--- name: "Adeel Akhtar" canonical: "https://film.one/person/adeel-akhtar" fi1m_id: "adeel-akhtar" imdb_id: "nm2253821" tmdb_id: 81840 wikidata_id: "Q4681497" roles: ["Actor"] born: "18 September 1980" reviewed_on_fi1m: 11 average_fi1m_score: 77 average_as: "actor" average_over: 11 updated: "2026-10-07T18:02:42.947271+00:00" licence: "© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL." --- # Adeel Akhtar ## Identity Adeel Akhtar - **Canonical:** https://film.one/person/adeel-akhtar - **Type:** Person - **Fi1m ID:** adeel-akhtar - **IMDb ID:** nm2253821 - **TMDB ID:** 81840 - **Wikidata ID:** Q4681497 - **Same entity:** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adeel_Akhtar, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q4681497, https://www.imdb.com/name/nm2253821/, https://www.themoviedb.org/person/81840 Actor. Born 18 September 1980 in London, England, UK. ## Details - **Work:** Actor - **Born:** 18 September 1980, London, England, UK - **Active:** 2010–present - **Also known as:** 아딜 액터, Adeel Ahktar, عادل اختر - **Frequently works with:** [Mark Herbert](https://film.one/person/mark-herbert.md), [Samuel Donovan](https://film.one/person/sam-donovan.md) - **Average Fi1m score:** 77, as actor, over 11 titles - **Fi1m score by decade:** 2010s 76 (6), 2020s 79 (5) - **Fi1m against the critics:** 77 to 74 across 10 titles - **Score spread:** 7 at 80+, 3 at 60–79, 1 under 60 - **Lead roles:** 3 of 8 acting credits billed first or second - **Genres:** Drama 9, Crime 5, Comedy 4, Mystery 4, Action 1, Action & Adventure 1 - **Screen time:** 9 hours of reviewed films - **Box office:** $135m across 2 films with figures - **Elsewhere:** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adeel_Akhtar, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q4681497, https://www.imdb.com/name/nm2253821/, https://www.themoviedb.org/person/81840 ## Coming up - *Elsinore* (2026-11-20), as Shahid — [page](https://film.one/film/elsinore.md) ## Streaming the US now - **Apple TV:** [*Utopia*](https://film.one/tv/utopia.md) (83), [*Down Cemetery Road*](https://film.one/tv/down-cemetery-road.md) (82), [*Sherwood*](https://film.one/tv/sherwood.md) (82) - **Amazon Prime Video:** [*Four Lions*](https://film.one/film/four-lions.md) (94), [*Everybody's Talking About Jamie*](https://film.one/film/everybodys-talking-about-jamie.md) (73) - **MUBI:** [*Ali & Ava*](https://film.one/film/ali-and-ava.md) (82) - **HBO Max:** [*Pan*](https://film.one/film/pan.md) (38) For United States; add `?region=XX` for another country. ## Fi1m on Adeel Akhtar > Adeel Akhtar makes flawed men easy to feel for, even when their behaviour is disturbing. We value his tenderness and quiet menace, though the writing needs to give him more than another luckless outsider to play. Akhtar's hangdog expression often makes a man look as though he could do with a little kindness. His characters invite sympathy before they have done much to deserve it, and he is good at keeping us interested when they become harder to like. We rate that ability to make flawed people recognisable. The risk is that a supporting part can simply borrow those vulnerable features and neglect to give him a character. Early screen roles repeatedly confined him to ethnic stereotypes. The breakthrough came as Faisal, the bumbling extremist in Chris Morris's *Four Lions* (2010), where his irreverence suited the satire. *Utopia* (2013) gave him Wilson Wilson, a conspiracy theorist whose eccentricity develops into conviction. By *Murdered by My Father* (2016), he was carrying a drama as Shahzad, with tenderness and menace both present in the performance. We found him frightening because the tenderness was as convincing as the menace. In *Down Cemetery Road* (2025), he plays Hamza Malik in a conspiracy thriller we recommend with a reservation about its dawdling plotting. Emma Thompson and Ruth Wilson are the chief attraction, especially when their characters irritate each other. That friction is sharp enough to make the occasional wait worthwhile, though we would still prefer the story to get on with things. It is an enjoyable series to find him in, rather than the place we would start to understand what he can do. The later work includes Ali, the romantic lead in the Bradford-set *Ali & Ava* (2021), and the widower Andy Fisher in *Sherwood* (2022). A romantic lead is a welcome alternative to the stereotypical supporting parts that restricted his early work, and a good reason to look beyond the familiar troubled face. We would try *Ali & Ava* next, and give the conspiracy thrillers a rest for an evening. ## Biography Adeel Akhtar is a British actor. Born in London in 1980, he studied law at Oxford Brookes University before training at the Actors Studio Drama School and The New School in New York. He is known for roles in *Four Lions* (2010), *The Dictator* (2012), *Pan* (2015), *The Night Manager* (2016), the *Enola Holmes* films (2020, 2022), *Sweet Tooth* (2021–), and *Sherwood* (2022). Akhtar won the BAFTA Television Award for Best Actor for *Murdered by My Father* (2016), the first non-white actor to do so, and the BAFTA for Best Supporting Actor for *Sherwood*. He appears as Hamza Malik in the series *Down Cemetery Road* (2025). He is a patron of the Half Moon Theatre. *Sources: en.wikipedia.org, imdb.com.* ## On Fi1m (11) - *Elsinore* (2026), Fi1m 74, as Shahid — [page](https://film.one/film/elsinore.md) - *Down Cemetery Road* (2025), Fi1m 82, as Hamza Malik — [page](https://film.one/tv/down-cemetery-road.md) - *Ali & Ava* (2022), Fi1m 82, as Ali — [page](https://film.one/film/ali-and-ava.md) - *Sherwood* (2022), Fi1m 82, as Andy Fisher — [page](https://film.one/tv/sherwood.md) - *Everybody's Talking About Jamie* (2021), Fi1m 73, as Iman Masood — [page](https://film.one/film/everybodys-talking-about-jamie.md) - *Killing Eve* (2018), Fi1m 82, as Martin — [page](https://film.one/tv/killing-eve.md) - *Flowers* (2016), Fi1m 78, as Doctor — [page](https://film.one/tv/flowers.md) - *The Night Manager* (2016), Fi1m 81, as Rob Singhal — [page](https://film.one/tv/the-night-manager.md) - *Pan* (2015), Fi1m 38, as Sam "Smee" Smiegel — [page](https://film.one/film/pan.md) - *Utopia* (2013), Fi1m 83, as Wilson Wilson — [page](https://film.one/tv/utopia.md) - *Four Lions* (2010), Fi1m 94, as Faisal — [page](https://film.one/film/four-lions.md) ## Complete filmography (56) Every credit, newest first. Titles without a page can be requested for review on the HTML page. - *Elsinore* (2026), as Shahid — Fi1m 74, [page](https://film.one/film/elsinore.md) - *Letters to My Younger Future Self* (2026), Actor - *National Theatre Live: The Estate* (2025), as Angad Singh - *Down Cemetery Road* (2025), series, as Hamza Malik — Fi1m 82, [page](https://film.one/tv/down-cemetery-road.md) - *Black Doves* (2024), series, as Prime Minister Eaves - *Fool Me Once* (2024), series, as Sami Kierce - *Dickens: Phantoms and Fiction* (2023), as Readings - *The Walk* (2023), as Amar - *The Puppet Asylum* (2023), as The Narrator - *Murder Mystery 2* (2023), as The Maharajah - *Enola Holmes 2* (2022), as Lestrade - *Sherwood* (2022), series, as Andy Fisher — Fi1m 82, [page](https://film.one/tv/sherwood.md) - *Ali & Ava* (2022), as Ali — Fi1m 82, [page](https://film.one/film/ali-and-ava.md) - *Save the Cinema* (2022), as Tom - *Showtrial* (2021), series, 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 — Fi1m 73, [page](https://film.one/film/everybodys-talking-about-jamie.md) - *Sweet Tooth* (2021), series, as Dr. Aditya Singh - *Enola Holmes* (2020), as Lestrade - *The Nest* (2020), as Steve - *Raagni - The Movie* (2019), as Maulana Wahdi - *The Show* (2019), as Carpenter - *Murder Mystery* (2019), as The Maharajah - *Back to Life* (2019), series, as Billy - *Les Misérables* (2018), series, as Thénardier - *Swimming with Men* (2018), as Kurt - *Killing Eve* (2018), series, as Martin — Fi1m 82, [page](https://film.one/tv/killing-eve.md) - *Counterpart* (2017), series, as Casper - *Ghosted* (2017), series, as Dr. Barry Shaw - *Victoria & Abdul* (2017), as Mohammed - *Hampstead* (2017), as Donald's Lawyer - *The Big Sick* (2017), as Naveed Nanjiani - *The Last Dragonslayer* (2016), as Mr. Brittles - *The Circuit* (2016), as Gabe - *Flowers* (2016), series, as Doctor — Fi1m 78, [page](https://film.one/tv/flowers.md) - *Murdered by My Father* (2016), as Shahzad - *The Night Manager* (2016), series, as Rob Singhal — Fi1m 81, [page](https://film.one/tv/the-night-manager.md) - *Capital* (2015), series, as Ahmed - *River* (2015), series, as Ira King - *Convenience* (2015), as Shaan - *Pan* (2015), as Sam "Smee" Smiegel — Fi1m 38, [page](https://film.one/film/pan.md) - *War Book* (2015), as Mo - *Keeping Up with the Joneses* (2013), as Jerry - *Jadoo* (2013), as Vinod - *The Job Lot* (2013), series, as George Dhot - *Stranger Things* (2013), as Mani - *Utopia* (2013), series, as Wilson Wilson — Fi1m 83, [page](https://film.one/tv/utopia.md) - *Utopia* (2013), as Wilson Wilson - *Utopia* (2013), series, as Wilson Wilson - *The Angelos Epithemiou Show* (2012), series, as Gupta - *The Dictator* (2012), as Maroush - *Four Lions* (2010), as Faisal — Fi1m 94, [page](https://film.one/film/four-lions.md) - *Traitor* (2008), as Hamzi - *Conviction* (2006), series, as Darpan Banerjee - *Law & Order: Criminal Intent* (2001), series, as Hazim ## Gallery - ![Adeel Akhtar](https://film.one/media/person/24424/gallery-99298d620a2c.jpg) Adeel Akhtar — Soccer Aid for UNICEF, CC BY 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons (https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/17/Adeel_Akhtar_-_Soccer_Aid_for_UNICEF_2026.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail_unscaled) - ![Adeel Akhtar](https://film.one/media/person/24424/gallery-2407fca51ce8.jpg) Adeel Akhtar — Image via TMDB - ![Adeel Akhtar](https://film.one/media/person/24424/gallery-56de4bf108c7.jpg) Adeel Akhtar — Image via TMDB - ![Adeel Akhtar](https://film.one/media/person/24424/gallery-ab16964d5a1a.jpg) Adeel Akhtar — Image via TMDB - ![Adeel Akhtar](https://film.one/media/person/24424/gallery-a19d8b44f67a.jpg) Adeel Akhtar — Image via TMDB --- © Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL. Canonical: https://film.one/person/adeel-akhtar