Ayad Akhtar

Ayad Akhtar
Born October 28, 1970 (1970-10-28) (age 41)
Milwaukee, Wisconsin, United States
Occupation Actor, writer

Ayad Akhtar (born October 28, 1970) is an American actor and writer.

Contents

Early life and career

Akhtar was born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin to Pakistani parents. He attended Brown University where he majored in theater. After graduation he moved to Italy and studied acting with Jerzy Grotowski for a year.[1] He then returned to the US to teach acting classes with Andre Gregory and earn his M.A. in directing from Columbia University. While at Columbia he and classmates Tom Glynn and Joseph Castelo formed the idea for The War Within, a film about an ordinary man radicalized into becoming a terrorist.[1] Akhtar also starred in the film playing Hassan, the would-be terrorist.[2] In 2011 he played Neel Kashkari in the HBO film Too Big to Fail. Akhtar's upcoming projects include the plays The Invisible Hand and Disgraced.[3] His first novel, American Dervish is featured on the cover of Little Brown Publishing's 2011 Spring Catalogue and will be published in January 2012.

Filmography

Year Film Role Notes
2002 "Life Document 2: Identity" Ahmad Directed, wrote script and served as editor
2005 The War Within Hassan Co-wrote script
2006 2006 Independent Spirit Awards Himself Documentary
"Long After" Naseer Short
2008 "FCU: Fact Checkers Unit" Short
2011 Too Big to Fail Neel Kashkari TV film

Books

Awards

References

  1. ^ a b Wagner, Annie (October 19, 2005). "Annie Wagner Talks to Ayad Akhtar and Tom Glynn". The Stranger. http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/Content?oid=23608. Retrieved May 31, 2011. 
  2. ^ Pais, Arthur J. (October 6, 2005). "What goes on in a terrorist's mind". Rediff. http://inhome.rediff.com/movies/2005/oct/06war.htm. Retrieved May 31, 2011. 
  3. ^ Dudek, Duane (May 19, 2011). "Akhtar finds new opportunities in fiction, HBO". Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. http://www.jsonline.com/entertainment/tvradio/122240284.html. Retrieved May 31, 2011. 
  4. ^ "Little, Brown and Company Fall '11/Winter '12". Little, Brown and Company. May 10, 2011. http://www.hachettebookgroup.com/_assets/busresources/catalogs/LB_Fall2011Winter2012.pdf. Retrieved May 31, 2011. 
  5. ^ King, Susan (November 30, 2005). "Getting into the Spirit of awards season". Los Angeles Times: p. E3. 

External links