Go Away With … Gbenga Akinnagbe

By Jae-Ha Kim
Tribune Media Services
May 24, 2011

Born in Washington, D.C., to Nigerian parents, actor Gbenga Akinnagbe says it wasn’t always easy growing up with a name like his.

“Some people are surprised that I speak English and assume that I must be a foreigner,” says Akinnagbe, 32, a Brooklyn resident. “When I was younger, my mother wanted me to change it because she worried that I wouldn’t be able to find employment. There was a time I wanted to change my name and I was ashamed of it and I’d have people call me DJ. But I do love it now.”

Akinnagbe — who television viewers remember from the critically acclaimed “The Wire” — also portrays Pastor Isaiah Easton on “The Good Wife” and recently joined the cast of “Nurse Jackie” as an intriguing new nurse.

Q. What is your favorite vacation destination?
A. Of all the places I’ve been so far, I really enjoyed being in Nigeria. I went there last December — it was the first time I’d ever been there. My parents are from there and were so worried for me. My mother remembered some of the rough times they went through before they immigrated to the United States. They remembered a lot of the negative things. But it was wonderful. Yes, there were some negative aspects, but there were so many beautiful and wonderfully overwhelming positive things. I can’t wait to go back.

Q. Where have you been recognized that surprised you?
A. I was actually surprised at how much of the work I’ve done here has traveled to Nigeria. I’ve also been recognized in Amsterdam and Mexico, where they were selling “The Wire” bootlegs on street corners.

Q. Where are your favorite weekend getaways?
A. I love going to Mexico — Tulum, Guadalajara, Puebla, Yucatan… I studied abroad down there when I was in college and it’s so much fun to get away to see my friends and experience Mexican culture again.

Q. What foreign languages do you speak?
A. I speak Spanish. I also picked up a little bit of French and Italian and have a decent understanding of the Romance languages. I have some Korean friends and can speak a little Korean. I’m pretty lucky that I pick languages up pretty quickly. It’s very much a part of who I am and I like to at least try to speak a little bit of the language of wherever I am visiting. You travel to just about any other country in the world and everyone from the very poor to the rich speaks at least two languages. In Nigeria a lot of people live in poverty, but yet a good percentage of them still speak three languages, including English. They value that. I love multiculturalism. Here there’s no reason for us to know anything other than English, and I think that’s going to hurt us in the long run.

Q. What are your favorite hotels?
A. W Hotels have been pretty nice. The Ritz-Carlton is nice, but a little formal. I stayed at a cool, funky place in Tulum by a gorgeous area and it was the right time of the year for sea turtles to be laying eggs. They didn’t turn the lights on at night but it didn’t matter ‘cause the moon was out and I could see from my room.

Q. When you go away what are some of your must-have items?
A. For a long time I was a notorious overpacker, but I have gotten better. I always carry my laptop and a chessboard that folds up. I played against a solider in Israel once and another time played with someone in the Himalayas. It’s a universal game. You don’t have to speak the same language. I’m competitive, though, and have too much pride to lose on purpose. I didn’t let the soldier win, even though he was armed. (Laughs.)

Q. What are your five favorite cities?
A. I’ve been all over the world and am still grateful that I live in New York. I love New York City! I love London and have always wanted to live there. Lagos, Nigeria, is a great city. I love going to San Francisco for the weekend. It costs a lot but it’s a place where people have manifested their liberal ideas in their city. You see people care about their environment and they have a great mass transit system. Tel Aviv was also very cool.

Q. Where would you like to go that you have never been to before?
A. Brazil! But I would go anywhere. I love people and traveling. I would go to Afghanistan or Iran. I understand the dangers of certain places, but we get a different picture through the media and I’d like to see what places are really like.

Q. Where overseas have you eaten the best food?
A. The food was so good in Israel. The seasoning was fantastic and the food was so healthy and clean with lots of greens. Absolutely delicious.

© 2011 JAE-HA KIM
DISTRIBUTED BY TRIBUNE MEDIA SERVICES, INC.