Khalid Abdalla

Khalid Abdalla
Born	1980 (age 31–32) Glasgow, Scotland, UK
Occupation	Actor
Years active	2005–present

Khalid Abdalla (Arabic: خالد عبد الله‎, Khālid ‘Abd Allāh; born 1980) is a Egyptian-British actor. He came to international prominence after starring in the 2006 Academy Award-nominated and BAFTA-winning film, United 93. Written and directed by Paul Greengrass, it chronicles events aboard United Airlines Flight 93, which was hijacked as part of the September 11 attacks. Abdalla played Ziad Jarrah, the pilot and leader of the four hijackers on board the flight. He starred as Amir in the film of The Kite Runner and acted with Matt Damon in Green Zone, his second film with director Paul Greengrass

Abdalla is on the board of the National Student Drama Festival.

Early life

Abdalla was born in Glasgow, Scotland of Egyptian heritage and brought up in London, England.

Education

Abdalla was educated at King's College School, an independent school for boys in Wimbledon in South West London (in the same year group as the actor Ben Barnes and comedian Tom Basden), followed by Queens' College at the University of Cambridge, where he read English.

Early acting experience

Abdalla came to acting through his school's thriving drama scene, where his performances included the title role in Macbeth. In 1998, he directed a production of Someone Who'll Watch Over Me by Frank McGuinness, which ended up having a successful run at the Edinburgh Festival and earned five stars in The Scotsman newspaper, making him the youngest director to receive this accolade. He spent a gap year travelling throughout the Middle East.

At Cambridge, Abdalla was a fixture on the student drama scene, with performances including the main roles in Othello, Britannicus, and Equus. He was a joint winner with Cressida Trew of the Judges' Award for Acting at the National Student Drama Festival for his performance in Bedbound by Enda Walsh. He later trained at Ecole Philippe Gaulier in Paris.

Life and career

In 2003, Abdalla played the title role in Christopher Marlowe's Tamburlaine the Great on the site of the Rose Theatre. This was the inaugural production of Peter Hall's Canon's Mouth Theatre Company composed of "young actors intent on discovering a new voice for the great metaphorical dramas of the Renaissance".

Abdalla's first screen role was in a 2005 episode of Spooks entitled Infiltration of a New Threat.

After United 93 he was cast in the lead role of the film The Kite Runner. In preparation for that role, he spent a month in Kabul to learn Dari Persian and kite-flying.

In 2008, Abdalla appeared as Guy Pringle in the BBC Radio 4 adaptation of Fortunes of War. He starred as Freddy in Green Zone with Matt Damon and director Paul Greengrass.

In 2009-10 Abdalla produced and acted in the independent Egyptian film "In the Last Days of the City", currently in post-production.

In November 2010 Abdalla was awarded special recognition for achievements in cinema at the Cairo International Film Festival.

In January-February 2011, Abdalla was among protesters in Tahrir Square in Cairo, Egypt in the major protests against the Hosni Mubarak regime. He also appeared on Wolf Blitzer on CNN on February 9th 2011 to reflect his views on the protest.

In September 2011 Khalid married Cressida Trew in London, United Kingdom

Filmography

• United 93 - Ziad Jarrah, the pilot and leader of the four hijackers on board the flight
• The Kite Runner - Amir as an adult
• Green Zone - Freddy

External links

• Khalid Abdalla at the Internet Movie Database
• Khalid Abdalla on Charlie Rose
• Interview with Khalid Abdalla on IndieLondon
• My unwilling role in 9/11 hijack
• Khalid Abdalla Fan Site
• "Night Out With" Interview, NY Times, 30/12/07.
• 'My Acts of Defiance': 1/16/08 Interview about Imperial Life in the Emerald City (film) (aka "Green Zone"), The Kite Runner (film) and being a British-Egyptian actor