The Spotlight
Malachi Kirby
AS THE STAR OF ATHOUSAND BLOWS, THE BRITISH ACTOR CONTINUES TO TAKE BIG SWINGS
WORDS CHRISTINA NEWLAND
OLLIE ADEGBOYE
MALACHI KIRBY IS the kind of actor who would rather tell you about his mum than about his BAFTA. After winning Best Supporting Actor at the 2020 TV awards for portraying real-life activist Darcus Howe in Mangrove —one instalment of Steve McQueen’s acclaimed anthology Small Axe —Kirby could practically touch the sky. The London-born actor, who has appeared in landmark British television from EastEnders to Black Mirror to his latest — A Thousand Blows, a historical boxing series from Steven Knight —has built an impressive résumé. But even as he works with the very best, he counts his mum as number one. “It was just me and her,” he tells Empire. “We lived on a council estate; most of our food came out of a tin. But she made me feel like we were so rich. I just grew up believing anything was possible.”