Joshua Adeyeye

From professional athlete to actor, Joshua Adetokunbo Adeyeye was born in Livingston, New Jersey. He was born to Tamara Jean and Jacob Adeola Adeyeye, and is the oldest of three children. His middle and last name, Adetokunbo Adeyeye, means "king from across the seas" in Yoruba. His mother is African American while his father is Nigerian and came to the United States in his early twenties. At a young age Joshua gravitated heavily to sports. From baseball, football, basketball, skateboarding, soccer, swimming and martial arts, he cultivated many skills making him a well-rounded athlete. Of all the sports that he competed in, Adeyeye leaned most to basketball. It was in the 6th grade when both he and his coaches realized that he might have a future on the collegiate and professional level. Due to the religious beliefs of his family at the time, Joshua spent his high school years in various states including North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Virginia and Maryland. When he wasn't on the court, he participated in school play remakes such as, "The Sound of Music" and, "A Christmas Carol." Joshua figured that joining school plays was a great way to make new friends outside of sports. He had always appreciated television and film but little did Adeyeye know that taking part in school plays would ignite his curiosity in acting. Due to his athletic ability Adeyeye was highly recruited out of high school by various college basketball programs across the country. He began his collegiate basketball career in Washington D.C, where he suffered a severe ankle injury his first practice. At the end of his sophomore year he decided it would be best to transfer to Sheridan College in Wyoming to reach a higher level of collegiate basketball. During his season in Sheridan he suffered from a gruesome leg fracture, breaking both his fibula and tibia bone. Devastated but not defeated Joshua began to rehabilitate his body and mind not knowing if he would have another opportunity to play the game that he loved. He was relentlessness to return to the court, and at the end of his sophomore year he signed a Division 1 basketball scholarship to Jacksonville University in Florida. It was during his two years at Jacksonville University that Adeyeye stumbled upon his long-lost curiosity, acting. In his last semester of college, he took a technique and scene study course that turned his curiosity into passion. Adeyeye began to look forward to acting class over basketball practice. He began to take a strong interest in script and text analysis, and even wrote a play for the athletic department. However, Joshua's basketball career was not over yet. After his outstanding performance at Jacksonville University, he gained the opportunity to play professional basketball in Europe. He saw this as an opportunity to continue playing, while also traveling the world. Joshua also played under the Boston Celtics organization for the Maine Red Claws. While in Europe and Maine he took time to find acting classes and workshops when he wasn't prepping or traveling for games. Joshua believes that he is fortunate to have played on both the college and professional level despite his debilitating injuries. He also believes that it was the technique and scene study class in college he took that changed the course of his life. Although Joshua retired from basketball at an early age, he did so on his own will. He felt as though his interests shifted from athletics to acting. When he decided to walk away from the game of basketball he worked as a personal trainer, athletic skills and performance coach back in Maryland. Within this time, he participated in acting workshops and short films to keep is acting interests alive. After a year back home Joshua decided that it was time to turn is acting dreams into a reality. Joshua moved to Los Angeles, California to pursue a Master's degree in acting. During his time in acting school he gained a greater understanding of acting but also that of Shakespeare, Film history, Screen Writing, Improvisation, Voice over, Play production, Voice, Speech and Movement. It was in his Masters program that he realized acting and basketball are synonymous in many ways. He believed that learning to act, as true art from, would be like learning to dribble and shoot all over again. He remembered the countless hours he spent working on his basketball repertoire and knew he would have to dedicate the same time with acting. He understood that just like basketball the power in your performance lies in the preparation. It was during his time in school that Adeyeye learned to sharpen his acting instrument, especially when preparing for plays. Fortunately, long before graduation of his Master's program, Joshua landed a role in Tyler Perry hit shows Ruthless (2020) and The Oval (2019). Joshua gives much credit to his athletic career, stating that it is sports that molded his incredible work ethic, a work ethic that he will transfer to his acting career.