What actor played Mr. Eko in Lost?

Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje played Mr. Eko in Lost. The character first appeared in the second-season episode “Adrift” as one of the survivors from Oceanic Flight 815’s tail section, bringing a mysterious history to the island’s increasingly divided community.

Flashbacks revealed that Eko had been involved with guerrillas and drug smuggling in Nigeria. After his younger brother Yemi was killed during a failed operation, Eko assumed Yemi’s identity and eventually became a Roman Catholic priest. That past made him one of Lost’s most morally conflicted characters: he was simultaneously trying to escape his criminal life and reckon with the violence connected to it.

Mr. Eko’s central story involved faith, guilt, leadership, and his determination to push the hatch’s button. He was killed after only one season as a regular character, a decision that disappointed many viewers. Akinnuoye-Agbaje later summarized the character’s contradiction with a memorable idea: Eko was a priest pretending to be a criminal, rather than merely a criminal pretending to be a priest.