Adeel Akhtar
Adeel Akhtar (born 18 September 1980) is a British actor. In 2017, he won the British Academy Television Award for Best Actor for his role in Murdered by My Father. He was also nominated for a BAFTA for Best Supporting Actor for his role on Channel 4's Utopia, as well as a British Academy Film Award nomination for Best Actor in a Leading Role for Ali & Ava.
Adeel Akhtar | |
|---|---|
| Born | 18 September 1980 |
| Education | Oxford Brookes University (BA) New School (MFA) |
| Occupation | Actor |
| Years active | 2006–present |
Early life
Akhtar was born in London, to a Pakistani father and a Kenyan mother. He was educated at Cheltenham College[1] Junior School from 1991 to 1994 and then moved to Cheltenham College in Newick House from 1994 to 1999. He originally completed a degree in law from Oxford Brookes University in 2002, but decided to follow his passion and change to acting, training at the Actors Studio Drama School, then within The New School, in New York.[2]
Career
Akhtar's first major role was as the bumbling Muslim extremist Faisal in Chris Morris's film Four Lions.[3] Other comedic performances include Gupta in The Angelos Epithemiou Show,[4] Maroush in The Dictator[4] and Smee in Joe Wright 's Pan.[5]
Akhtar has also won acclaim for his dramatic performances: in 2015, he was nominated for a BAFTA for Best Supporting Actor for his 2014 role as Wilson Wilson on Channel 4's Utopia.[6] He played shopkeeper Ahmed alongside Toby Jones in the BBC mini-series Capital,[7] and DS Ira King in the BBC's River.[8] Reviewing River in The Daily Telegraph, Michael Hogan wrote, "This series was beautifully written by Abi Morgan, stylishly directed, and most of all, superbly acted. The quieter, less showy supporting players also shone. Not just stalwarts [...] but fresher faces: Adeel Akhtar as River's endlessly patient sidekick and Georgina Rich as his psychiatrist".[9]
In 2016 Akhtar appeared as Shahzad in the BBC one-off drama Murdered by My Father. He won the 2017 BAFTA award for Lead Actor for this role,[10] the first non-white actor to do so. In 2017 he also took part in the American romantic comedy film The Big Sick, playing the role of the protagonist's brother, Naveed.[11] He appeared as Rob Singhal in the acclaimed BBC miniseries based on John le Carré's The Night Manager.[12] In 2019, Akhtar appeared as Billy in the BBC Three series, Back to Life, written by Daisy Haggard and Laura Solon, returning in 2021 for the second series.[13]
Filmography
| Denotes works that have not yet been released |
Film
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2002 | Let's Roll: The Story of Flight 93 | Hijacker Saeed Al Ghamdi | |
| 2008 | Traitor | Hamzi | |
| 2010 | Four Lions | Faisal | |
| 2010 | Stranger Things | Mani | |
| 2012 | The Dictator | Maroush | |
| 2013 | Jadoo | Vinod | |
| 2013 | Convenience | Shaan | |
| 2014 | War Book | Mo | |
| 2015 | Pan | Smee | |
| 2017 | The Big Sick | Naveed | |
| 2017 | Victoria & Abdul | Mohammed Bakhsh | |
| 2018 | Swimming with Men | Kurt | |
| 2019 | Murder Mystery | Maharajah Vikram Govindan | |
| 2020 | The Nest | Steve | |
| 2020 | Enola Holmes | Inspector Lestrade | |
| 2021 | Ali & Ava | Ali | Nominated - British Academy Film Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role |
| 2021 | Everybody's Talking About Jamie | Iman Masood | |
| 2021 | The Electrical Life of Louis Wain | Dan Rider | |
| 2022 | Save the Cinema | Mayor Tom | |
| 2022 | Enola Holmes 2 | Inspector Lestrade | |
| 2023 | Murder Mystery 2 | The Maharajah | [14] |
Television
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2006 | Law & Order: Criminal Intent | Hazim | Episode: "Dollhouse" |
| 2006 | Conviction | Darpan Banerjee | Episode: "Downhill" |
| 2010 | Angelos Epithemiou's Moving On | Gupta | |
| 2011 | Coming Up | Hasan | Episode: "Hooked" |
| 2013–2014 | The Job Lot | George | |
| 2013 | Trollied | Ray | Series 3 |
| 2013 | The Tunnel | Anwar Rashid | Series 1, 2 episodes |
| 2013–2014 | Utopia | Wilson Wilson | Nominated – British Academy Television Award for Best Supporting Actor[15] |
| 2015 | River | Detective Sergeant Ira King | |
| 2015 | Capital[7] | Ahmed Kamal | |
| 2016 | The Night Manager[16] | Rob Singhal | |
| 2016 | Murdered by My Father | Shahzad | Television film Won – British Academy Television Award for Best Actor |
| 2017 | Unforgotten | Hassan Mahmoud | Series 2 |
| 2017 | Apple Tree Yard | Jaspreet | Episodes 3 and 4 |
| 2017–2018 | Ghosted | Barry | Main cast |
| 2018 | Counterpart | Casper | |
| 2018 | Les Misérables | Monsieur Thénardier | |
| 2019 | Killing Eve | Martin | Season 2, episodes 5 and 7 |
| 2019 | Back to Life | Billy | |
| 2021 | Sweet Tooth | Aditya Singh | Main role Nominated – Children's and Family Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Performance |
| 2022 | Sherwood | Andy Fisher | BBC miniseries - main cast |
| TBA | Fool Me Once | DS Sami Kierce | Netflix series - main cast[17] |
Stage
- 2008: The Colonel as Zero (Theatre Absolute)
- 2008: In My Name as Zaeem (Old Red Lion & Trafalgar Studios)
- 2009: Wuthering Heights as Yusuf (Tamasha Theatre Company)
- 2010: Satyagraha (Ensemble) (Improbable theatre)
- 2011–2012: Hamlet as Guildenstern and Francisco (Young Vic Theatre)
Accolades
| Award | Year | Category | Nominated work | Result | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Children's and Family Emmy Awards | 2022 | Outstanding Supporting Performance | Sweet Tooth | Nominated | [18] |
References
- ^ Harris, Andrew (January 2012). "From Terrorist to the Prince of Denmark". Floreat Cheltonia (5): 35. Retrieved 21 June 2022.
- ^ Fisher, Alice; John, Emma; Shaitly, Shahesta (11 May 2014). "Dominic West, Adeel Akhtar, Rory Kinnear, Andrew Buchan, Jodie Whittaker, Julie Hesmondhalgh and Simon Bird: Bafta TV awards 2014". The Observer. Retrieved 21 June 2022.
- ^ Bradshaw, Peter (6 May 2010). "Review: Four Lions". The Guardian. Retrieved 21 June 2022.
- ^ a b "Adeel Akhtar". British Film Institute. Retrieved 21 June 2022.
- ^ Ford, Rebecca (24 April 2014). "Amanda Seyfried Joins Warner Bros.' Peter Pan Adaptation". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 21 June 2022.
- ^ . Radio Times. 6 May 2015. Archived from the original on 27 May 2015.
- ^ a b "Capital | Episode 1". BBC iPlayer. 24 November 2015. Retrieved 21 June 2022.
- ^ "River | Episode 1". BBC iPlayer. 13 October 2015. Retrieved 21 June 2022.
- ^ Hogan, Michael (17 November 2015). "River, episode six, review: 'one of the year's best home-grown TV dramas'". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 21 June 2022.(subscription required)
- ^ "Bafta TV Awards 2017: All the winners and nominees". BBC News. 14 May 2017. Retrieved 21 June 2022.
- ^ "Bafta TV awards: Adeel Akhtar is first non-white best actor winner". BBC News. 15 May 2017. Retrieved 21 June 2022.
- ^ "The Night Manager". BBC iPlayer. 10 January 2021. Retrieved 21 June 2022.
- ^ Morris, Lauren (1 September 2021). "Back to Life season 3: Release date rumours, cast, plot and news around BBC Three comedy-drama's return". Radio Times. Retrieved 21 June 2022.
- ^ Galuppo, Mia (24 January 2022). "Jodie Turner-Smith, Mark Strong Join Netflix's 'Murder Mystery 2'". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 22 June 2022.
- ^ Ritman, Alex (8 April 2015). "BAFTA TV Awards: Benedict Cumberbatch Gets Third Nomination for 'Sherlock'". Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 21 June 2022.
- ^ Gill, James (18 May 2017). "Meet the cast of The Night Manager". The Radio Times. Retrieved 21 June 2022.
- ^ "Netflix Adapting Harlan Coben's 'Fool Me Once' With Star Michelle Keegan". The Wrap. 20 February 2023. Retrieved 21 February 2023.
- ^ Matt Webb, Mitovich (1 November 2022). "Emmys: Mysterious Benedict Society, Sneakerella, Heartstopper, Sweet Tooth Lead Children's & Family Nominees". TVLine. Retrieved 1 November 2022.
Further reading
- Greenstreet, Rosanna (19 May 2018). "Adeel Akhtar: 'My wife says I'm a tired, older version of Riz Ahmed'". The Guardian.
External links
- Adeel Akhtar at the British Film Institute
- Adeel Akhtar at IMDb
- Adeel Akhtar on Stages of Half Moon