Adeel Akhtar

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Adeel Akhtar
Born (1980-09-18) 18 September 1980 (age 38)
London, England
EducationOxford Brookes University (BA)
New School (MFA)
OccupationActor
Years active2006–present

Adeel Akhtar (Urdu: عدیل اختر‎; born 18 September 1980) is a British actor. In 2017, he won a British Academy Television Award for Best Actor for his role in Murdered by My Father.

Early life[edit]

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, 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[edit]

Akhtar is known for 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 and Warner Bros.' movie 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.[11] He also appeared as Rob Singhal in the acclaimed BBC miniseries based on John Le Carre's The Night Manager.[12]

Adeel became a patron of Half Moon Theatre in autumn 2016.

Filmography[edit]

Film[edit]

Year Title Role
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
2018 Swimming with Men Kurt
2019 Murder Mystery

Television[edit]

Year Title Role Notes
2006 Law & Order: Criminal Intent Hazim Episode: "Dollhouse"
2006 Conviction Dr. 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 Season 3
2013–2014 Utopia Wilson Wilson Nominated—British Academy Television Award for Best Supporting Actor[13]
2015 River Detective Sergeant Ira King
2015 Capital[14] Ahmed Kamal
2016 The Night Manager[15] Rob Singhal
2016 Murdered by My Father Shahzad Television Movie - Winner of the British Academy Television Award for Best Actor
2017 Unforgotten Hassan Mahmoud Series 2
2017 Shut Eye Pazhani "Paz" Kapoor Season 2 6 episodes
2017 Apple Tree Yard Jaspreet Episodes 3 and 4
2017–2018 Ghosted Barry Main cast
2018 Counterpart Casper
2018 Les Misérables Monsieur Thénardier

Stage[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^ Harris, Andrew (January 2012). "From Terrorist to the Prince of Denmark". Floreat Cheltonia: The Cheltonian Association Magazine (5). p. 35. Retrieved 20 May 2017.
  2. ^ 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. London. Retrieved 15 May 2017.
  3. ^ Bradshaw, Peter (6 May 2010). "Four Lions". The Guardian. London. Retrieved 15 May 2017.
  4. ^ a b "Adeel Akhtar". www.bfi.org.uk. British Film Institute. Retrieved 15 May 2017.
  5. ^ Ford, Rebecca (24 April 2014). "Amanda Seyfried Joins Warner Bros.' Peter Pan Adaptation". Hollywoodreporter.com. Retrieved 16 May 2017.
  6. ^ "Who should win best supporting actor at the TV Baftas 2015?". Radio Times. London. 6 May 2015. Retrieved 15 May 2017.
  7. ^ "Capital: Episode 1: Credits". BBC Online. BBC. Retrieved 15 May 2017.
  8. ^ "River: Episode 1: Credits". BBC Online. BBC. Retrieved 15 May 2017.
  9. ^ Hogan, Michael (17 November 2015). "River, episode six, review: 'one of the year's best home-grown TV dramas'". The Daily Telegraph. London. Retrieved 17 November 2015.
  10. ^ "Bafta TV Awards 2017: All the winners and nominees". BBC News. 14 May 2017. Retrieved 15 May 2017.
  11. ^ "Bafta TV awards: Adeel Akhtar is first non-white best actor winner". BBC News. 15 May 2017.
  12. ^ "The Night Manager: Credits". BBC Online. BBC. Retrieved 15 May 2017.
  13. ^ Alex Ritman (8 April 2015). "BAFTA TV Awards: Benedict Cumberbatch Gets Third Nomination for 'Sherlock'". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 8 April 2015.
  14. ^ "BBC One: Capital: Credits". BBC Online. Retrieved 24 November 2015.
  15. ^ "Meet the cast of The Night Manager". The Radio Times. Retrieved 28 February 2016.

Further reading[edit]

External links[edit]

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