# Nicholas Pinnock

Nicholas Andre Pinnock (born 2 September 1973) is a British actor. He is known for his role as lead character Aaron Wallace in the ABC legal drama For Life and as Truman Dawes in the Peacock crime drama Long Bright River.

## Early life and education

Nicholas Andre Pinnock was born in Balham, London, and is of Jamaican descent. He spent his early childhood living in Saudi Arabia.
On his return to England, he was enrolled at Corona Stage Academy in Hammersmith, London at the age of 12. While there, in his first week, he made his professional debut, landing several jobs as a model and child actor in adverts, music videos, film and television. Continuing his vocational training, Pinnock attended a three-year musical theatre course at the London Studio Centre. After the first year, he decided acting was his first love and in the following years, concentrated on drama and contemporary dance.
After graduating, Pinnock joined Lea Anderson's Contemporary Dance Company, the Featherstonehaughs, for several years before pursuing acting full time.

## Career

In 1986, as a child actor, Pinnock starred in the fantasy drama TV serial Mr Magus is Waiting for You, based on the novel by Gene Kemp and following the adventures of four young children who become trapped in the fantasy world of a mysterious magician. A year later, he became one of The Pink Windmill Kids on Emu's World on CITV.
In his 20s he regularly appeared in pantomime. He played guest roles in television programmes such as Grange Hill, EastEnders, The Bill, Dalziel and Pascoe, Footballers' Wives and Casualty. TV films followed, such as Kingdom of The Blind with Clive Owen and Diamonds with James Purefoy.
Theatre work included As You Like It at Stafford Castle at the Staffordshire Shakespeare Festival, Hampstead Theatre's production of Born Bad directed by Kathy Burke, and San Diego, directed by David Grieg and Marisa Zanotti in the Edinburgh Festival. He appeared in Topdog/Underdog in Glasgow's Citizens Theatre in 2009.
Pinnock appeared in his first Hollywood feature film, the 2011 summer blockbuster Captain America: The First Avenger, as a SHIELD Tech. That same year, he went on to play the role of Leon in a four-part drama Top Boy, which was broadcast on Channel 4 over four consecutive nights from 31 October 2011. After the 2011 England riots in London, Pinnock appeared in the BBC docudrama The Riots: In Their Own Words, The Rioters. The following year, Pinnock portrayed the role of Evan in the ITV drama The Ice Cream Girls. The three-part drama aired in April 2013.
Pinnock portrayed a young Nelson Mandela in the ITV docudrama Mandela: The Prison Years, which aired on 15 December 2013, the day Mandela was buried.
In 2015, Pinnock showcased the role of Frank Sutter in Fortitude on Sky Atlantic. The same year saw the release of his next two films, Monsters: Dark Continent, the sequel to Monsters in which he plays the role of Forrest, and The Keeping Room, portraying the role of Bill.
In November 2015, he played Jay "The Sport" Jackson in The Royale at the Bush Theatre in London.
In 2016, Pinnock played Jason Backland on ITV's crime drama Marcella series 1 and 2, alongside Anna Friel. The series aired on ITV on 4 April 2016. He then appeared as Ian Shaw in Counterpart, a science fiction thriller first aired on 10 December 2017.
In September 2019, Pinnock appeared in the first season of Criminal: UK on Netflix.
Pinnock was cast as lead character Aaron Wallace in For Life, an American legal drama television series created by Hank Steinberg and executive producer Curtis "50 Cent" Jackson. The series was inspired by the life of Isaac Wright, Jr, who was serving a life sentence for a wrongful conviction, but got himself exonerated and became a defense lawyer. The series premiered on ABC on 11 February 2020. and ran for two seasons.
In 2022, he was cast as Jesus in Jeymes Samuel's The Book of Clarence.
Pinnock played John Ellis in Django, a 2023 television series for Sky and Canal+, alongside Noomi Rapace, Matthias Schoenaerts and Lisa Vicari.
Pinnock was cast in This Town, alongside Michelle Dockery and Jordan Bolger, a 2024 six-part British television series for BBC One written and created by Steven Knight. He was also cast alongside Tessa Thompson in Hedda, an upcoming American drama film written and directed by Nia DaCosta, based on the play Hedda Gabler by Henrik Ibsen.

## Awards and nominations

In December 2022, Pinnock was announced as winner in the Best Actor category at the British Urban Film Festival awards in London.

## Charity work

Pinnock is an ambassador for the mental health charity, Mind UK.

## Filmography
### Film

| Year | Title | Role |
| 1999 | New World Disorder | Weldon |
| 2009 | Little Foxes | Mike |
| 2011 | Captain America: The First Avenger | SHIELD Tech |
| 2014 | The Keeping Room | Bill |
| 2014 | Monsters: Dark Continent | Sergeant Forrest |
| 2018 | VS. | Terry |
| 2019 | The Last Tree | Mr. Williams |
| 2019 | Dark Encounter | Sheriff Reese Jordan |
| 2023 | The Book of Clarence | Jesus |
| 2024 | The Assessment | Walter |
| 2024 | Here | Devon Harris |
| 2025 | Hedda | Judge Roland Brack |

### Television

| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
| 1986 | Mr Magus is Waiting for You | Jeff | Television film |
| 1987–1988 | Emu's Wide World, Emu's World Series 6 | Himself | Miscredited as "Nicholas Pinnick" on one occasion, otherwise credited as Children from the Corona Stage School |
| 1989 | Happy Families | Billy Bone | Episode: "Master Bun the Baker's Boy: Part 2" |
| 1989–1997 | The Bill | Various roles | 5 episodes |
| 1992 | EastEnders | Wesley | 3 episodes |
| 1995 | Grange Hill | Jerome Cairns | Recurring role |
| 1998 | Casualty | Reuben Myers | Episode: "Loco Parentis" |
| 2000 | The Knock | Mugger | Episode #5.2 |
| 2000 | Second Sight: Kingdom of the Blind | Ben Harris | Television film |
| 2002 | In Deep | Danny | 2 episodes |
| 2003 | Spine Chillers | Jon | Episode: "Fairy Godfather" |
| 2003, 2006 | Doctors | Jason Hutton / James Marsden | 2 episodes |
| 2004 | Holby City | Carl Stoves | Episode: "Pastures New" |
| 2005 | Coming to England | Dardie | Television film |
| 2006 | Dalziel and Pascoe | Stephen Japp | 2 episodes |
| 2006 | Footballers' Wives | Dean | 2 episodes |
| 2009 | Diamonds | Isaiah Forman | Television film |
| 2010 | The Deep | Charlie Goodison | Episode: "To the Furthest Place" |
| 2011 | Top Boy | Leon | 4 episodes |
| 2013 | The Ice Cream Girls | Evan | 3 episodes |
| 2013 | Mandela: The Prison Years | Nelson Mandela | Television film |
| 2015 | A.D. The Bible Continues | Arik | 2 episodes |
| 2015 | Fortitude | Frank Sutter | 11 episodes |
| 2015 | Midwinter of the Spirit | Bishop Mick Hunter | 3 episodes |
| 2016 | Barbarians Rising | Hannibal | Episode: "Resistance" |
| 2016–2018 | Marcella | Jason Backland | 12 episodes |
| 2017 | Guerrilla | Julian Clarke | Episode #1.1 |
| 2018–2019 | Counterpart | Ian Shaw | 14 episodes |
| 2019 | Criminal: UK | DI Paul Ottager | 3 episodes |
| 2020–2021 | For Life | Aaron Wallace | Main role |
| 2022–2023 | Django | John Ellis | 10 episodes |
| 2024 | This Town | Deuce Williams | 6 episodes |
| 2024 | Suspect | Joseph | Episode: "Joseph" |
| TBA | Long Bright River | Truman Dawes | Episode #1.1 |