Kwesi Boakye

Kwesi Nii-Lante Boakye is an American actor. He is best known as the original voice of Darwin, Gumball's best friend and adoptive brother on the Cartoon Network animated TV series The Amazing World of Gumball. He also voiced Gossamer on The Looney Tunes Show. He also played Manny in the 2009 Tyler Perry film I Can Do Bad All By Myself.

Early life Kwesi Nii-Lante Boakye is the youngest of three brothers who are also actors; Kwame Boateng, and Kofi Siriboe. Boakye's family is originally from Ghana.

Career Boakye began his acting career at the age of six, making one-episode appearances on the television shows Strong Medicine and Inconceivable. He then appeared in eighteen episodes of the NBC soap opera series Days of Our Lives. In 2006, he appeared in five episodes of Day Break as James Mathis. He then began his voice acting career at the age of seven, where he provided several voices to the animated film Happy Feet. He then continued to make one-episode appearances on The Shield and 'Til Death, the latter in 2007. In the same year, he appeared as a little boy in the film If I Had Known I Was a Genius. He then appeared on an episode as Turnip in the legal drama series Boston Legal. In 2009, he appeared in Tyler Perry's I Can Do Bad All by Myself as Manny. He voiced Newspaper Boy on the Disney animated film The Princess and the Frog and starred on the TV series Men of a Certain Age as Jamie Thoreau.

In 2010, he appeared on the NBC television series Community as Elijah Bennett and the romantic comedy film Valentine's Day as a soccer kid. He also appeared as Andrew on an episode of the Playhouse Disney television series Special Agent Oso and William Glass in the TNT TV series Hawthorne. From 2011 to 2014, he voiced Darwin Watterson on Cartoon Network's The Amazing World of Gumball. During 2014, he was replaced by Terrell Ransom Jr. due to puberty. He appeared on an episode of Southland as Richard, Hawaii Five-0 as Kevin and The Mentalist as Anthony Rome. He also played young Narrator on two episodes of the TV series The Legion of Extraordinary Dancers. From 2011 to 2013, Boakye provided the voice of Gossamer on the television cartoon The Looney Tunes Show, which also aired on Cartoon Network. In 2012, he appeared on an episode of Touch as Farai and the biographical drama film Unconditional as Macon. He then provided the voice of The Passenger on the YouTube/VRV television series Bravest Warriors. In 2014, Boakye appeared on an episode of the ABC comedy-drama series Mind Games as Tyler.

He appeared in the black comedy film Pocket Listing as Billy and made three-episode appearances on Murder in the First and Colony. He most recently appeared in the TNT drama series Claws as Malik and the drama film Tazmanian Devil as Ike.

Filmography

Film and television

Year Title Role Notes 2005 Strong Medicine Lavonne 1 episode Inconceivable Kid 2005–2007 Days of Our Lives Artemis / Scott 18 episodes 2006–2007 Day Break James Mathis 5 episodes 2006 Happy Feet Other Voices Film The Shield Wendell 1 episode 2007 'Til Death Kid If I Had Known I Was a Genius Little Boy Film 2008 Boston Legal Turnip 1 episode 2009 I Can Do Bad All By Myself Manny Film The Princess and the Frog Newspaper BoyVoice, film 2009–2011 Men of a Certain Age Jamie Thoreau 14 episodes 2010–2012 Community Elijah Bennett 2 episodes 2010 Faith and Dreams Student Short Film Valentine's Day Soccer Kid Film Special Agent Oso Andrew Episode: "Thunderbubble" Hawthorne Willam Glass1 episode 2011–2014 The Amazing World of Gumball Darwin Watterson Voice, main role (seasons 1-3) 2011 Southland Richard 1 episode Hawaii Five-0 Kevin The Mentalist Anthony Rome The Legion of Extraordinary Dancers Young Narrator 2 episodes 2011–2013 The Looney Tunes Show Gossamer Voice, recurring role (14 episodes) 2012 Touch Farai 1 episode Unconditional Macon Film 2012–2018 Bravest Warriors The Passenger Voice 2014 Sketch Sketch Short Film Mind Games Tyler 1 episode 2015 Pocket Listing Billy Film Murder in the First Kormega 3 episodes 2017 Colony Emmett 3 episodes 2018 Claws Malik 2 episodes 2019 Costume Quest Benji Nichols Voice, 3 episodes 2020 Tazmanian Devil Ike Film