Full Name Antonio Khela Years active 2009–present | Occupation Actor Website www.antonioaakeel.com | |
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Movies City of Tiny Lights, The Contract Profiles | ||
West midlands actors antonio aakeel and jaspal binning staying true to their black country roots
Antonio Aakeel is a British actor from Birmingham, England. He is best known for his work in E4 television show Skins and political drama The Line of Freedom. He appears in the upcoming noir crime thriller City of Tiny Lights directed by BAFTA winner Pete Travis.
Contents
- West midlands actors antonio aakeel and jaspal binning staying true to their black country roots
- Early life
- Film
- Television
- Theatre
- References
Early life
Aakeel was born in Wolverhampton, England, and moved around the West Midlands as a child. He caught the acting bug after being given a one-line role in a school nativity play and went on to hone his craft through local theatre, before being scouted by a talent agent. He speaks Punjabi and Hindi.
Film
Aakeel starred as Nasir Baloch in the 2013 political drama The Line of Freedom directed by David Whitney. The film depicts the true story of a murdered student rights activist and premiered at the Dubai International Film Festival. Upon release the film was immediately met with controversy, particularly for its depiction of the Pakistani Army and treatment of Baloch people. The film was subsequently prohibited in Pakistan and reportedly contributed to a national ban of IMDb.
In 2015, he appeared in feature film The Contract, directed by Nic Auerbach and written by David Marconi.
He was next cast alongside Riz Ahmed and Billie Piper in London crime thriller City of Tiny Lights directed by BAFTA winner Pete Travis. The film had its world premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival 2016 and is due a cinematic release in 2017.
Television
Aakeel landed his first television role in the British show Skins. He was chosen over 500 hopefuls by director Charles Martin and appeared in series 3 of the E4 drama.
He has gained guest-lead roles in BBC series Doctors and BBC1 drama series Moving On directed by Reece Dinsdale.
In 2016, Aakeel was cast in Guilty Pleasures directed by Sonny Michael Chohan, a TV drama based on real life sex trafficking circles in the UK.
In 2017, he will be seen in the three-part BBC1 drama Three Girls directed by BAFTA winner Philippa Lowthorpe.
Theatre
In 2013, he played the title role in the stage adaption of Guantanamo Boy. The play ran at the Half Moon Theatre and toured nationally at Middle Temple Hall, The Hat Factory, Mercury Theatre Burnley Youth Theatre and The Drum Theatre. The Stage's Susan Elkin wrote "Khela is good 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."
In 2015, He played the lead role of Artie in Waiting for Garbo at the Crescent 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."
Antonio has also performed locally with Midlands based theatre company Round Midnight.