Damson Idris is a British actor, producer and entrepreneur of Nigerian heritage. He became widely known for playing Franklin Saint in the American television series Snowfall. He also starred alongside Brad Pitt in the racing film F1: The Movie.
From theatre in London to major film productions, Damson has built a career across different kinds of stories. His Nigerian roots and close relationship with his family remain important parts of his life.
Damson Idris Real Name
Damson Idris’s real name is Adamson Alade-Bo Idris. His family called him Damson while he was growing up, and he continued to use the name professionally.
He was named after his grandfather, Adam Alade Idris. In an interview with Essence, he explained that Alade means “he who was crowned.”
Damson Idris Age
Damson Idris was born on September 2, 1991. He is 35 years old as of October 27, 2026. Every year he celebrates his birthday on September 2.
Damson Idris State of Origin and Nationality
Damson hails from Oyo State in the southwest of Nigeria. His mother is from the state and moved to London before his birth. He was born and raised in Peckham, South East London, England.
The actor comes from a Nigerian family of Yoruba heritage. He has shared stories of learning Yoruba from his mother and his childhood experiences of Nigerian music and community gatherings in London.
Although Damson was born in England, he never concealed his ties to Nigeria. He is often described as a British-Nigerian actor, reflecting his British upbringing and Nigerian heritage.
Early Life and Education of Damson Idris
Growing up in Peckham, Damson loved football and once hoped to play professionally. He was also a rugby player. As a teenager, he went on trial for Charlton Athletic, but his plans changed eventually.
He was encouraged by one of his sisters to study drama. He attended Brunel University London, where he studied Drama, Television and Film studies, and began to become interested in acting. He graduated with a bachelor’s degree in 2013.
Damson also trained at the Identity School of Acting in London. He has attributed his college days to helping him find a career he had not envisioned before that.
Damson Idris Career
Damson’s acting career began on the stage. While at university, he met actress Cathy Tyson, who encouraged him to audition for Pandora’s Box, a play by Ade Solanke. He was cast in a part and then featured in other theatre productions, such as at the Royal National Theatre in London.
He later appeared in British television programmes such as Miranda, Doctors and Casualty. Those early roles gave him experience before his breakthrough in the United States.
Damson auditioned for Snowfall and was selected for its first pilot. The production was retouched, he had to wait for the show to proceed. He went back to London during that time to serve as usher at The Lion King at the Lyceum Theatre.
In 2017, he began playing Franklin Saint in Snowfall, an FX crime drama set in Los Angeles during the 1980s. Franklin starts as a young man looking for opportunities but becomes involved in the growing crack cocaine trade.
The series tracked his character’s journey and how his decisions affected his family and community. It ran for six seasons and ended in 2023.
To prepare for the job, he was told to sound like a resident of South Central Los Angeles.
Damson worked with rapper WC on the accent and local mannerisms. He also worked closely with the late filmmaker John Singleton, one of the show’s creators.
Damson later became a producer on Snowfall, beginning with its fifth season. The position gave him an opportunity to contribute to the show beyond acting.
Damson Idris Movies and TV Shows
While working on Snowfall, Damson continued to take roles in films and other television shows.
In Farming, he played Enitan, a Nigerian boy fostered by a white British family. The film was written and directed by Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje and was inspired by the filmmaker’s own experiences. It explores racism, identity and the search for belonging.
He also appeared in the 2021 Netflix film Outside the Wire. He played Lieutenant Thomas Harp, a drone pilot sent into a dangerous military zone. Anthony Mackie starred alongside him.
In 2025, Damson played Joshua Pearce in F1: The Movie. His character is a young driver on the fictional APXGP team, where he races alongside Brad Pitt’s character, Sonny Hayes.
The actors trained to drive for the production, and scenes were filmed during actual Formula 1 race weekends. Racing champion Lewis Hamilton was one of the film’s producers.
The film reached an international audience and earned more than $630 million at the worldwide box office.
Some of Damson Idris’s screen credits include:
- City of Tiny Lights (2016): Hakim
- Megan Leavey (2017): Michael Forman
- Snowfall (2017 to 2023): Franklin Saint
- The Commuter (2018): Agent Denys
- Astral (2018): Jordan Knight
- Farming (2018): Enitan
- The Twilight Zone (2019): Dorian Harrison
- Black Mirror: Smithereens (2019): Jaden Tommins
- Outside the Wire (2021): Lieutenant Thomas Harp
- Swarm (2023): Khalid
- F1: The Movie (2025): Joshua Pearce
Damson Idris Latest Projects
Damson is set to play Prince Inan in Children of Blood and Bone, a fantasy film based on the novel by Nigerian-American writer Tomi Adeyemi. Directed by Gina Prince-Bythewood, the film also features Thuso Mbedu, Amandla Stenberg, Idris Elba and Viola Davis.
It will be released in the United States on January 15, 2027.
He is also starring as jazz musician Miles Davis in Miles & Juliette, alongside Anamaria Vartolomei as French singer and actress Juliette Gréco. The film is about their love story after they meet in Paris in 1949. By October 2026, filming was underway in Paris.
On television, Damson is attached to The Lords’ Day, a Netflix political thriller based on a novel by Michael Dobbs. He is set to play Harry Jones, a former British spy caught up in a crisis at Parliament. He is also an exec producer.
According to Apple’s own announcement via a tweet on October 26, 2026, Deadline had already reported that Apple was working on Sacrament, a thriller film that Damson is set to produce through his own company, Keep Quiet Productions. The film, which was proposed, is about two former Chicago police officers who are hunting a run-away thief. It remains in early development, with plans for Damson to star.
Damson Idris Awards and Recognition
Damson’s work has earned him several awards. In 2019, he won Best Performance in a British Feature Film at the Edinburgh International Film Festival for Farming.
Won Best Actor award at the 2023 BET Awards. He was nominated and awarded the NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Actor in a Drama Series for his performance in the series, Snowfall in 2024.
He also won the African American Film Critics Association’s Best Supporting Actor award for his F1 appearance in 2026. The film itself was the Oscar for Best Sound that year, and was nominated for Best Picture.
He was also awarded the Brunel University Outstanding Contribution to Culture and Creativity Alumni award in 2024.
Damson Idris Business and Endorsements
Outside acting, Damson has developed an interest in jewellery and fashion. In 2025, he launched DIDRIS, a fine jewellery brand inspired by his mother.
She had bought gold in Nigeria and sold it in Europe when she was younger. Damson has said the brand is a way of carrying forward a dream she put aside while raising her children. He wore some of DIDRIS at the 2025 Met Gala.
He has worked with fashion brands including Prada and Tommy Hilfiger. He was appointed a global brand ambassador for Formula 1 in February 2026 after the success of the F1: The Movie.
Damson Idris Net Worth
Celebrity Net Worth estimated Damson Idris’s net worth at about $10 million in August 2026. This is an estimated figure, not an actor confirmed figure.
He is also an actor, producer and brand ambassador for the television and movie industry. He has also founded a jewellery business. Do not rely on the estimate as a definitive statement of his income, assets or personal financial situation.
Damson Idris Family
Damson is the youngest in a family of six children. He has three elder brothers and two elder sisters and he was brought up by his mother, Silfat Abike Idris also called Philippa.
He has been very kind about the sacrifices she made to bring up the family in London. In an Essence interview, he called her his hero and said she reminded him to remain humble. His brothers are in business, the law and information technology. As the youngest, Damson has said that he had the luxury of taking a different path with support from his family.
Despite a common misunderstanding, Damson Idris and actor Idris Elba are not brothers. The two British actors know each other and appear in Children of Blood and Bone.
Damson Idris Wife and Relationship
Damson Idris has not publicly announced a wife. His famous relationship has been with American model and entrepreneur Lori Harvey.
The two decided to go public with their relationship in 2023. They announced their separation in a joint statement in November of that year and said they will remain friends.
They were seen together again in 2025 and were photographed kissing in Paris in March 2026. Their presence led to a renewed interest in their relationship, but it remains unclear what it is at the moment.