Sekou Diaby has quickly moved from dance training in South London to significant roles across British television and film. He is best known for playing Toby Staithes in the BBC Three comedy-drama Boarders, while projects including My Fault: London, Animol and What It Feels Like for a Girl have expanded his screen career.
By 2026, Diaby’s résumé had grown well beyond the role that first brought him wider attention. He has worked in television, feature films, short films and a high-profile music video, while also developing his interests in writing and filmmaking. His background in professional dance remains an important part of his creative story.
Quick Bio
| Detail | Information |
|---|---|
| Profession | Actor, dancer and developing writer |
| Birthplace | Lambeth, London, England |
| Background | South London |
| Training | BRIT School, National Youth Dance Company, Theatre Peckham, Collective Acting Studio and other acting training |
| Breakthrough role | Toby Staithes in Boarders |
| Notable films | My Fault: London, Your Fault: London, Animol |
| Notable television | Boarders, What It Feels Like for a Girl |
| Height | 5 ft 11 in (180.3 cm), according to his professional CV |
| Representation | B-Side Management |
Diaby’s professional CV lists him as 5 feet 11 inches tall and based in Greater London. His representation also confirms his training and major screen credits.
Who Is Sekou Diaby?
Sekou Diaby is a British actor from London whose breakthrough came through Boarders, Daniel Lawrence Taylor’s BBC Three series about five Black teenagers who receive scholarships to the fictional elite boarding school St Gilbert’s.
Diaby played Toby, one of the five central students, throughout the show’s three-series run. The final series aired in March 2026, bringing the characters’ time at St Gilbert’s to an end.
His career is particularly notable because acting was not his only original focus. Long before his major television work, Diaby was pursuing dance seriously.
Early Life and Dance Background
Diaby was born in Lambeth and grew up in South London. In an interview discussing Boarders, he described himself as mixed-race and said elements of Toby’s environment initially felt familiar to him, even though he eventually saw the character as very different from himself.
Dance was one of his earliest creative interests. Diaby has said that he began breakdancing at around the age of ten. He later studied dance at the BRIT School, graduating in 2019, before spending time with the National Youth Dance Company and dance-theatre company Far From The Norm.
His National Youth Dance Company work included performing in MADHEAD, created by choreographer Botis Seva. The official NYDC production archive lists Diaby among the dancers in the 2019 production.
His acting development also included training connected with Theatre Peckham and Collective Acting Studio. Collective currently identifies Diaby as one of its graduates, while B-Side lists both organisations among his training credits.
That physical-performance background gives useful context to his acting career. Dance requires timing, control, observation and an understanding of how a character can communicate without dialogue — skills that can transfer naturally to screen performance.
Sekou Diaby’s Breakthrough in Boarders
Boarders became Diaby’s defining early project. The series follows Jaheim, Leah, Omar, Femi and Toby as they enter St Gilbert’s through a scholarship programme and encounter a world shaped by privilege, tradition, race and class.
Diaby’s Toby is entrepreneurial, highly intelligent and deliberately unusual. The Guardian described the character as clever and resourceful, while its review singled out Diaby, Jodie Campbell and Josh Tedeku as particularly strong members of the young ensemble.
Diaby himself explained that he initially thought Toby would resemble him closely. As he explored the role, however, he came to view Toby as much more eccentric and unpredictable, which gave him freedom to make bolder performance choices.
The role lasted across three six-episode series from 2024 to 2026. The third season was officially the final chapter and concluded in March 2026.
Industry recognition followed. Diaby was among the nominees in the breakthrough category at the 2025 Edinburgh TV Awards, reflecting the attention generated by his work on Boarders.
Sekou Diaby Movies and TV Shows
Although Boarders remains central to his early career, Diaby has built an increasingly varied filmography.
| Year | Project | Role / Credit | Type |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2024–2026 | Boarders | Toby | BBC television series |
| 2025 | My Fault: London | Zach | Feature film |
| 2025 | What It Feels Like for a Girl | Rinze | BBC miniseries |
| 2025 | From Sidney, with Love | Nick | Short film |
| 2025 | PinkPantheress – Illegal | The Boyfriend | Music video |
| 2026 | Your Fault: London | Zach | Feature film |
| 2026 | Animol | Dion | Feature film |
| TBA | Major Players | Kyron | Television series |
| 2027 | Open Water | Cast member | BBC drama |
| TBA | Code Zero | Cal Walters | ITV drama |
His professional representation confirms projects including Boarders, My Fault: London, Animol and Major Players.
My Fault: London and Your Fault: London
In 2025, Diaby appeared as Zach in My Fault: London, the English-language adaptation connected to Mercedes Ron’s Culpables stories. The film was released through Prime Video, giving Diaby exposure to an international streaming audience.
He returned as Zach in the 2026 sequel Your Fault: London, continuing his involvement in the franchise.
The two films are different in tone from Boarders, helping broaden his early screen résumé beyond one television character.
What It Feels Like for a Girl
Diaby also appeared as Rinze in the 2025 BBC Three drama What It Feels Like for a Girl. The eight-part series was adapted by Paris Lees from her memoir and premiered in June 2025.
Although his role was smaller than his work in Boarders, it added another contemporary British drama to his credits during a busy period of expansion.
PinkPantheress’ Illegal Music Video
Another widely visible appearance came in PinkPantheress’ 2025 music video for “Illegal.” Diaby plays the young man at the centre of the video’s surreal live-action and animated story.
Promonews identified Diaby as the video’s male performer, while IMDb credits him as “The Boyfriend.” The video was directed by Ethan Barrett and Tom Gullam.
Importantly, the character label is an acting credit. It should not be interpreted as evidence of a real-life relationship between Diaby and PinkPantheress.
Animol Marks a More Dramatic Turn
One of the most important steps in Sekou Diaby’s developing film career is Animol, the feature directing debut of actor and filmmaker Ashley Walters.
The drama is set inside a young offender institution and follows teenagers dealing with violence, hierarchy, loyalty, friendship and identity. Diaby plays Dion alongside Tut Nyuot, Vladyslav Baliuk, Stephen Graham and Sharon Duncan-Brewster.
The film had its world premiere in the Perspectives section of the 2026 Berlin International Film Festival. It later received the FIPRESCI critics’ prize for the Perspectives section.
Diaby told Screen International that he deliberately approached Dion with restraint rather than playing him as a straightforward threatening antagonist. The aim was to find the humanity behind the character’s actions. That approach illustrates the type of psychologically different material he has begun pursuing beyond Toby.
Animol is scheduled for its UK theatrical release on 30 October 2026, making it another major step in Diaby’s move into feature filmmaking.
What Is Sekou Diaby Working on Next?
His post-Boarders schedule suggests that television will remain an important part of his career.
B-Side lists Diaby as Kyron in Major Players, an A24 television project from filmmaker Molly Manning Walker. His agency states that filming on the project has been completed.
He has also joined Open Water, the BBC adaptation of Caleb Azumah Nelson’s acclaimed novel. The production completed filming in Birmingham and London in 2026 and is scheduled for BBC One and BBC iPlayer in 2027.
Another significant project is ITV’s Code Zero. Diaby will play Cal Walters, a new police recruit placed under Sergeant Laura Collier, played by Faye Marsay. The drama begins with Cal’s first day on the job becoming entangled with a bank heist and an emergency “Code Zero” call.
The role places Diaby near the centre of a very different type of series: a fast-moving police thriller rather than a school-based coming-of-age drama.
Sekou Diaby Is Also Developing as a Writer
Acting is not Diaby’s only long-term creative interest.
In September 2026, Screen International reported that he had two feature projects in development as a writer: an action comedy and a drama. The same profile described his interest in challenging stereotypes and finding humanity in characters who may initially be viewed in simple or negative terms.
That makes his career trajectory broader than a conventional transition from television actor to film actor. Dance, acting, filmmaking and writing have all become parts of his developing creative identity.
His inclusion in Screen International’s 2026 Stars of Tomorrow group further reflected growing professional attention around his work. The annual selection featured ten emerging actors alongside rising filmmakers from the UK and Ireland.
Sekou Diaby’s Age, Height and Personal Life
Reliable public information about Sekou Diaby‘s private life remains limited.
His professional acting CV lists his height as 5 feet 11 inches, or approximately 180 cm.
A precise date of birth, however, is not consistently established in the strongest publicly available professional sources. For that reason, a specific age should not be stated as confirmed without stronger sourcing.
The same caution applies to his parents, siblings and dating life. Diaby has discussed his background and creative experiences in interviews, but there is little authoritative public reporting about those private areas. Unverified biography-site claims should therefore not be treated as established facts.
Do Not Confuse the Actor with Other People Named Sekou Diaby
This point is particularly important when searching his name.
There is also a Malian international cricketer named Sekou Diaby, whose ICC profile identifies him as a right-arm medium-fast bowler. Separately, football databases contain players with the same name. These sports profiles refer to different individuals and should not be used as sources for the British actor’s age, nationality or biography.
This name overlap explains why searches for terms such as “Sekou Diaby age” or “Sekou Diaby stats” can produce conflicting results.
Why Sekou Diaby’s Career Is Expanding
Several parts of Diaby’s background help explain the range of work appearing on his résumé. His years of dance training gave him a strong physical-performance foundation, while Boarders provided sustained experience with comedy, drama and ensemble storytelling.
He has since moved between commercial streaming films, socially focused British television, music-video performance and darker feature drama. At the same time, projects such as Code Zero and Open Water show that his career is continuing beyond the end of Boarders.
With Animol, new television productions and his own writing projects developing at the same time, Sekou Diaby is building a career that is increasingly difficult to define through a single role.
Conclusion
Sekou Diaby first became widely recognised as Toby in Boarders, but his background began with dance and performance long before the BBC series reached television. Training at the BRIT School and with the National Youth Dance Company helped establish a physical creative foundation that eventually led toward acting.
Since then, My Fault: London, Your Fault: London, What It Feels Like for a Girl, Animol and other projects have steadily expanded his filmography. With Major Players, Open Water, Code Zero and his own writing ambitions also developing, his post-Boarders career is already moving into several different areas of British film and television.
Also Read: Leisa Gwenllian Biography: Remarkable Rise From Child Actor to Film Lead
FAQ
Who is Sekou Diaby?
Sekou Diaby is a British actor and trained dancer from South London. He is best known for playing Toby Staithes in the BBC Three comedy-drama Boarders from 2024 to 2026.
Who does Sekou Diaby play in Boarders?
Sekou Diaby plays Toby, one of five London students who receive scholarships to the elite fictional school St Gilbert’s. He appeared across all three series of the show.
How old is Sekou Diaby?
A precise birth date for the actor is not clearly confirmed by the strongest professional sources reviewed. Sports profiles showing other ages often belong to different people who also happen to be named Sekou Diaby.
Is Sekou Diaby in My Fault: London?
Yes. Diaby plays Zach in My Fault: London and returned to the role in the 2026 sequel Your Fault: London.
Was Sekou Diaby a dancer before acting?
Yes. Diaby studied dance at the BRIT School, trained with the National Youth Dance Company and performed in Botis Seva’s MADHEAD. He has said he began breakdancing at around ten years old.
What are Sekou Diaby’s upcoming projects?
His developing projects include Major Players, BBC drama Open Water and ITV police thriller Code Zero. In Code Zero, he plays new police recruit Cal Walters.
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