Naveen Andrews | |
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Naveen Andrews signing autographs (2009) |
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Born | Naveen William Sidney Andrews 17 January 1969 Lambeth, London, England |
Occupation | Actor |
Years active | 1991–present |
Naveen William Sidney Andrews (born 17 January 1969) is a British American actor. He is best known for portraying Kip in the movie The English Patient and Sayid Jarrah on the American television series Lost.
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Andrews was born in Lambeth, London, the son of Nirmala, a psychologist, and Stanley Andrews, a businessman,[1] both Malayali Nasrani immigrants from Kerala, India.[2] He was brought up in Wandsworth, South London, and had what he has described as a "very repressive" upbringing. Andrews was brought up in the Methodist denomination.[3] At the age of sixteen, while at Emanuel School, he fell in love with his mathematics teacher, Geraldine Feakins; seven years later they had a son, Jaisal, born in 1992.[4]
Andrews auditioned for drama school and was accepted at London's Guildhall School of Music and Drama with Ewan McGregor and David Thewlis. His studies paid off when he won a role in Hanif Kureshi's film, London Kills Me (1991). Andrews starred in the 1993 BBC miniseries Buddha of Suburbia. He portrayed Kip in The English Patient (1996) and Sayid in the popular television series Lost (2004). In 2006, he was voted one of People magazine's World's Most Beautiful People.[5] He also starred in Kama Sutra: A Tale of Love (1996), Mighty Joe Young (1998) and Bride and Prejudice (2004).
Andrews was in a relationship with actress Barbara Hershey; they lived together in Los Angeles. The couple separated briefly in 2005 and, during that time, Andrews had another son, Naveen Joshua, with another woman, Elena Eustache. He and Hershey later reconciled.[6] However, he and Hershey announced in May 2010 that they had separated six months earlier.[7][8] He has been involved in an ongoing custody dispute with Eustache over their son; on 7 January 2009 Andrews was granted temporary sole legal and physical custody of the child.[9]
Andrews has spoken about his alcoholism and his two-year addiction to heroin in the mid-90s.[10]
Andrews also plays guitar and sings.[11] He became a naturalized US citizen on May 27, 2010.[12]