, three BAFTA Award, two Golden Globe Awards, two Emmy Awards, a Screen Actors Guild Award, a Laurence Olivier Award, and a Tony Award. She portrayed Mildred Loving in the Jeff Nichols directed historical romance drama Loving (2016), earning a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Actress. She played an African-American woman passing as a white woman in the Rebecca Hall directed period drama Passing (2021), earning nominations for the BAFTA Award for Best Actress in a Supporting Role and Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actress – Motion Picture. Negga has also appeared in the films Isolation (2005), Breakfast on Pluto (2005), Warcraft (2016), Ad Astra (2019) and Good Grief (2023). On television, Negga became known for her role in the AMC television series Preacher (2016–2019). She also acted in the BBC mini-series Criminal Justice (2008–2019), the RTÉ crime drama Love/Hate (2010–2011), the E4 science fiction comedy series Misfits (2010), and the ABC superhero series Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (2013–2015). She played an emotionally unsatsified wife in the Apple TV+ legal thriller series Presumed Innocent (2024) earning a nomination for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Limited Series or Movie. On stage, she was nominated for the Laurence Olivier Award for Best Newcomer in a Play for Duck (2003). She played the title role in the revival of Hamlet both in London and in New York. She made her Broadway debut playing Lady Macbeth in Macbeth (2022), for which she earned a nomination for the Tony Award for Best Actress in a Play.

2. Mahder Assefa (b. 1987)

With an HPI of 39.36, Mahder Assefa is the 2nd most famous Ethiopian Actor.  Her biography has been translated into 17 different languages.

Mahder Assefa (born 5 October 1987) is an Ethiopian actress. She has performed leading roles in Seberta, Yalteneka Amalayu, Ye Bet Lij, Shefu, FBI 2, Made In China and the Triangle trilogy. Mahder also garnered a public attention in 2011 late night television drama series Sew le sew, starring as Medhanit.