LaKeith Stanfield

LaKeith Stanfield (birthname: LaKeith Lee Stanfield) has emerged as a thoughtful and wide-ranging actor, Oscar-nominated for his remarkable turn as William O’Neill in the historical Black Panther drama, Judas and the Black Messiah (2021).

Stanfield revived his first on-camera role in Dustin Daniel Cretton’s 2008 short film, Short Term 12, in the acclaimed feature version of the same title in 2013, starring Brie Larson, John Gallagher, Jr., Kaitlyn Dever, Rami Malek, and Melora Walters, and making an awards-laden premiere at South by Southwest film festival.

After landing minor roles in the highly praised, Ava Duvernay-directed drama, Selma (2014), starring David Oyelowo and Carmen Ejogo, and in writer-director Rick Famuyiwa’s well-received Los Angeles coming-of-age comedy-drama, Dope (2015), Stanfield portrayed Snoop Dogg in director F. Gary Gray’s music biopic of the hip hop group, N.W.A., Straight Outta Compton (2015), starring O’Shea Jackson Jr., Corey Hawkins, Jason Mitchell, Aldis Hodge, and Neil Brown Jr., and which grossed a triumphant $202 million on a $28 million budget.

LaKeith Stanfield was then cast in a supporting role by co-writer/director/star Don Cheadle in his biopic of Miles Davis, Miles Ahead (2015), with Ewan McGregor, Emayatzy Corinealdi, and Michael Stuhlbarg, and released by Sony Pictures Classics. After appearing with star-writer James Franco in a film version of his story, Memoria (2015), Stanfield co-starred in director/co-writer Logan Sandler’s little-seen drama, Live Cargo (2016), with Dree Hemingway.

In yet another appearance in a topical biopic, Stanfield was cast by filmmaker Oliver Stone in his biographical thriller, Snowden (2016), starring Joseph Gordon-Levitt as CIA whistleblower and leaker Edward Snowden, Shailene Woodley, Melissa Leo, Zachary Quinto, Tom Wilkinson, Timothy Olyphant, Rhys Ifans, and Nicolas Cage, and premiering at the Toronto film festival. Stanfield had his first starring role in a stunning performance in writer-director Matt Ruskin’s true crime drama, Crown Heights (2017), winning the audience award at the Sundance Film Festival and released by Amazon Studios/IFC Films.

LaKeith Stanfield had his breakthrough role in filmmaker Jordan Peele’s knockout debut feature, Get Out (2017), starring Daniel Kaluuya, Allison Williams, Lil Rel Howery, Bradley Whitford, Caleb Landry Jones, Stephen Root, and Catherine Keener, and delivering a phenomenal $124.3 million global gross on a $4.5 million budget after premiering at the Sundance film festival, followed by four Oscar nominations, including three for Peele (picture, director, writer).

After appearing in a supporting role in writer-director Christian Papierniak’s indie comedy-drama, Izzy Gets the F*uck Across Town (2017), Stanfield had his second major starring role in an extraordinary American indie film, writer-director Boots Riley’s brilliant debut, Sorry to Bother You (2018), with Tessa Thompson, Jermaine Fowler, Omari Hardwick, Terry Crews, Patton Oswalt, David Cross, Danny Glover, Steven Yeun, and Armie Hammer, grossing six times its $3 million costs and premiering at the Sundance film festival.

Stanfield co-starred in his first studio release with the Fede Alvarez-directed Stieg Larsson adaptation, The Girl in the Spider’s Web (2018), starring Claire Foy, Sverrir Gudnason, Sylvia Hoeks, and Stephen Merchant, but losing money for Columbia/Sony Pictures/MGM with a poor $35 million global gross. LaKeith Stanfield co-starred with Adam Sandler, Julia Fox, Kevin Garnett, Idina Menzel, and Eric Bogosian in Josh and Benny Safdie’s sensational crime movie, Uncut Gems (2019), premiering at the Telluride film festival and earning $50 million for distributor A24.

Stanfield played detective with Daniel Craig in director/writer/producer Rian Johnson’s popular Lionsgate-released whodunit, Knives Out (2019), with the ensemble of Chris Evans, Ana de Armas, Jamie Lee Curtis, Michael Shannon, Don Johnson, Toni Collette, and Christopher Plummer, grossing $312 million globally. Stanfield starred opposite Issa Rae in writer-director Stella Meghie’s drama, The Photograph (2020), co-starring Lil Rel Howery, Rob Morgan, and Courtney B. Vance, but lost money for Universal Pictures in a release just before the COVID-19 shutdown.

Stanfield starred in his most prominent and eye-catching performance to date in the superb, dramatically charged Judas and the Black Messiah, from director/co-writer (Will Berson)/co-producer Shaka King, with the impressive cast of Daniel Kaluuya (as the assassinated Black Panther leader Fred Hampton), Jesse Plemons, Dominique Fishback, Ashton Sanders, and Martin Sheen, but faring poorly at the box office despite rave reviews and six Oscar nominations, including a best supporting actor nod for Stanfield.

LaKeith Stanfield joined the vivid ensemble of debut filmmaker Jeymes Samuel’s off-beat, acclaimed Western, The Harder They Fall (2021), starring Jonathan Majors, Idris Elba, Zazie Beetz, Regina King, Delroy Lindo, RJ Cyler, Danielle Deadwyler, Edi Gathegi, and Deon Cole, and getting a limited release and a Netflix streaming release after a London film festival premiere.

Stanfield took the lead in his first Disney movie, the disappointing horror-comedy, Haunted Mansion (2023), the studio’s second try at a big-screen spin-off of the Disneyland park attraction, and with the ensemble of Tiffany Haddish, Owen Wilson, Danny DeVito, Rosario Dawson, Dan Levy, Jamie Lee Curtis, and Jared Leto. LaKeith Stanfield reunited with filmmaker Samuel to star in the title of The Book of Clarence (2024), with Omar Sy, Cyler, Anna Diop, David Oyelowo, Micheal Ward, Alfre Woodard, Teyana Taylor, Marianne Jean-Baptiste, James McAvoy, and Benedict Cumberbatch, and released by TriStar Pictures.