Antonio Aakeel | |
|---|---|
 Antonio Aakeel | |
| Born | Wolverhampton, England |
| Nationality | British |
| Occupation | Actor |
| Television | Three Girls Ackley Bridge Dublin Murders |
Antonio Aakeel is an English actor, known for his leading role in the 2018 comedy filmEaten by Lions, for which he was named aScreen International Star of Tomorrow by Screen Daily. He also appeared inTomb Raider and theBAFTA award-winning seriesThree Girls.[1]
Antonio Aakeel was born inWolverhampton,England, and moved around theWest Midlands as a child.[2] He was inspired to pursue acting after being given a one-line role in a school nativity play and subsequently began acting in local theatre.[3] He speaksPunjabi andHindi.[4]
Aakeel gained his first leading feature role in the filmEaten by Lions as Omar, a young man in search of his estranged father. The film had a wide cinematic release in April 2019 and also starred comediansJohnny Vegas,Jack Carroll andAsim Chaudhry.[5]
Screen Daily announced Aakeel would be leading Abid Khan's debut featureGranada Nights as Ben, a heartbroken British tourist on a journey of hedonism and discovery inGranada, Spain.[6]
He appeared opposite Oscar-winnerAlicia Vikander inWarner Bros.' 2018Tomb Raider reboot, directed byRoar Uthaug.[7]
In 2016, Aakeel was cast alongsideRiz Ahmed andBillie Piper in the London crime thrillerCity of Tiny Lights directed byBAFTA winnerPete Travis.[8] The film had its world premiere at theToronto International Film Festival 2016 and released in UK cinemas April 2017.[9]
Later that year, Aakeel landed a supporting role inThe Hungry, Film London's contemporary feature adaptation ofShakespeare'sTitus Andronicus playing troubled brother toLife of Pi'sSuraj Sharma.[10] The Film premiered under special presentations at the 2017Toronto International Film Festival.[11]
In 2015, he appeared as Raza in feature filmThe Contract, written byDavid Marconi and directed by Nic Auerbach.
Aakeel starred as Nasir Baloch in the political short filmThe Line of Freedom, directed by David Whitney. The film depicts the true story of a murdered student rights activist and premiered at theDubai International Film Festival.[12] Upon its release, the film immediately met with controversy and was subsequently prohibited in Pakistan.[13]
Aakeel gained his first television role in theE4 seriesSkins.[14] He then led an episode ofBBC One'sMoving On playing Mati, a young refugee whose leave to remain is revoked on his eighteenth birthday. Directed byReece Dinsdale, the episode won 'Best Daytime Programme' at theRoyal Television Society Awards in 2018.[15]
In May 2017, he appeared inBBC One's three-part BAFTA winning dramaThree Girls directed byPhilippa Lowthorpe.[16] In 2019, Aakeel appeared in two episodes of theChannel 4 drama seriesAckley Bridge asAnwar Wazir.[17] Later that year, Aakeel began portraying the recurring role of Rafael Hyland in theBBC One thriller seriesDublin Murders.[18]
Aakeel gained his first video game role in theImmortals of Aveum as Devyn.
Aakeel was cast in the title role in the stage adaptation ofGuantanamo Boy. The play ran at theHalf Moon Theatre and toured nationally atMiddle Temple Hall,Almeida Theatre,The Hat Factory,Mercury Theatre,Burnley Youth Theatre andThe Drum Theatre.[19]The Stage's Susan Elkin wrote Aakeel "is great as the distraught, anguished, terrified Khalid. The downhill spiral followed by the final return of a damaged-for-life boy to Rochdale is well handled too. He has a very expressive face."[20]
In 2015, he played the lead role of Artie inWaiting for Garbo at theCrescent Theatre as part of the Birmingham Theatre Festival. Love Midlands Theatre reviewed the performance, commenting his "portrayal of a brash New Yorker falling apart is utterly convincing."[21]
Antonio has also performed locally withMidlands based theatre company Round Midnight.[22]
| † | Denotes projects that have not yet been released |
| Year | Film | Role | Notes | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2012 | Duty of Care | Rashid | Short film | [23] |
| 2013 | Dry the River | Boy | Short film; Director also | [24] |
| The Line of Freedom | Nasir Baloch | [25] | ||
| Kick About | Ben | Short film | [26] | |
| 2016 | The Contract | Raza | [27] | |
| Guilty Pleasures | Imi | Television film | [28] | |
| City of Tiny Lights | Young Lovely | [29] | ||
| 2017 | The Hungry | Chirag Joshi | [30] | |
| 2018 | Tomb Raider | Nitin | [7] | |
| Christmas at the Palace | Clerk | Television film | [31] | |
| 2019 | Eaten by Lions | Omar | [32] | |
| Badla | Sunny Singh Toor | [33] | ||
| White Girl | Short film | [34] | ||
| 2021 | Granada Nights | Ben | [35] | |
| 2022 | I Came By | Faisal | [36] | |
| 2023 | Footprints on Water | Rehan | [37] | |
| In Camera | Actor | [38] | ||
| All the Lights Still Burning | Musa | Short film | [39] | |
| Sahela | Vir Oza | [40] | ||
| 2024 | Let It Flow | Anwar | Short film | [41] |
| Year | Title | Role | Notes | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2009 | Skins | Shop Security | Episode: "Katie and Emily" | [42] |
| 2014 | Doctors | Aasim Masood | Episode: "Redirect the Heart" | [43] |
| 2016 | Moving On | Mati | Episode: "Eighteen" | [44] |
| Doctors | Mark 'Stotty' Stott | Episode: "Life Unexpected" | [45] | |
| 2017 | Three Girls | Immy | Miniseries; 3 episodes | [46] |
| Man Like Mobeen | Shahid | Recurring role; 2 episodes | [47] | |
| 2019 | Almost Never | Frankie | Episode: "The Ice Cream" | [48] |
| Ackley Bridge | Anwar Wazir | Recurring role; 2 episodes | [49] | |
| Dublin Murders | Rafe Lahiri | Recurring role; 4 episodes | [50] | |
| 2021 | Octonauts: Above & Beyond | Paani | Series regular; Voice role | [51] |
| 2022 | Slow Horses | Hassan Ahmed | Recurring role; 6 episodes | [52] |
| TBA | Sherlock & Daughter† | Swann | Post-production | [53] |
| TBA | Too Much† | Raven | Post-production | [54] |
