Zawe Ashton is an acclaimed actress, playwright, author, and director whose multidisciplinary career has seen her working alongside some of the industry's most respected talent.
Most recently, Ashton played the villain DarBenn in Nia DeCosta’s THE MARVELS. Her numerous screen credits include MR MALCOLM’S LIST; THE HANDMAID’S TALE; VELVET BUZZSAW; GRETA; NOCTURNAL ANIMALS; WANDERLUST and notably, FRESH MEAT. On stage, Ashton starred in the Tony nominated revival of Harold Pinter’s ‘Betrayal’ both in the West End and on Broadway.
Her writing and directing credits include, ‘For All The Women Who Thought They Were Mad’; ‘Harm's Way’, shortlisted for the 2007 Verity Bargate Award; ‘Skunk’; ‘Lighthouse’; ‘The Place We Go to Hide’; and ‘Happy Toys’, which was nominated for Best British Short at the Raindance Film Festival in 2014. Her short documentary on the artist Lorraine O'Grady was formed as part of the ‘Soul of A Nation: Art in the Age of Black Power’ exhibition at Tate Modern and The Brooklyn Museum. She was also the youngest winner of the London Poetry Slam Championship in 2000.
Her novel, ‘Character Breakdown’ was published by Vintage in 2019 and is a leading light in Penguin’s diversity scheme, Lit in Colour.