Christopher Crawford Gatsinzi Simpson (born 1975) is an Irish actor. He played Karim in the film adaptation of Monica Ali's novel Brick Lane.
Early life Simpson was born in Dublin, Ireland. His father is Irish and his mother was of Greek-Rwandan descent. His father met his mother in Rwanda whilst training to be a teacher. When Simpson was a child he visited Rwanda with his mother. His mother's first language was Kinyarwanda.
Simpson lived in Dublin until he was six years old. After his parents divorced, he moved to London with his mother and his sister, Fiona, where he has lived ever since.
When Simpson was at primary school, he began attending drama classes on Thursday evenings with an amateur dramatics club.
Acting career
Simpson has often been cast in South Asian roles, although his heritage is mixed European and African.
In 2002, he played twins, Magid and Millat, in White Teeth. In 2003, he starred in Second Generation, and appeared in State of Play.
In 2003, Simpson played a supporting role in Code 46. In 2004, he played the role of Hassan Sabbah in The Keeper: The Legend of Omar Khayyam. In 2005, he appeared in Chromophobia. In 2006, he played a supporting role in Mischief Night. In 2007, he played the lead role of Karim in the film adaptation of Monica Ali's novel Brick Lane, and a supporting role in Exitz.
Simpson had one week to learn the part of Karim for Brick Lane.
In 2008, Simpson was a British Independent Film Awards jury member.
In 2006, Simpson played the role of Dionysus in Conall Morrison's The Bacchae of Baghdad (an updated version of Euripides's play The Bacchae) at the Abbey Theatre.
In 2011, he played the role of Maz in John Donnelly's The Knowledge, and the role of Parvez in Steve Waters' Little Platoons, both at the Bush Theatre.
In 2016, he played the role of Sebastian in Bryony Lavery's adaptation of Brideshead Revisited at the English Touring Theatre and UK National Tour.
Music career
In 2008, whilst he was artist-in-residence with creative arts group Metal Simpson completed a song cycle, Very Present Tense. He wrote it over a number of years in response to the death of his mother. The songs which reference musical idioms, including blues, jazz and Rwandan folk, reflecting his Rwandan and Irish family heritage, The album was developed in collaboration with composer, Tom Havelock.
On 8 August 2008, the song cycle premiered at the arts hub in Edge Hill Station pavilion, during the Liverpool European Capital of Culture. On 29 September 2009, he performed the work for the second time with Metal at the Village Green Festival, this time working with a group of musicians from Southend. Simpson then worked on recording the work.
Other work In 2001, Simpson made a documentary for BBC Radio 4 called Other, exploring the identities of people who have parents of different origins and have grown up in a culture belonging to neither parent.
Simpson has narrated audio books for Slumdog Millionaire (originally published as Vikas Swarup's Q & A), E. M. Forster's A Passage to India and Hanif Kureishi's The Buddha of Suburbia.
Personal life In 1996, Simpson's mother died; Simpson and his sister returned to Rwanda to bury her ashes.
Filmography Film Year Title Role Notes 2003 Code 46 Paul Supporting role 2005 Chromophobia Derek The Keeper: The Legend of Omar Khayyam Hassan Sabbah 2006 Take 3 Girls Rafiq Mischief Night Big Man Qassim 2007 Exitz Dr. Murli Patel Brick Lane Karim Lead role 2008 My Father's Son Ameer Short 2009 Little Foxes Jeff Supporting role 2009 It's a Wonderful Afterlife J.J Jaan 2010 Ever Here I Be Jason Short 2012 Day of the Flowers Ernesto Supporting role 2013 Sixteen Headmaster
Television Year Title Role Notes 2002 White Teeth Magid Iqbal/Millat Iqbal 2 episodes: "The Trouble with Millat", "The Return of Magid Iqbal" 2003 State of Play Adam Greene 4 episodes: "#1.1", "#1.3", "#1.5", "#1.6" Second Generation Sam Khan 2 episodes: "#1.1", "#1.2" 2005 All About George Ash 6 episodes: "#1.1", "#1.2", "#1.3", "#1.4", "#1.5", "#1.6" The Man-Eating Leopard of Rudraprayag Sanji TV film 2007 Shameless Murad 1 episode: "#4.4" Be More Ethnic Sol De Silva TV film 2008 Spooks: Code 9 Vik 6 episodes: "#1.1", "#1.2", "#1.3", "#1.4", "#1.5", "#1.6" 2017 The Good Karma Hospital Anton Kartik 1 episode: "#1.2"
Stage Year Title Role Venue 2001 The Ramayana Bharatha Royal National Theatre 2002 Pericles Pericles Royal Shakespeare Company/Cardboard Citizens 2003 Fragile Land Omar Hampstead Theatre 2006 The Bacchae of Baghdad Dionysus Abbey Theatre 2007 Fallujah Iraqi gunman Institute of Contemporary Arts/Old Truman Brewery 2011 The Knowledge Maz Bush Theatre Little Platoons Parvez 2012 LeanerFasterStronger Voice Sheffield Theatres Forests Orlando Birmingham Repertory Theatre 2016 Brideshead Revisited Sebastian English Touring Theatre/UK National Tour
Discography Albums Album Title Album details Chart positions Certifications Very Present TenseReleased: 8 August 2008 Label: Formats: Digital Download
References
External links
Simpson, Christopher. Other. BBC Radio 4. 2001