Ricardo Coke-Thomas

Ricardo Coke-Thomas (he/him/his) is a London-born actor, director, educator, and arts leader whose international career spans more than three decades. A consummate theater practitioner, his work bridges performance, pedagogy, and creative leadership, with a deep commitment to artist development and inclusive storytelling.

As a performer, Coke-Thomas’s stage career includes leading roles in the West End, on Broadway, and on national and international tours. London audiences will remember him as Simba in Disney’s The Lion King, Donkey in Shrek the Musical, Tyrone Jackson in Fame, and Lucky Gordon in Andrew Lloyd Webber’s world premiere of Stephen Ward. His extensive theater credits also include Hairspray, Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom, A Chorus Line, Oliver!, The Harder They Come, The Pajama Game, Fela!, and One Love: The Bob Marley Musical. On screen, he has appeared in Avengers: Age of Ultron, Gulliver’s Travels, and Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat opposite Donny Osmond.

Since relocating to the United States in 2018, Coke-Thomas has continued to perform nationally and on Broadway, including a return to The Book of Mormon, which he has previously performed in the West End and in Canada. His directing credits encompass both plays and musicals, including Many Loves, Ain’t No Fairytales in Section 8, Pride and Prejudice, The House of Bernarda Alba, Sunshine on Peachtree, and most recently The Prom, which he directed for the New York Film Academy’s Musical Theater Department. He has also served as resident director for the UK tour of Dreamgirls, directed by Casey Nicholaw.

An accomplished voiceover artist, Coke-Thomas has lent his voice to numerous national commercials, documentaries, animated series, and video games. He is a recurring voice performer for major expansion titles, including Starfield and Warhammer, bringing narrative depth and character specificity to large-scale interactive storytelling.

A dedicated educator, Coke-Thomas has taught globally at NYU Tisch School of the Arts, New York Film Academy, Sylvia Young Theatre School, Italia Conti Academy of Theatre Arts, and the Atlantic Acting School, where he also served as producing director of student productions, overseeing season planning, production processes, and the artistic development of emerging performers. He holds a master’s degree in dance education, bringing a movement-centered, embodied approach to actor training that integrates technique, storytelling, and cultural context.

In 2013, Coke-Thomas cofounded Square Mile Management, a boutique talent agency based in London, where he continues to serve as founder and CEO. The agency represents artists working across theater, film, and television, and is distinguished by its artist-first ethos and commitment to long-term career development. In addition, Coke-Thomas is currently pursuing a PhD in theater studies from University of Creative Arts, with a focus on the impact that color-blind casting has on Black actors. 

Across all facets of his work, Coke-Thomas is dedicated to nurturing bold, expressive artists and advancing rigorous, inclusive practices in performance and training.