The Reasons to Love…Ricardo P Lloyd

Ricardo P Lloyd is an up and coming British actor and an emerging voice in the Black British acting community. He has starred in many theatre productions and short films since he began his acting career in 2015.

The young actor made his professional stage debut in an Oxford House production of Animal Farm. He then starred in University Life, a short film which won runner-up at the BIFA short film competition. Lloyd has also starred in a number of Shakespeare productions such as Shakespeare walks, and Shakespeare Within the Abbey (with Mark Rylance), and The Shakespeare reimagined topical play Excluded.

Lloyd’s current success comes in the wake of a rocky past. He is the grandson of immigrants from Jamaica, and moved from Ipswich to London with his mother when he was still very young. Lloyd showed an interest in acting from an early age, and starred in his high school productions of Bugsy Malone and West Side Story. However, the young actor’s life was filled with turmoil during his teenage years.

Lloyd recalls having trouble fitting in during his teenage years. This inevitably led to him joining social circles that impacted his academic performance. The young actor managed to get himself together after pursuing higher education at Harrow College and Buckinghamshire New University.

Lloyd has since starred in many short films and theatre productions. However, his primary focus as of late has been on highlighting the difficulties that minority actors face in the British acting scene. In November 2009, he made an appearance on BBC One, Sunday Morning Live wearing an eyepatch with the word “excluded” written on it. Lloyd stated that the message was intended to show how society ‘only chooses to see what they want to see concerning young people’ or people who come from where he does.’

Lloyd has also incorporated his activism into his film and acting ventures. In 2021, he wrote, acted in, produced, and filmed the short film Call It A Problem. The film aimed to inspire local youth and minority communities in the UK.

Lloyd continues to speak up about the difficulties black men face in the acting community as well as being a voice to those who are not heard. He hopes to spread his message far and wide, and demolish the barriers keeping minority actors from succeeding.