Antonio Aakeel

Biography

British actor Antonio Aakeel is best known for his leading film role in the award winning Eaten by Lions (2018). He was named a Screen International ‘Star of Tomorrow’ by global film publication Screen Daily: an international conglomerate of film journalists known for distinguishing rising talent. Previous recipients of the award have included Eddie Redmayne, John Boyega and Dev Patel. Aakeel was born in Wolverhampton, England, to Indian parents and moved around the West Midlands as a child where he began acting in local theatre. He turned down an opportunity to attend the Royal Central School of Speech and Drama in favour of leading a national theatre tour of Anna Perera’s best selling novel, Guantanamo Boy. He was cast in his first leading feature film role as Omar in Eaten by Lions (2018), playing a young man in search of his estranged father. The film premiered at the Edinburgh International Film Festival and won the audience award for ‘Best Film’ at the London Indian Film Festival ahead of its wide cinematic release in 2019. Antonio won his small screen debut in the BAFTA award-winning drama series Skins (2007) after applying to a nationwide campaign seeking new acting talent. This was closely followed by roles in Independent features and Television including a leading role in the critically acclaimed BBC One Drama Moving On: Eighteen (2016), which won Best Daytime programme at the Royal Television Society Awards in 2018. He’s gained several supporting film roles and was cast as Nitin alongside Oscar winner Alicia Vikander in Warner Bros’ Tomb Raider (2018) reboot, establishing himself as one of Britain’s fast emerging talents. He appeared opposite Riz Ahmed and Billie Piper in the noir inspired thriller City of Tiny Lights (2016) directed by BAFTA-winner Pete Travis. The film premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival in 2016. In 2017, Aakeel played troubled brother to Life of Pi’s Suraj Sharma in Film London’s Shakespearean feature adaptation The Hungry (2017); a dark retelling of Titus Andronicus for Amazon, directed by Bornila Chatterjee. The film premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival 2017. In 2019, he was cast as the flamboyant and reckless Rafe, a series regular in Starz and BBC One’s drama series Dublin Murders (2019) directed by Saul Dibb. It was announced he will next lead the upcoming feature Granada Nights as Ben, an uncultured British-tourist struggling to overcome heartbreak in the Spanish province.