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All Pictures (17)Biography
Eugene Kwaku Asante Boateng was born in Düsseldorf on March 20, 1985 to Ghanaian parents who had come to Germany as refugees. He grew up in Düsseldorf's multicultural and alternative Kiefernstraße, which became known in the 1980s for massive squatting (which, ironically, was also directed against the allocation of apartments to refugees); in 1986, RAF member Eva Haule had been arrested there. Boateng was inspired to dance by what was a very diverse environment: He began training at 19 and shortly thereafter won a competition at the Düsseldorf nightclub Checker's. Numerous other competitions followed, as well as productions for the dance theater Kabavil.
In 2006, Boateng won the talent competition 'Viva Dancestar' hosted by Detlef Soost and moved to Berlin. There he took part in further training by lecturers at the Ernst Busch Academy of Dramatic Arts and the Berlin University of the Arts in the areas of singing, acting and directing. He had a small part in the feature film "Robert Zimmermann wundert sich über die Liebe" ("Robert Zimmermann Is Tangled Up in Love", 2008) and played supporting roles in the TV movies "Liebe macht sexy" (2008) and "Einmal Leben bitte" (2012). He also appeared as a dancer in several music videos (for example, on tracks by Jan Delay and No Angels) and performed in numerous dance theater pieces until 2015.
Boateng had his first major big screen role in "Becks letzter Sommer" ("Beck's Last Summer", 2015), as the best friend of Christian Ulmen's title character, followed by a leading role in the action comedy "Plan B - Scheiß auf Plan A" ("Plan B", 2017). In 2018, he played the lead role in the migration drama "Borga," about a Ghanaian hoping for prosperity and recognition in Germany.
Before the release of this film, Boateng was seen in further TV productions, such as in leading roles in the comedies "Annie - kopfüber ins Leben" (2020) and "Werkstatthelden mit Herz" (2020). At the 2021 Max Ophüls Preis Film Festival, "Borga" finally celebrated its premiere - and was awarded Best Feature Film, among other prizes. At the Deutscher Schauspielpreis, Boateng received the prize for Best Leading Role.