# Kwesi Boakye

Kwesi Nii-Lante Boakye (/ˈkweɪsi buːɑːˈtʃiː/ KWAY-see boo-ah-CHEE; born April 6, 1999) is an American actor. He is best known as the original voice of Darwin, Gumball's best friend and adoptive brother on the Cartoon Network animated TV series The Amazing World of Gumball. He also voiced Gossamer on The Looney Tunes Show and The Passenger on Bravest Warriors. He also played Manny in the 2009 Tyler Perry film I Can Do Bad All By Myself.

## Early life

Kwesi Nii-Lante Boakye was born on April 6, 1999 in Los Angeles, California. He is the youngest of three brothers who are also actors; Kwame Boateng, and Kofi Siriboe. Boakye's family is originally from Ghana.

## Career

Boakye began his acting career at the age of six, making one-episode appearances on the television shows Strong Medicine and Inconceivable. He then appeared in eighteen episodes of the NBC soap opera series Days of Our Lives. In 2006, he appeared in five episodes of Day Break as James Mathis. He then began his voice acting career at the age of seven, where he provided several voices to the animated film Happy Feet. He then continued to make one-episode appearances on The Shield and 'Til Death, the latter in 2007. In the same year, he appeared as a little boy in the film If I Had Known I Was a Genius. He also had minor voice roles in the Nick Jr. series Ni Hao, Kai-Lan, marking this as his first time voice acting on a preschool show. He then appeared on an episode as Turnip in the legal drama series Boston Legal. In 2009, he appeared in Tyler Perry's I Can Do Bad All by Myself as Manny. He voiced Newspaper Boy on the Disney animated film The Princess and the Frog and starred on the TV series Men of a Certain Age as Jamie Thoreau.
In 2010, he appeared on the NBC television series Community as Elijah Bennett and the romantic comedy film Valentine's Day as a soccer kid. He also appeared as Andrew on an episode of the Playhouse Disney television series Special Agent Oso and William Glass in the TNT TV series Hawthorne. From 2011 to 2014, he voiced Darwin Watterson on Cartoon Network's The Amazing World of Gumball. During 2014, he was replaced by Terrell Ransom Jr. due to puberty. He appeared on an episode of Southland as Richard, Hawaii Five-0 as Kevin and The Mentalist as Anthony Rome. He also played young Narrator on two episodes of the TV series The Legion of Extraordinary Dancers. From 2011 to 2013, Boakye provided the voice of Gossamer on the television cartoon The Looney Tunes Show, which also aired on Cartoon Network. In 2012, he appeared on an episode of Touch as Farai and the biographical drama film Unconditional as Macon. He then provided the voice of The Passenger on the YouTube/VRV television series Bravest Warriors. In 2014, Boakye appeared on an episode of the ABC comedy-drama series Mind Games as Tyler.
He appeared in the black comedy film Pocket Listing as Billy and made three-episode appearances on Murder in the First and Colony. He most recently appeared in the TNT drama series Claws as Malik and the drama film Tazmanian Devil as Ike.

## Filmography
### Film and television

| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
| 2005 | Strong Medicine | Lavonne | 1 episode |
| 2005 | Inconceivable | Kid | 1 episode |
| 2005–2007 | Days of Our Lives | Artemis / Scott | 18 episodes |
| 2006–2007 | Day Break | James Mathis | 5 episodes |
| 2006 | Happy Feet | Other Voices | Film |
| 2006 | The Shield | Wendell | 1 episode |
| 2007 | 'Til Death | Kid | 1 episode |
| 2007 | If I Had Known I Was a Genius | Little Boy | Film |
| 2008–2010 | Ni Hao, Kai-Lan | Worm # 1 / Mr. Hoppy | Voice, 2 episodes |
| 2008 | Boston Legal | Turnip | 1 episode |
| 2009 | I Can Do Bad All By Myself | Manny | Film |
| 2009 | The Princess and the Frog | Newspaper Boy | Voice, film |
| 2009–2011 | Men of a Certain Age | Jamie Thoreau | 14 episodes |
| 2010–2012 | Community | Elijah Bennett | 2 episodes |
| 2010 | Faith and Dreams | Student | Short Film |
| 2010 | Valentine's Day | Soccer Kid | Film |
| 2010 | Special Agent Oso | Andrew | Episode: "Thunderbubble" |
| 2010 | Hawthorne | Willam Glass | 1 episode |
| 2011–2014 | The Amazing World of Gumball | Darwin Watterson | Voice, main role (seasons 1-3) |
| 2011 | Southland | Richard | 1 episode |
| 2011 | Hawaii Five-0 | Kevin | 1 episode |
| 2011 | The Mentalist | Anthony Rome | 1 episode |
| 2011 | The Legion of Extraordinary Dancers | Young Narrator | 2 episodes |
| 2011–2013 | The Looney Tunes Show | Gossamer | Voice, recurring role (14 episodes) |
| 2012 | Touch | Farai | 1 episode |
| 2012 | Unconditional | Macon | Film |
| 2012–Present | Bravest Warriors | The Passenger | Voice |
| 2014 | Sketch | Sketch | Short Film |
| 2014 | Mind Games | Tyler | 1 episode |
| 2015 | Pocket Listing | Billy | Film |
| 2015 | Murder in the First | Kormega | 3 episodes |
| 2017 | Colony | Emmett | 3 episodes |
| 2018 | Claws | Malik | 2 episodes |
| 2019 | Costume Quest | Benji Nichols | Voice, 3 episodes |
| 2020 | Tazmanian Devil | Ike | Film |