Richard Ayoade
☼ Born on 23 December 1977, in Hammersmith, London, England, UK
BiographyRichard Ellef Ayoade was born in Hammersmith, and grew up in Suffolk, in England, the son of a Norwegian mother, Dagny Amalie (Bosvik), and a Nigerian father, Layide Ade Laditi Ayoade. He studied Law at Cambridge university, and followed in the footsteps of British Comedy legends like Monty Python's Eric Idle, Hugh Laurie and Graeme Garden when he became the president of the Cambridge Footlights club.
Ayoade's first real TV break was directing, co-writing and starring with Matthew Holness in the cult classic Garth Marenghi's Darkplace (2004) a parody of shlocky 1980's science fiction television shows, and noticed for it's "so bad it's good!" aesthetic. Notably shy and self-effacing in interviews, his performance as the debauched, self-assured publisher/pornographer/nightclub owner 'Dean Learner' showcased the young comedian's acting talent.
After cameos in another cult series The Mighty Boosh (2003) as the shaman "Saboo", his position in the popular consciousness was cemented in the series The IT Crowd (2006) where Ayoade played the social oblivious, dweebish savant known as "Moss".
All the while Ayoade continued to direct music videos for Vampire Weekend, Kasabian, and the Yeah, Yeah, Yeahs before finally getting his chance to direct a feature film, Submarine (2010), based on the novel by Joe Dunthorne.
Submarine was followed by The Double (2013) co-written by Avi Korine and based on a novel by Fyodor Dostoevsky.
In the role of actor
2024 Oscar-Nominated Short Films: Live-Action (18/02/2024)
Short films are traditionally an outlet for up-and-coming filmmakers to develop their craft. However, three out of five of the 2024 Oscar-nominated short films feature established stars and filmmakers, including David Oyelowo (Selma), Britney Snow (Pitch Perfect, X), and of course a star-studded Roald Dahl adaptation by Wes Anderson (Asteroid City, The Grand Budapest Hotel). […]
Soul (27/12/2020)
The near-death experience of a musician results in him reevaluating the purpose of his life in Soul. Joe Gardner (Jamie Foxx) is an aspiring jazz pianist, who considers his current position as a middle-school music teacher to be a dead end. However, Joe receives a huge opportunity when he gets a gig to play with […]
The Boxtrolls (01/10/2014)
From the animation studio Laika (Coraline, ParaNorman) comes the stop-motion fantasy-adventure The Boxtrolls. The town of Cheesebridge live in fear of the subterranean Boxtrolls, who are rumoured to kidnap and eat children. Because of this, Lord Portley-Rind (Jared Harris) hires the sinister Archibald Snatcher (Ben Kingsley) to exterminate the Boxtrolls, in exchange for membership to […]
In the role of director
The Double (10/09/2013)
British comedian Richard Ayoade (The IT Crowd) follows up his directorial debut Submarine with this highly surreal and stylized adaptation of the famous Dostoevsky novella. The Double focuses on Simon James (Jesse Eisenberg), a meek man, who lives a really unnoticeable existence. His boss Mr. Papadopoulos (Wallace Shawn) fails to realize that Simon has been […]