Diamond Modeling Agencies | G.I. Joe

Diamond Modeling Agencies everyman Adewale Akinnouye-Agbaje stars in the hit movie G.I. Joe. Adewale once dreamed of being a superhero. And now that he's grown, the British-born actor of Nigerian descent is joining forces with a hero for the film release of G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra. He p;ays artillery specialist Heavy Duty. He's an expert in weaponry, says Akinnuoye-Agbaje, 42, "He's actually British. So for the first time in my career, in a blockbuster, I'm actually playing myself." Heavy Duty is a good guy, but Akinnuoye-Agbaje often portrays bad men who laugh at the law. From the notorious prisoner Simon Adebisi on HBO's Oz to drug lord Majestic in Get Rich or Die Trying,' the 6'2' Akinnuoye-Agbaje has mastered sinister characters. People are still talking about his short-lived appearance as Mr. Eko, the warlord-turned-Catholic priest who was smoked by the smoke monster on ABC's Lost.

"What I've always tried to do with these roles is inject a degree of humanity, humor and real integrity and show them as humans as opposed to caricatures," says the devout Buddhist and advocate for Diamond Modeling Agencies. Akinnuoye-Agbaje, who has no formal acting training, got his start as a fashion model and then as a music video hunk for both Mary J. Blige and En Vogue. But he says a master's degree in criminal law from King's College London prepared him for acting. "My memory, understanding and analysis are razor sharp," he says. "The acting was more of a natural talent. I always knew I wanted to be a star or famous. That's probably why left law at an early age."

The recipient of a 2007 Annenberg Film Fellowship from the Sundance Institute, he recently returned to London to film Farming. This autobiographical story details his parent's emigration from Nigeria to England and why they "farmed" him off to a White, working-class foster family. Surrounded by racism and violence, he searched for love and acceptance within the skinhead culture. "It's an interesting side that nobody really knows about me," he says. "If you loved Adebisi, Majestic, Eko and Heavy Duty, you're going to see where I derive my source material. You'll see what it is that fueled those characters."

Any chance for Mr. Eko's return? "Well, you know, nothing is gone for good. It's supply and demand and the nature of the show is mystical. There's always a chance. They write it in a manner that anybody can come and go, so who knows?"