In 1975, he became the school's first acting graduate, landing a role just a few days later in a Shaw Festival production of Caesar and Cleopatra.

[2] In 1983, Akin began studying Yoshinkan aikido and is presently a 5th degree black belt in that art.

Other noteworthy roles include boxer Kid Cornelius in the "Shadow Boxer" episode of Friday the 13th: The Series (1987) and his regular role as the wheelchair-using computer expert Norton Drake in the first season of War of the Worlds, a Canadian/American television series (1988–90).

In Shake Hands with the Devil, he portrays Kofi Annan, then United Nations Under-Secretary-General for Peacekeeping Operations.

He won the Dora Mavor Moore Award for Outstanding Direction of a Play/Musical in 2012 for his production of Suzan-Lori Parks' Topdog/Underdog, which starred Kevin Hanchard and Nigel Shawn Williams.