Adeel Akhtar
Biography
Adeel Hamayun Akhtar is a British actor born on September 18, 1980, in London, England, United Kingdom. He has made several stage appearances, including playing Guildenstern in the Young Vic production of Hamlet in 2011. In film and television, he is known for comedic performances such as the bumbling Muslim extremist Faisal in Chris Morris's film Four Lions, Gupta in The Angelos Epithemiou Show, Maroush in The Dictator, and Smee in Joe Wright's Pan. He has also received acclaim for dramatic roles, including a BAFTA nomination for Best Supporting Actor for playing Wilson Wilson in the Channel 4 television series Utopia. His other television credits include playing shopkeeper Ahmed in the BBC mini-series Capital alongside Toby Jones, and DS Ira King in the BBC series River.
Career overview
Adeel Hamayun Akhtar is a British actor born in London, England, on September 18, 1980. His film credits include playing the bumbling Muslim extremist Faisal in Chris Morris's film Four Lions, Maroush in The Dictator, and Smee in Joe Wright and Pan. On television and stage, his comedic performances include Gupta in The Angelos Epithemiou Show, as well as stage appearances such as Guildenstern in the Young Vic's 2011 production of Hamlet.
In addition to his comedic work, Akhtar has earned acclaim for his dramatic performances. In 2015, he received a BAFTA nomination for Best Supporting Actor for his 2014 role as Wilson Wilson on Channel 4's Utopia. His other television roles include playing shopkeeper Ahmed alongside Toby Jones in the BBC mini-series Capital, and portraying DS Ira King in the BBC series River. Reviewing River in The Daily Telegraph, critic Michael Hogan praised the series as beautifully written by Abi Morgan, stylishly directed, and superbly acted.
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Frequent co-stars
Career timeline
Full filmography
- Letters to My Younger Future Self (2026)
- Down Cemetery Road (2025) as Hamza Malik
- National Theatre Live: The Estate (2025) as Angad Singh
- Fool Me Once (2024) as Sami Kierce
- Black Doves (2024) as Prime Minister Eaves
- Murder Mystery 2 (2023) as The Maharajah
- Dickens: Phantoms and Fiction (2023) as Readings
- The Puppet Asylum (2023) as The Narrator
- The Walk (2023) as Amar
- Enola Holmes 2 (2022) as Lestrade
- Sherwood (2022) as Andy Fisher
- Save the Cinema (2022) as Tom
- Ali & Ava (2022) as Ali
- Sweet Tooth (2021) as Dr. Aditya Singh
- Showtrial (2021) as Sam Malik
- The Electrical Life of Louis Wain (2021) as Dan Rider
- Robin Robin (2021) as Dad Mouse (voice)
- Everybody's Talking About Jamie (2021) as Iman Masood
- Enola Holmes (2020) as Lestrade
- The Nest (2020) as Steve
- Murder Mystery (2019) as The Maharajah
- Back to Life (2019) as Billy
- The Show (2019) as Carpenter
- Raagni - The Movie (2019) as Maulana Wahdi
- Killing Eve (2018) as Martin
- Les Misérables (2018) as Thénardier
- Swimming with Men (2018) as Kurt
- Counterpart (2017) as Casper
- Ghosted (2017) as Dr. Barry Shaw
- The Big Sick (2017) as Naveed Nanjiani
- Victoria & Abdul (2017) as Mohammed
- Hampstead (2017) as Donald's Lawyer
- The Night Manager (2016) as Rob Singhal
- Flowers (2016) as Doctor
- The Last Dragonslayer (2016) as Mr. Brittles
- The Circuit (2016) as Gabe
- Murdered by My Father (2016) as Shahzad
- Pan (2015) as Sam "Smee" Smiegel
- River (2015) as Ira King
- Capital (2015) as Ahmed
- Convenience (2015) as Shaan
- War Book (2015) as Mo
- Utopia (2013) as Wilson Wilson
- The Job Lot (2013) as George Dhot
- Utopia (2013) as Wilson Wilson
- Jadoo (2013) as Vinod
- Stranger Things (2013) as Mani
- Keeping Up with the Joneses (2013) as Jerry
- Utopia (2013) as Wilson Wilson
- The Dictator (2012) as Maroush
- The Angelos Epithemiou Show (2012) as Gupta
- Four Lions (2010) as Faisal
- Traitor (2008) as Hamzi
- Conviction (2006) as Darpan Banerjee
- Who Do You Think You Are? (2004) as Self
- Law & Order: Criminal Intent (2001) as Hazim
- Elsinore