Template:Short description Template:EngvarB Template:Use dmy dates Template:Infobox person
Siddig el-Fadil (born 21 November 1965) is a British actor and director, known professionally as Alexander Siddig. Siddig is best known for his roles as Dr. Julian Bashir in the television series Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, former terrorist Hamri Al-Assad in the sixth season of the series 24, Doran Martell in Game of Thrones, Ra's al Ghul in Gotham, and Philip Burton in Primeval. He also starred in the films Syriana (2005), Hannibal (2006), A Lost Man (2007), Cairo Time (2009), and Inescapable (2012).
Early life and educationEdit
Siddig el-Tahir el-Fadil el-Siddig Abdurrahman Mohammed Ahmed Abdel Karim el-Mahdi<ref name=BIDOUN>Template:Cite magazine</ref><ref name=HUFFPO>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>Template:Refn was born on 21 November 1965<ref name=CHICAGOTRIBUNE>Template:Cite news</ref><ref name=OKLAHOMAN>Template:Cite news</ref> in Omdurman, Sudan.<ref name=PLACEOFBIRTH>Template:Cite news</ref> His father, Tahir El Mahdi, was Sudanese; his mother, Gloria (née Taylor; d. 2001) was English.<ref name=BIDOUN/><ref name=HUFFPO/><ref name=GUARDIAN>Template:Cite news</ref><ref name=GLORIA>Template:Cite news</ref> She was the older sister of actor Malcolm McDowell.<ref name=BIDOUN/><ref name=PEOPLE>Template:Cite magazine</ref>
Siddig's parents met in the 1960s when his mother travelled to Sudan with a friend, who introduced her to Siddig's father.<ref name=BIDOUN/> Siddig's father was a student at Cambridge University in the 1950s, and was proficient in English.<ref name=BIDOUN/> Siddig's uncle Sadiq al-Mahdi was prime minister of Sudan from 1966Template:En dash1967 and again from 1986Template:En dash1989.<ref name=BIDOUN/><ref name=MIRROR>Template:Cite news</ref> Siddig is also the great-great-grandson of Muhammad Ahmad, a Nubian religious leader who was proclaimed the Mahdi by his disciples.<ref name=BIDOUN/><ref name=MIRROR/>
Siddig's mother remained in Sudan for three years and returned to London with Siddig and his father.<ref name=BIDOUN/><ref name=CHICAGOTRIBUNE/> Siddig was two years old at the time.<ref name=CHICAGOTRIBUNE/> Siddig initially spoke Arabic when he was a child, but by his second year of living in Britain, he had forgotten much of it.<ref name=BIDOUN/> On the subject of his childhood, he stated in 2024, "I had a tough time at school and in my teens because being not-white in the UK during the 70s was prickly and you had to sort of negotiate that. I tried to push it aside, my race and my heritage ... I would have had to go out of my way to be ethnic."<ref name=comicsbeat/>
Siddig's mother worked as a model and theatrical press agent.<ref name=GLORIA/> In 1978, she married film director and producer Michael Birkett, and in 1982, the two had a son together named Thomas.<ref name=GUARDIAN/>
Siddig attended St Lawrence College, Ramsgate.<ref name=SCHOOL>Template:Cite magazine</ref> He also studied geography and anthropology for a year at University College London before enrolling at the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art (LAMDA).<ref name=CHICAGOTRIBUNE/><ref name=COLLIDER>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
CareerEdit
Siddig's first acting role was at the age of 14 in a non-speaking role, playing King Tut in a BBC children's production.<ref name=PLACEOFBIRTH /> After leaving LAMDA, Siddig worked in theatre as both an actor and director.<ref name=CHICAGOTRIBUNE/><ref name=COLLIDER/><ref name=AVCLUB>Template:Cite news</ref> Siddig's first television role was a Palestinian man in a British six-part miniseries called The Big Battalions (filmed in 1989 but released in 1992), and shortly afterward, he won the role of Prince Feisal in A Dangerous Man: Lawrence After Arabia, a 1990 telefilm sequel to Lawrence of Arabia starring Ralph Fiennes.<ref name=CHICAGOTRIBUNE/><ref name=AVCLUB/>
Siddig's role in A Dangerous Man: Lawrence After Arabia brought him to the attention of Rick Berman, executive producer of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine (1993).<ref name=CHICAGOTRIBUNE/> Berman originally considered Siddig for the role of Commander Benjamin Sisko, but decided in the end that Siddig was too young for the role and cast him as Dr. Julian Bashir.<ref name=CHICAGOTRIBUNE/> Siddig remained with Deep Space Nine for all seven seasons of the series.<ref name=BIDOUN/> He also directed the episodes "Business as Usual" (1997) and "Profit and Lace" (1998).<ref name=DIRECTINGDS9>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> In 1995, Siddig also changed his stage name from Siddig El Fadil to Alexander Siddig.<ref name=OKLAHOMAN/>
After the completion of Deep Space Nine in 1999, Siddig began directing a film about the Soviet Night Witches.<ref name="sidcity1999">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> The film was never completed.<ref name="assignmentx">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Siddig told Bidoun magazine that demand for Islamic and Arabic character roles was increasing in both film and television after the September 11 attacks and that people began to approach him with projects within six months of the event.<ref name=BIDOUN/> He played a mountain guide in the thriller film Vertical Limit (2000), starring Chris O'Donnell, and Ajay in the postapocalyptic science-fantasy film Reign of Fire (2002) starring Christian Bale.<ref name=BIDOUN/><ref name=AVCLUB/> In 2003, Siddig played the role of an Algerian secret agent on the trail of Islamists in the controversial episode "Nest of Angels" of the British television show Spooks (known as MI-5 in the US).<ref>Template:Cite newsTemplate:Cbignore</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Siddig appeared in a cameo role as Khalid Sheikh Mohammed the film The Hamburg Cell that premiered the following year.<ref name=BIDOUN/>
In 2005, Siddig returned to the live stage, playing the role of Doctor Scott in a production of Whose Life Is It Anyway? starring Kim Cattrall that played at the Comedy Theatre in London.<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> That same year, Siddig appeared as Saladin's aide Imad in Ridley Scott's 2005 film Kingdom of Heaven,<ref name=AVCLUB/><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> and starred alongside George Clooney and Matt Damon as Prince Nasir in the film Syriana.<ref name=BIDOUN/><ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref>
Siddig played the title role in the BBC's 2006 telefilm Hannibal.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> In 2007, he starred in A Lost Man (French title Un Homme Perdu) a French-language film that screened at the Cannes Film Festival.<ref name=AVCLUB/><ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref> That same year, he played the role of former terrorist Hamri Al-Assad in the sixth season of 24.<ref name=STAR/><ref name=AVCLUB/>
In 2009, he co-starred with Patricia Clarkson in the award-winning film Cairo Time as Tareq Khalifa, an Egyptian who battles his attraction to his friend's wife.<ref name=STAR>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Directed by Canadian director Ruba Nadda, the film won the prize for "Best Canadian Feature Film" at the 2009 Toronto International Film Festival.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> He also played Jamal in Julian Schnabel’s 2010 film Miral.<ref name=HUFFPO/>
Siddig played Philip Burton in series four and five of the ITV science-fiction drama programme Primeval; both series aired in 2011.<ref name=HUFFPO/><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> In 2012, Siddig again worked with director Nadda and played the starring role as a Syrian-Canadian businessman in the film Inescapable, which also starred Marisa Tomei and Joshua Jackson.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
In 2013, Siddig narrated the BBC Two nature documentary series Wild Arabia and played the role of Minos in the first series of the BBC fantasy-adventure programme Atlantis.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
From 2013 to 2015, Siddig played Aslan Al-Rahim ("the Turk") in the BBC historical fantasy drama series Da Vinci's Demons.<ref name=AVCLUB/><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> In 2015 and 2016, he appeared in the HBO series Game of Thrones; Siddig played the role of Doran Martell, the ruling Prince of Dorne, in the series' fifth and sixth seasons.<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref> He also played Reuben Oliver, an artist and suitor of Polly Shelby, in the third season of the British series Peaky Blinders.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Siddig also provided the voice of Wolf, a character in the historical fantasy drama Tumanbay that aired on BBC Radio 4 between December 2015 and February 2016.
In 2017, Siddig joined the cast of the televisions series Gotham as League of Shadows leader Ra’s al Ghul<ref name=CHICAGOTRIBUNE2>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref> and also played the part of Aristotle Onassis in the drama miniseries The Kennedys: After Camelot.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
In 2019, he appeared in the Netflix series The Spy as Ahmed Suidani, a Syrian security officer.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref> That same year, he appeared as Issouf Al Moctar in the second season of the Fox (UK and Ireland) thriller series Deep State, and voiced Avi Singh in Star Wars: The Bad Batch.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Personal lifeEdit
Siddig began a relationship with Nana Visitor whilst working on the set of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine.<ref name=LOVE>Template:Cite news</ref> Their son, Django El Tahir El Siddig, was born on 16 September 1996 and Visitor's pregnancy was written into the storyline of Deep Space Nine.<ref name=PEOPLE/><ref name=LOVE/> Django is Siddig's first child and Visitor's second son.<ref name=LOVE/> The couple married in 1997 and divorced in 2001.<ref name=LOVE/><ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref>
Siddig met his second wife, Shana Collier, while filming Cairo Time, for which she was an assistant producer; the couple married in 2015.<ref name="sidcity2020">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Siddig stated he was neither Christian nor Muslim in a 2001 letter to his fanclub,<ref name="sidcity2001">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> but in a 2004 letter described himself as having "quite recently (after nearly 40 years) discovered that he was Muslim".<ref name="sidcity2004">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
In an April 2024 interview, Siddig described his sexuality as "not quite straight".<ref name=comicsbeat>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> He has described his hobbies as including cooking, woodworking, gardening and computer games.<ref name="sidcity2018">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
While filming Deep Space Nine he resided in Los Angeles; afterwards he relocated to New York City with his family.<ref name=BIDOUN /> As of 2018, he resides in Massachusetts with his wife.<ref name="sidcity2018" />
FilmographyEdit
FilmEdit
| Year | Film | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1987 | Sammy and Rosie Get Laid | Partygoer | |
| 1992 | A Dangerous Man: Lawrence After Arabia | Emir Faisal I | TV film |
| 2000 | Vertical Limit | Kareem Nazir | |
| 2002 | Reign of Fire | Ajay | |
| 2004 | The Hamburg Cell | Khalid Sheikh Mohammed | TV film |
| 2005 | Kingdom of Heaven | Imad ad-Din al-Isfahani | |
| 2005 | Syriana | Prince Nasir Al-Subaai | |
| 2006 | Hannibal | Hannibal | TV movie |
| 2007 | The Nativity Story | Angel Gabriel | |
| 2007 | The Last Legion | Theodorus Andronikus | |
| 2008 | A Lost Man | Fouad Saleh | |
| 2008 | Doomsday | Hatcher | |
| 2008 | lang}} | Malik | |
| 2009 | Cairo Time | Tareq Khalifa | |
| 2010 | Miral | Jamal | |
| 2010 | 4.3.2.1. | Robert | |
| 2010 | Clash of the Titans | Hermes | |
| 2012 | Inescapable | Adib Abdel-Kareem | |
| 2013 | The Fifth Estate | Dr. Tarek Haliseh | |
| 2013 | May in the Summer | Ziad | |
| 2017 | Submergence | Dr. Shadid | |
| 2019 | 21 Bridges | Adi | |
| 2020 | Skylines | General Radford | |
| 2023 | Deliver Us | Cardinal Russo |
Television seriesEdit
| Year | Production | Role | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1992 | Big Battalions | Yousef | Miniseries, 4 episodes | |
| 1993–1999 | Star Trek: Deep Space Nine | Dr. Julian Bashir | Credited as Siddig El Fadil (1993–1995) | |
| 1993 | Star Trek: The Next Generation | Episode: "Birthright" | ||
| 2003 | Spooks | Ibhn Khaldun | Episode: "Nest of Angels" | |
| 2005 | Agatha Christie's Poirot | Mr. Shaitana | Episode: "Cards on the Table" | |
| 2006 | Family Guy | Silly Nannies Player (voice) | Episode: "Patriot Games" | |
| 2007 | 24 | Hamri Al-Assad | 7 episodes | |
| 2008 | Merlin | Kanen | Episode: "The Moment of Truth" | |
| 2009 | Waking the Dead | Dr Mohammed | 2 episodes (Endgame)<ref>"BBC Programme Information: Week 39". BBC Press Office. Retrieved 10 September 2009.</ref> | |
| 2010 | Strike Back | Zahir Sharq | 2 episodes | |
| 2011 | Primeval | Philip Burton | citation | CitationClass=web
}}</ref> |
| 2012 | True Love | Ismail | Episode: "Sandra" | |
| 2013–2014 | Da Vinci's Demons | Al-Rahim | 13 episodes | |
| 2013 | Wild Arabia | Narrator | Documentary | |
| 2013 | Atlantis | King Minos | 8 episodes | |
| 2015–2016 | Game of Thrones | Doran Martell | 5 episodes (season 5–6)<ref name="Variety 25 July 2014">Template:Cite news</ref> | |
| 2015 | Tut | Amun | Miniseries | |
| 2015 | Bar Rescue | Himself | Episode: "Brokedown Palace" | |
| 2016 | Peaky Blinders | Ruben Oliver | 6 episodes | |
| 2017 | The Kennedys: After Camelot | Aristotle Onassis | ||
| 2017–2018 | Gotham | Ra's al Ghul | 12 episodes (season 3–4) | |
| 2019 | The Spy | Ahmed Suidani | Miniseries | |
| Deep State | Issouf Al Moctar | Season 2 | ||
| 2021 | Star Wars: The Bad Batch | Senator Avi Singh | Episode: "Common Ground" | |
| 2021 | Foundation | Advocate Xylas<ref name="east20210924">East, Michael (24 September 2021). Foundation premiere review: "The Emperor's Peace" and "Preparing to Live". FanSided, Minute Media, 24 September 2021. Retrieved 24 September 2021.</ref> | Episode: "The Emperor's Peace" (S01E01) | |
| 2022 | Shantaram | Khader Khan | Lead role | |
| 2024 | Star Trek: Lower Decks | Holographic Julian Bashir (voice) | Episode: "Fissure Quest" | |
| 2024–present | Fallen | Howson | Main cast |
ReferencesEdit
NotesEdit
CitationsEdit
External linksEdit
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