The Big Picture
- Kingsley Ben-Adir's performance as a gritty private eye in The OA is a standout, bringing a noir coolness and tortured depth to the character.
- The series, considered a genre-breaking masterpiece, explores parallel universes, monsters, and underground worlds.
- While The OA was unfortunately canceled, Ben-Adir's portrayal and the show's mystifying finale make it a must-watch or rewatch for fans of the series.
Kingsley Ben-Adir is gearing up for the limelight in the upcoming biopic Bob Marley: One Love, where he stars as music icon Bob Marley.The music biopic gets the full Hollywood treatment, as it chronicles the Jamaican singer's claim to fame and his status as the world's biggest reggae star during the '70s. This is Ben-Adir's first starring vehicle, and the trailer finds him completely transformed into the iconic singer-songwriter and guitarist. Ben-Adir has played more than one historical figure; in 2020, he portrayed activist Malcolm X in the Regina King-directed drama, One Night in Miami. It was a groundbreaking performance that had Ben-Adir's name mentioned alongside other rising actors in Hollywood. Just this past year, Ben-Adir had a scene-stealing supporting role as Basketball Ken in the biggest blockbuster hit of 2023, Barbie.
As Ben-Adir's filmography continues to grow at a rapid pace, there are several gems earlier on in his career that are worth revisiting, especially on television (hello, Peaky Blinders). In anticipation of Bob Marley: One Love, any new fans of Ben-Adir's should watch his first leading role on the Netflix original science-fiction mystery series, The OA. Introduced as a series regular in Season 2, Ben-Adir's underrated performance as a gritty private eye living in San Francisco became the beating heart of The OA's final season.
The OA
TV-MAMysteryDramaFantasyIn addition to her role as creator and executive producer of this mind-bending series, Brit Marling also plays the role of Prairie Johnson, a young woman who returns home after a 7-year disappearance. Her sudden return is not the only miraculous occurrence: everyone is shocked to learn that Prairie is no longer blind. While the FBI and her parents are anxious to discuss Prairie's disappearance, she won't talk about what happened during the time that she was missing. Zal Batmanglij, the co-creator and an executive producer of the series, is the director of every episode.
- Release Date
- December 16, 2016
- Cast
- Brit Marling , Jason Isaacs , Brendan Meyer , Paz Vega , Scott Wilson
- Main Genre
- Drama
- Seasons
- 2
What Is 'The OA' About?
To try and summarize the plot of The OA is no easy feat. It's got parallel universes, angels, and even talking octopuses. Critically acclaimed for its inventiveness and disregard for linear storytelling, the series is helmed by creative duo Brit Marling and Zal Batmanglij. Their partnership is well-known in the world of independent cinema with films like Sound of My Voice, as well as for their most recent Hulu original series A Murder at the End of the World.
The OA is no less than a miracle as a genre-breaking, small-budget project that somehow landed itself on Netflix. Brit Marling plays Prairie Johnson, who reappears in her small Michigan hometown after having gone missing for seven years, and the most confounding thing is that she is no longer blind. As both her parents and the police try to get information on where she went for those seven years, or how she got her sight back, she enlists the help of four aimless teenage boys and a sweet English teacher to help her on a secret mission.
The series is often considered a modern take on the Lost Boys from Peter Pan,as Prairie leads them to a magical, alternative realm, and the four misfit boys are played by Patrick Gibson, Ian Alexander, Brandon Perea, and Brenden Meyer. Prairie ultimately tells them the story of what happened to her during those seven years she was gone, revealing she was kidnapped and held hostage alongside other hostages by a mad scientist. Played by the villainous Jason Isaacs, Dr. Percy is obsessed with trying to solve death by creating immortality, and forces his prisoners to sustain several near-death experiences in his search for a cure. Exploring parallel universes, monsters, and underworlds, The OA is like an even stranger, more cutting-edge version of fellow Netflix series Stranger Things. Running for two mystifying seasons before cancelation, The OA amassed a cult following, and Ben-Adir's presence in Season 2 took the series to a whole new level of weird... in a good way.
In 'The OA,' Kingsley Ben-Adir Plays a Noir-Influenced Private Eye
Ben-Adir is introduced in the first few moments of Season 2 as San Francisco private eye Karim Washington. With fans having to wait nearly three years since the explosive Season 1 finale of The OA, the face greeting their screen may have been unfamiliar. In Season 2's premiere, “Angel of Death,” Ben-Adir takes center stage for nearly the entire first episode. Washington is tasked with finding a missing teenage Vietnamese girl, Michelle, and he finds himself in a web of underworlds that even lands him in a room with a talking octopus at a certain point within the season.
Viewers' initial hesitations about Season 2's newest addition were scrapped as soon as Ben-Adir sunk his teeth into the meaty role of the tortured private eye. By the time Washington's case becomes linked with the protagonist of the series, it's impossible not to root for him to succeed, despite the typical unhappy endings that come with the territory of the noir genre.
Humphrey Bogart Is a Clear Influence on Kingsley Ben-Adir’s Performance in 'The OA'
Noir icon Humphrey Bogart was moody, easily riled up, and embittered at the state of the world, and Karim Washington is too. Marling and Batmanglij knew what they were doing by embracing the charming darkness of noir whenever the private eye graced the screen. Engulfed in shadows, lighters, and smoke, Ben-Adir becomes the epitome of noir cool. Every time he lights up or blows out a stream of smoke, his coolness factor multiplies. It’s impossible not to believe that Washington is going to break the impossible case at hand, just like Bogart's characters almost never failed in his countless noir films. As Washington sleuths around a dirty San Francisco with Prairie, their chemistry while working the case is a clear homage to the classic noir films featuring broken detectives and dangerous femme fatales.
The OA's Karim Washington is a guy you could fall for, trust, and revere, just like Bogart. Ben-Adir may have traded in cigarettes for joints, but the smoke still engulfs his face and his loneliness. It is clear from the moment Ben-Adir appeared on-screen as Washington in the middle of the night, opening his door to a desperate grandmother in search of her missing granddaughter, that he has something important to offer.
Ben-Adir is meant for the big screen and is finally getting the opportunity to take center stage in Bob Marley: One Love. In the meantime, his performance as a weathered loner, aged beyond his years thanks to witnessing too many brutal evils, demands a fresh pair of eyes. It's unfair the series was canceled just as his character was really getting somewhere in the case, but that doesn't mean it isn't worth the watch — or even a rewatch, for longtime fans. Kingsley Ben-Adir's path to stardom can be traced back to The OA, and his performance alone in the fantastic Season 2 finale is part of what makes it one of the most mystifying, beautiful series finales in the medium.
The OA is available to stream on Netflix in the U.S.
