Moyo Akandé

Moyo Akandé is a Scottish actress.

Early life and education
Akandé grew up in Bearsden, East Dunbartonshire, Scotland. Her sister, Morayo Akandé is also a writer and producer. As a teenager, Moyo auditioned for the Dance School of Scotland at Knightswood Secondary School and landed a place. She says: "Out of hundreds of applicants, only eight people were chosen. But I knew that was where I belonged [...] A lot of Nigerian families would encourage their kids to become doctors or lawyers, but once my mum knew I wanted to become a performer she encouraged me all the way."

Akandé trained as an actress at Arts Educational Schools, London, and graduated in 2008.

Career
In 2017, Akandé produced and starred in 1745 alongside her sister. The short film focuses on two sisters torn from their home in Nigeria for slavery, who start a perilous journey from foreign hands through the Scottish Highlands in search of freedom. 1745 won the Best Short Film Award at The AFRIFF (African International Film Festival) 2017 in Lagos, Nigeria. It was also nominated for the Best Short Film Award at the BIFAs (The British Independent Film Awards), London 2017 and BAFTA Scotland 2017. In 2019, Akandé appeared in four episodes of the Scottish comedy-drama Guilt. Akandé said of the show, "It's thrilling and exciting and I loved the energy and pace of the script, I wanted to know what happened next, the twists and turns just blew my mind."

In 2023, Akandé appeared in the biographical film Tetris. In May 2023, she appeared as Shelley in series 8 of the dark comedy series Inside No. 9; the episode was titled "Paraskevidekatriaphobia", a fear of Friday the 13th.