Elyes Gabel
Elyes Cherif Gabel (; born 8 May 1983) is an English actor. He gained recognition for his portrayal of Dr Gurpreet "Guppy" Sandhu in the BBC medical drama "Casualty" (2004–2007), computer genius Walter O'Brien in the CBS series "Scorpion" (2014–2018), Dothraki Rakharo in Seasons 1 and 2 of the HBO series "Game of Thrones" (2011–2012), and PE teacher Rob Cleaver in the BBC One school-based drama series "Waterloo Road" (2009). Gabel is currently starring as Sean Tilson in Apple TV+ suspense-thriller, "Suspicion". His other notable appearances are as DC Jose Rodriguez in the ITV drama "Identity" (2010 ), Detective Adam Lucas in season 3 of "Body of Proof" (2013), as virologist Andrew Fassbach in post-apocalyptic thriller film "World War Z" (2013), as Julian in crime drama film "A Most Violent Year" (2014), and as Adem Qasim in spy thriller film "" (2015). Early life. Gabel was born in Westminster, London and lived in Canada, before returning to the UK to live in Bristol and Manchester. He is of Algerian, French, Spanish, Dutch, Anglo-Indian, Irish and Portuguese descent. He attended St Damian's Roman Catholic Science College in Ashton-Under-Lyne. He later trained at Strodes College, the  Oldham Theatre Workshop and the Northern Kids Theatre Company. He has also trained at Webber Douglas Academy of Dramatic Art, London. At the age of 18, he left school to shoot for a TV show in Toronto. Career. 2001–2007: Early work and recognition through "Casualty". Gabel made his debut in 2001 as the character Jean-Claude Tournier in episode titled "Breaking point" of Series 15 of BBC medical drama "Casualty". In 2002, Gabel dropped out of drama school to appear on the children's fantasy sitcom "I Love Mummy" where he portrayed Pharaoh Prince Nuffratuti (Prince Nuff) of Abu Simbel , who is unable to ascend to the afterlife until he has completed his scroll of tasks. In 2004, he appeared as in Steve BBC One medical soap opera "Doctors". In the same year, Gabel appeared as two different characters in different episodes of "Casualty". Later he joined as series regular character Gurpreet Guppy Sandhu in the same show as a part of Series 19. He was nominated as Most Popular Newcomer at the 2005 National Television Awards for the role. He also appeared as Gurpreet in episode four titled "Teacher's Pet" of Casualty@Holby City, a nine part special crossover  series of "Casualty" and its spin off "Holby City" in 2005. He decided to leave "Casualty" in 2007 to pursue new acting challenges and concentrate on recording music with his band. 2008–2013: Film debut, "Game of Thrones", "Body of Proof" and "World War Z". In 2008, he made his debut in films portraying the character Ben in American supernatural horror film "Boogeyman 3", the final installment of "Boogeyman" film series. In the same year, Gabel appeared as Vimal, a trainee priest, in the BBC drama "Apparitions", alongside Martin Shaw. The first episode aired on BBC One on 13 November 2008 . He then starred as P.E. teacher Rob Cleaver in the BBC One school drama "Waterloo Road" from series 4, which began on 7 January 2009. In 2010, Gabel starred in the 6-part British police procedural series "Identity" as DC Jose Rodriguez on ITV, a member of the identity unit. In the same year, he lent his voice to , a combat flight simulator video game. In 2011, He played Prince Djem, brother of Sultan Bayezid II of the Ottoman Empire in Showtime's "The Borgias". In the same year, he played Shahrouz in the second series of British psychological horror -thriller black comedy mystery television series "Psychoville" and as Ahmed in war torn Baghdad based hostage drama film "Kingdom of Dust: Beheading of Adam Smith". He later appeared as the Dothraki "Bloodrider" Rakharo, loyal bodyguard of Daenerys Targaryen in the season-1 and beginning of season-2 of HBO fantasy series "Game of Thrones". According to the showrunners David Benioff and D. B. Weiss, journey of his character in the show had to be cut short as he quit the show to pursue projects that put him more front and center. In 2011, he joined the cast of CIA procedural Fox pilot  Exit Strategy, portraying transport expert Tarik Fayad alongside Ethan Hawke but the show was dropped after being considered for a midseason airing and later released as a TV movie (2015). In the same year, he appeared as Jaz in British coming of age drama film "Everywhere and Nowhere" alongside James Floyd and Adam Deacon. In 2012, he appeared as Troy Vargas in David Hubbard's CBS TV movie "Widow Detective". In the same year, he appeared as Umar in two part episode titled "And Then I Fell in Love" of series-15 of British crime drama television series "Silent Witness". In  2013, Gabel starred as Detective Adam Lucas in Season 3 of American medical/crime comedy drama television series, "Body of Proof" on ABC. His character Adam Lucas was described as young, smart, a rebel and a Philadelphia native, who is a new entrant in Philadelphia Homicide division, in the revamped third season of the show. The show was ABC's third most-watched show and yet was cancelled by the channel at the end of the "season 3". He later appeared as Ruan Sternwood in Eran Creevy's action thriller film "Welcome to the Punch" alongside James McAvoy, Mark Strong , and Andrea Riseborough. He went on to appear as Danny in Charlie Brooker's horror comedy drama miniseries based on zombie outbreak titled "Dead Set". Later in the same year, he appeared as a young virologist Andrew Fassbach in American post-apocalyptic thriller "World War Z" based on the 2006 novel of the same name by Max Brooks. 2014–2018: Break out performance in "Scorpion". Gabel starred as an eccentric computing genius Walter O'Brien on the American drama series "Scorpion" by Nick Santora on CBS, based on the real life of Walter O'Brien. According to the show creator Nick Santora, "Gabel  was able to play the difficulty of expressing emotion while being emotional” for the character of "Walter O'Brien", who had difficulty processing and expressing emotions. The series debuted on 22 September 2014 and became the highest rated and highest streamed drama for CBS. The series was cancelled after 4 seasons, 93 episodes despite having higher ratings than other cancellations with the last airing on 16 April 2018. Gabel starred in all 93 episodes of the series and was termed as one of the "11 Breakout Stars of the Fall TV Season 2014" by "TheWrap" and "TVLine". In the same year , he made an appearance in a crossover episode of "Scorpion" with American action television series "", had a cameo appearance in Christopher Nolan's science fiction film "Interstellar". He was also seen as Julian in J. C. Chandor's American crime drama film "A Most Violent Year", which was among "323 feature films eligible for the 87th Academy Awards" as announced by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. In 2015, he appeared as Adem Qasim in British spy thriller film "" alongside Kit Harington and Jennifer Ehle. In 2017, he directed an episode titled "Black White & a shade of grey  of TV series Stakes". In 2018, he directed and produced a short feature film titled "Grimshaw" based on drug addiction and regression of individual freedom for which he received the Jury Award for Best Director in Show Low Film Festival (2018). 2019–present. In 2019, he gave voice to Thomas Kallor also known as Star Boy/Star Man, a member of Legion of Super-Heroes and an ally to "Justice League" in DC Entertainment's direct-to-video animated superhero film "Justice League vs. the Fatal Five". The film had its world premiere at WonderCon ’19 (March 29–31, 2019). He  has written, directed and produced a short film titled "Game Show Hurt" alongside fellow "Scorpion" alumni Kevin Weisman, Glenn Keogh and Paul K. Daniel. In 2020, he joined the cast of an upcoming thriller "Suspicion" on Apple TV+ based on the Israeli thriller TV series "False Flag", alongside Uma Thurman and Kunal Nayyar. Gabel portrays British citizen Sean Tilson in eight part thriller series which premiered on 4 February 2022 on Apple TV+. Personal life. Gabel dated "Scorpion" co-star Katharine McPhee for almost two years. They split in 2016. Philanthropy. In 2005, Gabel performed in "Children in Need", an  annual BBC charity telethon for disadvantaged children and young people in the UK. In 2008, he joined actors and sports stars to record a rap-single to support the Anti-knife campaign and raising money to fight the spate of knife crimes. He supports "ALS Association Golden West Chapter" to help in the fight to end ALS and raising awareness and funds for the disease in honor of his maternal grandmother Noreen Gurney who suffered from the disease via his fundraising page "Teamelyes.org". In 2014, he was part of ALS Association Golden West Chapter's "walk to defeat ALS" alongside  Renée Zellweger, Reese Witherspoon. In the same year, Gabel along with the cast of "Scorpion" was part of CBS Cares's awareness and discussion campaigns for Autism. He was associated with "American Forces Network" / AFN's "Stop Bullying Body Positive" campaign along with the "Scorpion" cast in 2015. In the same year, Gabel along with his "Scorpion" co-star Katherine Mcphee joined Sloane Stephens, CoCo Vandeweghe, Justin Gimelstob, Boris Kodjoe and others for a Pro-Am tennis tournament in Brentwood to help raise money for the United States Tennis Association Foundation, which supports tennis and educational programs under- resourced youth , individuals with disabilities, and wounded, ill and injured service members, veterans and their families. Gabel was also involved in CBS Cares's awareness, discussions and fundraising campaigns for Multiple sclerosis (MS) during its awareness month, March in association with a nonprofit organization, National Multiple Sclerosis Society in 2017. In 2019, he supported “Raising the Stakes” charity by "One Step Closer Foundation" for raising funds towards helping people with Cerebral palsy by participating in Cerebral Palsy (CP) Celebrity Poker Tournament. Discography. Gabel along with his "Casualty" costar, Luke Bailey performed a rendition of "The Beatles " classic "I Saw Her Standing There  in 2005 edition of annual BBC charity telethon for disadvantaged children and young people in the UK, Children in Need". In 2008, Gabel recorded a single alongwith Luke Bailey, Stephen Nicholas, Lee Otway, Junior Witter and "Girls Aloud", under the collaboration "UK Flow", a campaign aimed at raising money to fight the spate of knife crimes. In 2016, he did a Karaoke rendition of Elton John’s "Don't Go Breaking My Heart" alongside his costar Katharine McPhee in Season-2, episode 14 "Sun of a Gun" and a musical in Season-4, episode 1 "Extinction" (2017) for his show "Scorpion". He  is a singer and songwriter and has sung some songs which are available online. He is also a guitarist, considers music as passion and has expressed his love for emotional and haunting scores. Some of his music compositions are: