Y'lan Noel (born May 21, 1988) is a Panamanian-American actor. He is known for portraying Daniel King in the HBO television series Insecure (2016–2018).[1] He played the lead role in the 2018 horror film The First Purge.[2]

Y'lan Noel
Born (1988-08-19) August 19, 1988 (age 35)
Education
OccupationActor
Years active2012–present

Early life edit

Noel was born in Brooklyn, New York. He was further raised in Queens until his family moved to Decatur, Georgia. He is of Afro-Panamanian descent. He began attending Morehouse College and transferred to New York University.[1] He continued through Tisch School of Arts until he was called away to Los Angeles.[3]

Career edit

In 2015, Noel landed the role of Daniel King on Insecure. Noel described Daniel as being the opposite of him, "I was nervous about playing Daniel. I love being around women...but I’ve always felt a bit awkward, well, insecure, around women I’ve had crushes on. Daniel doesn’t seem to have any of that awkwardness... Daniel’s extremely confident and goes after what he wants."[4]

In 2018, Noel played the lead role of Dmitri in The First Purge, which he considered very challenging, having said, "I feel like I started to actually physiologically relate to these fictional characters and what they would have to experience if they were to go about surviving the Purge."[5]

In 2021, Noel was reported as cast in the lead for a television pilot based on the Sam Greenlee novel The Spook Who Sat By The Door, to be produced by Lee Daniels.[6][7][8]

Personal life edit

Noel is a member of Kappa Alpha Psi.[9]

Filmography edit

Film edit

Year Title Role Notes
2012 The Spartan King Jack Short film
2013 House of Another Henry Gibson
2018 The First Purge Dmitri
2018 Slice Big Cheese
2018 The Weekend Aubrey
2020 The Photograph Young Isaac Jefferson

Television edit

Year Title Role Notes
2013 The Hustle Kutta Main cast
2016–2018 Insecure Daniel King Recurring (season 1);

Main cast (season 2-3)

2021 The Spook Who Sat by the Door Dan Freeman Main cast; unaired pilot
TBA Lady in the Lake Ferdie Platt

References edit

  1. ^ a b Ballin, Sofiya (September 1, 2017). "Insecure's Y'lan Noel Makes It Easy To Be #DanielHive". Fader. Retrieved July 9, 2018.
  2. ^ Crucchiola, Jordan (July 6, 2018). "The First Purge Star Y'lan Noel on Beating Up Nazis". Vulture. Retrieved July 9, 2018.
  3. ^ "Alumni Focus: Y'lan Noel". Method Acting Strasberg. December 14, 2015. Archived from the original on January 23, 2018. Retrieved July 9, 2018.
  4. ^ Armstrong, Olivia. "Y'lan Noel on Why Daniel Is Way More Than Just "The Other Guy"". HBO. Retrieved July 9, 2018.
  5. ^ Volpe, Allie (July 3, 2018). "'Insecure' + 'The First Purge' Star Y'lan Noel on How to Use Audition Nerves to Your Advantage". Backstage. Retrieved July 9, 2018.
  6. ^ Andreeva, Nellie. "Y'lan Noel To Headline 'The Spook Who Sat By The Door' FX Pilot Produced By Lee Daniels". Deadline. Retrieved August 4, 2022.
  7. ^ Morales, Wilson (April 14, 2021). "Christina Jackson Joins Y'lan Noel In FX Pilot 'Spook Who Sat by the Door'". BFTV. Retrieved August 4, 2022.
  8. ^ Alexander, Jared (March 24, 2021). "Y'lan Noel grabs lead role in Lee Daniels' 'The Spook Who Sat By The Door'". thegrio.com. Retrieved August 4, 2022.
  9. ^ Kappa Alpha Psi® Fraternity, Inc. [@kapsi1911] (July 7, 2018). "Brother Y'lan Noel (Omicron Chapter) speaks onstage during the 2018 #EssenceFest at Ernest N. Morial Convention Center on July 7, 2018 in New Orleans, Louisiana. 📸 by @thephotomanlife #Nupes #essencefestival2018 #essencefestival #InsecureHBO #YlanNoel https://t.co/95e29Go7Ii" (Tweet). Retrieved October 3, 2021 – via Twitter.

External links edit