Bio.
About Shanika.
Shanika Ocean is a British actress from London with an array of credits to her name, including “A Confession” (ITV), “Make Me Famous” (BBC), The Weekend Movie” (Netflix) and “Death on the Tyne” (TV movie).
Shanika’s acting career continues to go from strength to strength having featured in BBC’s Eastenders as part of the “Mummy Mafia”. She has also worked with The Royal Opera House, Comedy Central and has appeared in various campaigns such as Hyde Park’s Winter Wonderland, Ministry of Justice & Ali Express Double 11, along with various commercials for brands including Burger King & Play Cosmo.
Shanika has been acting since childhood and in her early days, she attended the Sharon Harris Drama School in north-west London. She later went on to study at Identity Drama School under MBE Femi Oguns & then on to Los Angeles to train at The Groundlings theatre school whilst also taking part in masterclasses with renowned casting director Phaedra Harris and acting coach Ivana Chubbuck. However, Shanika also credits her experience on set as a Stand In & Double on films such as “Jurassic World Dominion” (2022), Kenneth Branagh’s “Death on the Nile”, Netflix’s “Behind her Eyes”, & most recently wrapping on Amazon Prime’s highly anticipated series “Citadel”, as playing at major part in her acting training.
Additionally, Shanika is a trained singer and featured in OBE Gareth Malone’s first ever series of “The Choir”, which aired on BBC in 2006. The show saw Shanika travel to China with her fellow choristers to represent Great Britain in the World Choir Olympics. She also appeared in “The Choir Revisited” in 2008 as well as “Gareth Malone’s Great Choir Reunion” in 2015.
Besides being an actress, Shanika has a background as a successful presenter and has interviewed numerous well-known artists, including Dionne Warwick, Rita Ora, Algee Smith, Emeli Sandé, Krept & Konan and R’n’B singer Lloyd to name a few. She was also the host of SKY TV music show “Unplugged” which showcased up-and-coming British talent. Her other presenting jobs have included, Capital Xtra Radio alongside Britain’s Got Talent Comedian Kojo Anim, the MOBO Awards Red Carpet, London Fashion Week, LA Fashion Week, SBTV and BBC Bitesize.
Latest News.
Keep up to date with Shanika’s latest news here.
Shanika stars as Theodora in the Royal Opera House trailer
Theodora returns to the main stage at the Royal Opera House in Covent Garden, London for the first time since 1750 – this time with a feminist twist. Shanika stars as Theodora in the Royal Opera House trailers.
Can I be a Magistrate?
Checkout Shanika in Capital Xtra’s “Can I be a Magistrate?” campaign in association with The Ministry of Justice.
Shanika features in Samuel L Jackson’s Docuseries “Enslaved” airing on BBC 2
Premiering on Epix in the US as a six-part series, Samuel L Jackson’s highly anticipated docuseries, “Enslaved: The Lost History of the Transatlantic Slave Trade”, has been re-versioned to a 4×60 series for BBC 2 in the UK.
The four-part series in which Shanika also features, will see Samuel L Jackson shed light on 400 years of human trafficking and the millions of Africans who were shipped to the Americas.
Enslaved will air on BBC 2 from Sunday 11th October and will also be available on the BBC iPlayer.
