
Acting
Sep 17, 1980
London, England, UK
Adeel Akhtar
Acting
Biography
Akhtar is known for 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 and 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. He also appeared as Rob Singhal in the acclaimed BBC miniseries based on John le Carré's The Night Manager. Adeel became a patron of Half Moon Theatre in autumn 2016.
Feature Films (34)

Enola takes on her first official case as a detective, but to solve the mystery of a missing girl, she'll need help from friends — and brother Sherlock.
Enola Holmes 2

When straight arrow FBI agent Roy Clayton heads up the investigation into a dangerous international conspiracy, all clues seem to lead back to former U.S. Special Operations officer Samir Horn.
Traitor

Four Lions tells the story of a group of British jihadists who push their abstract dreams of glory to the breaking point. As the wheels fly off, and their competing ideologies clash, what emerges is an emotionally engaging (and entirely plausible) farce.
Four Lions

The true story of Liz Evans, a hairdresser and leader of a youth theatre in Carmarthen, Wales, who began a campaign in 1993 to save the Lyric theatre from closure. Alongside then Mayor of Carmarthen Richard Goodridge, they enlisted the help of Steven Spielberg, securing a special premiere of Jurassic Park.
Save the Cinema

After starting their own detective agency, Nick and Audrey Spitz land a career-making case when their billionaire pal is kidnapped from his wedding.
Murder Mystery 2

The heroic story of a dictator who risks his life to ensure that democracy would never come to the country he so lovingly oppressed.
The Dictator

Oona, a recent graduate in anthropology, has returned to her dead mother’s seaside cottage in southern England to prepare it for sale. Her arrival disturbs Mani, a wary vagrant who has been squatting on the property.
Stranger Things

Otto Baxter, a filmmaker with Down's Syndrome, directs and stars in this musical horror-comedy short based on his life, set in Victorian London.
The Puppet Asylum

Two friends attempt to rob a petrol station but are so useless that they end up working there all night.
Convenience

Government officials practice their response and decisions in a simulated escalation of nuclear threat.
War Book

Captivating documentary exploring the haunting world of Charles Dickens' supernatural tales through actor readings, archive footage and immersive visuals
Dickens: Phantoms and Fiction

This comedy revolves around two brothers, both wonderful chefs, who fall out catastrophically. At the climax of their dispute they rip the family recipe book in half - one brother gets the starters and the other gets the main courses. They set up rival restaurants, across the road from each other, and spend the next twenty years trying to out-do each other. Neither brother will admit it but they both know they are not entirely successful in the 'other half' of the menu. It takes a daughter - a successful corporate lawyer marrying a man from a very different background - to reunite them. She is planning her marriage and is determined that they will both cook the wedding banquet.
Jadoo
Television & Series (24)

The Utopia Experiments is a legendary graphic novel shrouded in mystery. When a group of strangers find themselves in possession of an original manuscript, their lives suddenly and brutally implode.
Utopia

Respected police officer John River, a gifted cop with a troubled mind, struggles to come to terms with the recent loss of a colleague, and chases a suspect across London - with tragic consequences. Now at odds with the authorities, River ends up in a precarious position as he seeks to bring closure to the mother of murdered teenager, who blames him for failing to keep his promise.
River

Angelos Epithemiou presents his own six-part studio entertainment show with best mate and sidekick Gupta, while love interest Gabby Logan appears throughout the series and the guests have to earn the right to be on the show by facing some crazy challenges...
The Angelos Epithemiou Show

Former British soldier Jonathan Pine navigates the shadowy recesses of Whitehall and Washington where an unholy alliance operates between the intelligence community and the secret arms trade. To infiltrate the inner circle of lethal arms dealer Richard Onslow Roper, Pine must himself become a criminal.
The Night Manager

Set on a single street in South London, Capital is a portrait of a road transformed by soaring property prices: what was once the home of modest lower-middle class families, Pepys Road has been continuously gentrified into a street of multimillion pound houses. On one day, the people of this South London street all receive an anonymous postcard with the simple message 'we want what you have'. Its unsettling ripples affect every corner of the community.







