Souleymane Sy Savane

Souleymane Sy Savane is an Ivorian actor who was born in Ivory Coast, moved to Paris, and settled in New York in 2000, where he studied acting after working as a flight attendant. His breakthrough came as Solo in Ramin Bahrani's independent film Goodbye Solo (2009), a part that brought him 2009 nominations for a Gotham Independent Film Award for Breakthrough Actor and an Independent Spirit Award for Best Male Lead. He took his first stage role in 2009, appearing in the American premiere of Ian Bruce's Groundswell in New York. On screen he played Deng, a Sudanese rebel, in Machine Gun Preacher (2011) and later appeared in Killerman (2019), and he has worked steadily in television, including Master of None, The Detour, Madam Secretary, and Forever.