Khalid Abdalla
Biography
Khalid Abdalla is a British-Egyptian actor who was born in Glasgow, Scotland, United Kingdom, on October 26, 1981. He came to international prominence after starring in the film United 93, written and directed by Paul Greengrass, which chronicles events aboard United Airlines Flight 93 during the September 11 attacks. Abdalla played Ziad Jarrah, the pilot and leader of the four hijackers on board the flight. He also starred as Amir in the film adaptation of The Kite Runner and acted with Matt Damon in Green Zone, marking his second film with director Paul Greengrass. Additionally, Abdalla is on the board of the National Student Drama Festival and, in 2011, became one of the founding members of Mosireen.
Career overview
Khalid Abdalla is a British-Egyptian actor who was born on October 26, 1981, in Glasgow, Scotland, United Kingdom. He came to international prominence after starring in the 2006 film United 93, written and directed by Paul Greengrass, which chronicles events aboard United Airlines Flight 93 during the September 11 attacks. In the film, Abdalla played Ziad Jarrah, the pilot and leader of the four hijackers on board the flight. Following his breakout role, Abdalla starred as Amir in the film adaptation of The Kite Runner and appeared alongside actor Matt Damon in Green Zone, marking his second collaboration with director Paul Greengrass.
In addition to his film work, Abdalla's acting career includes television credits such as The Crown and The Day of the Jackal. Outside of his screen performances, Abdalla serves on the board of the National Student Drama Festival and is one of the founding members of Mosireen, which translates to We Insist, established in 2011.
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Frequent co-stars
Career timeline
Full filmography
- Secret Service (2026) as Zak Hussein
- Together for Palestine (2025) as Self
- Together for Palestine (2025) Producer
- The Day of the Jackal (2024) as Ulle Dag Charles
- Moon Knight (2022) as Selim
- Undergods (2021) as Octavius The Storyteller
- Hanna (2019) as Jerome Sawyer
- Philip K. Dick's Electric Dreams (2017) as Interrogator
- Birds Like Us (2017) as Bat (voice)
- Birds Like Us (2017) as Bat / Wise Bird 3 (voice)
- Why It's Kicking Off Everywhere (2017) as Various
- The Crown (2016) as Dodi Fayed
- The Crown (2016) as Dodi Fayed (archive footage)
- Assassin's Creed (2016) as Sultan Muhammad XII
- Our Kind of Traitor (2016) as Luke
- In the Last Days of the City (2016) as Khalid
- In the Last Days of the City (2016) Producer
- 1001 Inventions and the World of Ibn Al-Haytham (2015) as Ibn Al- Haytham
- Tigers (2014) as Nadeem
- The Narrow Frame of Midnight (2014) as Zacaria
- The Square (2013) as Himself
- East To West (2012) as Self
- Weapons of Choice (2012)
- In the Shadow of a Man (2012) Co-Producer
- Green Zone (2010) as Freddy
- The Kite Runner (2007) as Amir
- Hush Your Mouth (2007) as JJ Farouk
- Rubberheart (2007) Script Supervisor
- United 93 (2006) as Ziad Jarrah
- United 93: The Families and the Film (2006) as Self
- Spooks (2002) as Yazdi