Adeel Hamayun Akhtar (born 18 September 1980) is a British actor. He won the 2017 British Academy Television Award for Best Actor for his role in Murdered by My Father (2016); He received the British Academy Television Award for Best Supporting Actor for his role in Sherwood (2022); He won the Children's and Family Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Performance for his role in Sweet Tooth (2022).
Other credits include Four Lions (2010), The Dictator (2012), Pan (2015), Victoria & Abdul (2017), The Night Manager (2016), Ghosted (2017–2018), Back to Life (2019), Enola Holmes (2020), Ali & Ava (2021), Showtrial (2024), Fool Me Once (2024), and Down Cemetery Road (2025).
Early life and education Adeel Hamayun Akhtar was born in Hammersmith, London to a Pakistani father and an Indo-Kenyan mother.
Akhtar was privately educated at Cheltenham College. He completed a Bachelor of Laws (LLB) degree at Oxford Brookes University, after which he decided to train in acting at the Actors Studio Drama School, part of The New School in New York City. While travelling to New York to audition for the New School, Akhtar was detained and questioned by the FBI at New York's John F. Kennedy International Airport after a tip-off from security staff at Heathrow Airport in London, who had mistaken him for a suspect on a security watchlist circulated after the September 11 attacks. He says that this experience has informed the acting roles he has chosen.
Career Akhtar began his acting career performing at the Half Moon Theatre in London. His first major film role was as the bumbling Muslim extremist Faisal in Chris Morris's film Four Lions (2010). Other comedic performances include Gupta in The Angelos Epithemiou Show, as Maroush alongside Sacha Baron Cohen in The Dictator (2012), and Smee in Joe Wright 's Pan (2015).
In 2014, Akhtar was nominated for a BAFTA for Best Supporting Actor for his role as Wilson Wilson on Channel 4's Utopia. He played shopkeeper Ahmed alongside Toby Jones in the BBC mini-series Capital (2015), and DS Ira King in the BBC's River.
In 2016, Akhtar appeared as Shahzad in the BBC one-off drama Murdered by My Father, for which he won the 2017 BAFTA award for Lead Actor. He was the first non-white best actor BAFTA winner. In 2017, he took part in an American romantic comedy film, playing the role of the protagonist's brother, Naveed, in The Big Sick (2017), and appeared as Mohammed Bakhsh in Victoria & Abdul (2017). He appeared as Rob Singhal in the BBC miniseries based on John le Carré's The Night Manager. He played Barry Shaw for 2 seasons of Ghosted (2017–2018).
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. He played Inspector Lestrade in the film Enola Holmes (2020). in 2022, he was for BAFTA Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role for playing Ali in Ali & Ava (2021).
In 2024, Akhtar appeared as Sam Malik in the second series of BBC drama Showtrial. He played DS Sami Kierce alongside Michelle Keegan in the Netflix series Fool Me Once (2024).
In 2025 he starred as Hamza in 8 episodes of Down Cemetery Road.
Other activities In 2016, Akhtar became a patron of the Half Moon Theatre, Whitechapel.
Film Year Title Role Notes 2008 Traitor Hamzi 2010 Four Lions Faisal Side by Side Isaac Short film Stranger Things Mani 2012 The Dictator Maroush 2013 Jadoo Vinod Convenience Shaan The Cost of Living Jimmy Short films Keeping Up with the Joneses Jerry 2014 War Book Mo 2015 Pan Smee 2016 The Big Return of Ray Lamere Ray Short film 2017 The Big Sick Naveed Hampstead Wiggin Victoria & Abdul Mohammed Bakhsh 2018 Swimming with Men Kurt The Therapist Adam Short film 2019 Murder Mystery Maharajah Vikram Govindan The Show Carpenter 2020 The Nest Steve Enola Holmes Inspector Lestrade 2021 Ali & Ava Ali Nominated - British Academy Film Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role Everybody's Talking About Jamie Iman Masood The Electrical Life of Louis Wain Dan Rider Robin Robin Dad Mouse (voice) Short film 2022 Save the Cinema Mayor Tom Enola Holmes 2 Inspector Lestrade 2023 Murder Mystery 2 Maharajah Vikram Govindan F.O.G Sanjay Short films The Puppet Asylum The Narrator The Walk Amar
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" Conviction Dr. Darpan Banerjee Episode: "Downhill" 2010 Angelos Epithemiou's Moving On Gupta 5 episodes 2011 Coming Up Hasan Episode: "Hooked" Comedy Showcase Gupta Episode: "The Angelos Neil Epithemou Show" 2013 Trollied Ray Series 3; 13 episodes The Tunnel Anwar Rashid Episode #1.7 Coming Up Baz Episode: "Doughnuts" 2013–2014 The Job Lot George Dhot 9 episodes Utopia Wilson Wilson 11 episodesNominated – British Academy Television Award for Best Supporting Actor 2015 River Detective Sergeant Ira King Mini-series. 6 episodes Capital Ahmed Kamal 3 episodes 2016 The Night Manager Rob Singhal 5 episodes Murdered by My Father Shahzad Television filmWon – British Academy Television Award for Best Actor Flowers Doctor Episode #1.4 The Circuit Gabe Television films The Last Dragonslayer Mr. Brittles 2017 Unforgotten Hassan Mahmoud Series 2; 6 episodes 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 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 episodesNominated – 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 episodesWon – British Academy Television Award for Best Supporting Actor 2024 Fool Me Once DS Sami Kierce Mini-series. Main cast. 8 episodes Showtrial Sam Malik Series 2Black DovesPrime Minister Richard EavesCo-starring2025Down Cemetery RoadHamza8 episodes2026Who Do You Think You Are?HimselfOne episode
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) 2025: The Cherry Orchard as Lopakhin (St. Ann's Warehouse)
Awards and honours In January 2026, Akhtar was interviewed by Lauren Laverne as a castaway on the BBC Radio 4 programme Desert Island Discs. Akhtar's other awards and honours include:
Award Year Category Nominated work Result British Academy Television Awards2015Best Supporting ActorUtopia 2017 Best Actor Murdered by My Father British Academy Film Awards 2022 Best Actor in a Leading Role Ali & Ava British Academy Television Awards 2023 Best Supporting Actor Sherwood Children's and Family Emmy Awards 2022Outstanding Supporting PerformanceSweet Tooth 2023 Royal Television Society Programme Awards2025 Leading Actor: Male Showtrial
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