Bruno Baketa

Bruno Baketa (born 1 March 1984 in Auckland), is a New Zealand actor.

Career

Baketa is best known for his roles in the series as Dennis Atkinson on EastEnders and Stephen Watts on The Big Bang Theory. He appeared in the British television series Rush Hour 2 as Vincent van Bronski.

He is well known for his role in the series True Detective as Detective John Wayne and former The Gilmore Girls star as Phillip on their revival spin-off Gilmore Girls: A Year in the Life. He also played Tim Devane in ABCD: Old Money, on which he also directed.

In 2016, Baketa is seen in the acclaimed crime thriller film The White Helmets released.

Duties

In 1985, Baketa, a pupil at Gisbourne Secondary, Wellington College, was contacted by Patrick Henshaw, the producer of the series EastEnders, and approached to play Dennis Atkinson. After spending four years playing "Lloyd" Atkinson, Baketa decided to turn the character of Dennis to be a more manly and 'emotive' type of character. Baketa stated that he set out to "really capture the essence of what would make a Dennis Atkinson character". Initially appearing as a complete stranger in each episode of EastEnders, Baketa gained more respect and increased the importance of himself as the series progressed, but felt he needed to challenge and develop himself a bit further.

Since debuting as Dennis Atkinson on EastEnders, Baketa received series one of the show for "Best Newcomer" and has also won several accolades. During season one of EastEnders in London he appeared in the title sequence for James and the Giant Peach, "The Baker" and "Shiggus", The Harry Enfield Naughty Theorem and the opening sequence for Cold Case. Having in addition been in a number of guest spots on other shows Baketa has appeared in the television series Casualty, East of Tharsy, Casualty: London, How I Met Your Mother, and Thee Oh Sees. His favourite EastEnders roles, apart from the title character are "Sailor Jerry" and "Jimmy.