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Araya Mengesha
Araya Mengesha in 2019
Araya Mengesha in 2019
Born (1987-07-23) July 23, 1987 (age 36)
Toronto, Ontario, Canada
NationalityCanadian
OccupationActor
Years active2002–present
Height5 ft 9 in (1.75 m)[1]
Parent
FamilyWeyni Mengesha (cousin)

Araya Mengesha[2] (born July 23, 1987) is a Canadian actor, best known for his roles as Kandae in Nurse.Fighter.Boy, Michael in Cul de sac and Zoffi in Ruby Skye P.I.: The Maltese Puppy. He is a claimant to the throne of Ethiopia, abolished in 1974.

Biography

Mengesha was born in Toronto to Ethiopian-Canadian International business consultant Prince Stefanos Mengesha Seyoum and Eritrean-Canadian Selamawit Kiros. Through his father, he is a member of the Imperial family of Ethiopia. He is the cousin of theatre director Weyni Mengesha.[3]

From 2002 to 2009, together with David Acer and Christina Broccolini he was a presenter of the documentary television series Mystery Hunters.[4]

His short film Defund, co-directed with Khadijah Roberts-Abdullah, premiered at the 2021 Toronto International Film Festival,[5] and was named to TIFF's annual year-end Canada's Top Ten list for 2021.[6]

Filmography

Year Title Role Notes
2002–2009 Mystery Hunters Himself
2002 Conviction William Conamacher TV movie
2008 Nurse.Fighter.Boy Kandae
2010 Nikita Ben Prentice
2011 Degrassi: The Next Generation Frat Guy #1
2012 Cul de sac Michael Short
2013 Saving Hope Den Bailli
2014 Ruby Skye P.I.: The Maltese Puppy Zoffi Web series
Ryan Gosling Must Be Stopped Bus Stop Guy TV Miniseries
2018–2019 Anne With An E Elijah
2020 Tiny Pretty Things Tyler Stroyer 5 episodes
2021 Nobody Pavel
2021 Defund Brother
2022 Revenge of the Black Best Friend Phil
2024 Law & Order Toronto: Criminal Intent Mark Yohannes Series regular

References

  1. ^ "Araya Mengesha". Gary Goddard Agency. Archived from the original on April 28, 2014. Retrieved October 4, 2014.
  2. ^ "Araya Mengesha". TV.com.
  3. ^ Mercedes Grundy (April 29, 2016). "Meet Stratford's new royal family". Exhibitionists.
  4. ^ "Official website of Mystery Hunters". Archived from the original on February 24, 2014. Retrieved October 4, 2014.
  5. ^ Pat Mullen, "TIFF Unveil's [sic Line-up for 'Celebrating Alanis' Retrospective"]. Point of View, August 11, 2021.
  6. ^ Norman Wilner, "TIFF announces Canada's Top Ten films of 2021" Archived 2021-12-06 at the Wayback Machine. Now, December 6, 2021.