
Acting
Born September 18, 1980 · London, England, UK
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.

National Theatre Live: The Estate
2025

Dickens: Phantoms and Fiction
2023

The Walk
2023

The Puppet Asylum
2023

Murder Mystery 2
2023

Enola Holmes 2
2022

Ali & Ava
2022

Save the Cinema
2022

The Electrical Life of Louis Wain
2021

Robin Robin
2021

Everybody's Talking About Jamie
2021

Enola Holmes
2020

The Nest
2020

Raagni - The Movie
2019
The Show
2019

Murder Mystery
2019

Swimming with Men
2018

Victoria & Abdul
2017

Hampstead
2017

The Big Sick
2017

The Last Dragonslayer
2016

The Circuit
2016

Murdered by My Father
2016

Convenience
2015

Pan
2015

War Book
2015

Keeping Up with the Joneses
2013

Jadoo
2013

Stranger Things
2013

The Dictator
2012

Four Lions
2010

Traitor
2008