# Adeel Akhtar

Adeel Akhtar is a British actor. He is known for his role in Murdered by My Father, for which he won the British Academy Television Award for Best Actor in 2017. He is also known for Utopia, Ali & Ava, and Sherwood (2022), for which he received the British Academy Television Award for Best Supporting Actor. He won the Outstanding Supporting Performance at the Children's and Family Emmy Awards for his role in Sweet Tooth in 2023.

## Early life and education

Adeel Akhtar was born in London, to a Pakistani father and a Indo-Kenyan mother.
He was educated at Cheltenham College Junior School from 1991 to 1994 and then moved to Cheltenham College in Newick House from 1994 to 1999. He 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.

## Career

Akhtar's first major role was as the bumbling Muslim extremist Faisal in Chris Morris's film Four Lions. Other comedic performances include Gupta in The Angelos Epithemiou Show, Maroush in The Dictator and Smee in Joe Wright 's Pan.
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. He played shopkeeper Ahmed alongside Toby Jones in the BBC mini-series Capital, and DS Ira King in the BBC's River. 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".
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, 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. He appeared as Rob Singhal in the acclaimed BBC miniseries based on John le Carré's The Night Manager. 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.

## Filmography
### Film

| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
| 2008 | Traitor | Hamzi | |
| 2010 | Four Lions | Faisal | |
| 2010 | Side by Side | Isaac | Short film |
| 2010 | Stranger Things | Mani | |
| 2012 | The Dictator | Maroush | |
| 2013 | Jadoo | Vinod | |
| 2013 | Convenience | Shaan | |
| 2013 | The Cost of Living | Jimmy | Short films |
| 2013 | Keeping Up with the Joneses | Jerry | Short films |
| 2014 | War Book | Mo | |
| 2015 | Pan | Smee | |
| 2016 | The Big Return of Ray Lamere | Ray | Short film |
| 2017 | The Big Sick | Naveed | |
| 2017 | Hampstead | Wiggin | |
| 2017 | Victoria & Abdul | Mohammed Bakhsh | |
| 2018 | Swimming with Men | Kurt | |
| 2018 | The Therapist | Adam | Short film |
| 2019 | Murder Mystery | Maharajah Vikram Govindan | |
| 2019 | The Show | Carpenter | |
| 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 | |
| 2021 | Robin Robin | Dad Mouse (voice) | Short film |
| 2022 | Save the Cinema | Mayor Tom | |
| 2022 | Enola Holmes 2 | Inspector Lestrade | |
| 2023 | Murder Mystery 2 | The Maharajah | |
| 2023 | F.O.G | Sanjay | Short films |
| 2023 | The Puppet Asylum | The Narrator | Short films |
| 2023 | The Walk | Amar | Short films |

### Television

| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
| 2002 | Let's Roll: The Story of Flight 93 | Hijacker Saeed Al Ghamdi | Television film |
| 2006 | Law & Order: Criminal Intent | Hazim | Episode: "Dollhouse" |
| 2006 | Conviction | Dr. Darpan Banerjee | Episode: "Downhill" |
| 2010 | Angelos Epithemiou's Moving On | Gupta | 5 episodes |
| 2011 | Coming Up | Hasan | Episode: "Hooked" |
| 2011 | Comedy Showcase | Gupta | Episode: "The Angelos Neil Epithemou Show" |
| 2013 | Trollied | Ray | Series 3; 13 episodes |
| 2013 | The Tunnel | Anwar Rashid | Episode #1.7 |
| 2013 | Coming Up | Baz | Episode: "Doughnuts" |
| 2013–2014 | The Job Lot | George Dhot | 9 episodes |
| 2013–2014 | Utopia | Wilson Wilson | 11 episodes Nominated – British Academy Television Award for Best Supporting Actor |
| 2015 | River | Detective Sergeant Ira King | Mini-series. 6 episodes |
| 2015 | Capital | Ahmed Kamal | 3 episodes |
| 2016 | The Night Manager | Rob Singhal | 5 episodes |
| 2016 | Murdered by My Father | Shahzad | Television film Won – British Academy Television Award for Best Actor |
| 2016 | Flowers | Doctor | Episode #1.4 |
| 2016 | The Circuit | Gabe | Television films |
| 2016 | The Last Dragonslayer | Mr. Brittles | Television films |
| 2017 | Unforgotten | Hassan Mahmoud | Series 2; 6 episodes |
| 2017 | Apple Tree Yard | Jaspreet | Mini-series. 2 episodes |
| 2017–2018 | Ghosted | Barry Shaw | Main cast. 16 episodes |
| 2018 | Fairy Job | Magical Ahmed | Mini-series. 3 episodes |
| 2018 | Counterpart | Casper | 2 episodes |
| 2018–2019 | Les Misérables | Monsieur Thénardier | 6 episodes |
| 2019–2021 | Back to Life | Billy | 11 episodes |
| 2019–2022 | Killing Eve | Martin | 5 episodes |
| 2021–2024 | Sweet Tooth | Aditya Singh | Main role. 23 episodes Nominated – Children's and Family Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Performance (2022) Won - Children's and Family Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Performance (2023) |
| 2022 | Sherwood | Andy Fisher | Main cast. 5 episodes Won – British Academy Television Award for Best Supporting Actor |
| 2024 | Fool Me Once | DS Sami Kierce | Mini-series. Main cast. 8 episodes |
| 2024 | Showtrial | Sam Malik | Series 2 |
| 2024 | Black Doves | Prime Minister Richard Eaves | Co-starring |

### Stage

* 2008: Zero as The Colonel (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)
* 2024: The Cherry Orchard as Lopakhin (Donmar Warehouse)

## Accolades

| Award | Year | Category | Nominated work | Result |
| British Academy Television Awards | 2015 | Best Supporting Actor | Utopia | Nominated |
| British Academy Television Awards | 2017 | Best Actor | Murdered by My Father | Won |
| Children's and Family Emmy Awards | 2022 | Outstanding Supporting Performance | Sweet Tooth | Nominated |
| British Academy Film Awards | 2022 | Best Actor in a Leading Role | Ali & Ava | Nominated |
| British Academy Television Awards | 2023 | Best Supporting Actor | Sherwood | Won |
| Children's and Family Emmy Awards | 2023 | Outstanding Supporting Performance | Sweet Tooth | Won |