The Oscar-nominated actor is tapped to play a Congolese warlord who, at one time, was the most wanted man in the world.
- Dec 25, 2014
AceShowbiz - Barkhad Abdi is heading to small screen following his film debut in 2013's "Captain Phillips". The Somalia-born actor has landed a guest-starring role on CBS' "Hawaii Five-0" and will appear in the 15th episode of the season.
According to EW, he will play "Roko Contee, a Congolese warlord who, at one time, was the most wanted man in the world." The character's believed to be dead in a 2011 bombing by the Zaire Air Force, but he apparently has been working as a taxi driver hiding in plain sight on the island.
"He plays basically Kony, that African warlord who was in the news a few years ago," says executive producer Peter Lenkov. "He plays a character like that hiding on the island here, and somebody discovers that he's here. And our guys end up confronting him. It's a big, big episode. We were so lucky to get him, and we wrote it with him in mind. We were able to get him to the island and that was a big coup for us."
"Hawaii Five-0" will return with the remainder of its season 6 on Friday, January 2 at 9 P.M. ET on CBS.
Abdi earned nominations at various prize-giving events, including the Academy Awards and Golden Globes Awards, for his role as the leader of hijacking pirates in Paul Greengrass-directed "Captain Phillips", which also stars Tom Hanks. He went on to win a BAFTA Award for the performance.
