Ayad Akhtar

Ayad Akhtar

Akhtar at the 2012 Texas Book Festival.
Born October 28, 1970
Staten Island, New York, U.S.
Nationality American
Occupation Actor, writer

Ayad Akhtar (born October 28, 1970) is an Pakistani American actor and writer. He is the recipient of the 2013 Pulitzer Prize for Drama.[1]

Early life and career

Akhtar was born in Staten Island, New York City and raised in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.. After spending most of his childhood in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, he attended Brown University where he majored in theater. After graduation he moved to Italy and studied acting with Jerzy Grotowski for a year.[2] Akhtar then returned to the United States to teach acting classes with Andre Gregory and earn his Master of Arts in directing from Columbia University School of the Arts. 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.[2] Akhtar also starred in the film playing Hassan, the would-be terrorist.[3] In 2011 he played Neel Kashkari in the HBO film Too Big to Fail.[4]

Akhtar has written for the stage. His playwriting credits include Disgraced, which premiered at The American Theater Company in January 2012[5] and which was staged at LCT3/Lincoln Center in New York in October 2012, and won the 2013 Pulitzer Prize for Drama.[1] The play's New York cast included actors Aasif Mandvi, Heidi Armbruster, Erik Jensen and Karen Pittman.[6] Disgraced is being revived on Broadway at the Lyceum Theatre. Previews begin September 27, 2014. The cast includes Hari Dhillon, Gretchen Mol, Josh Radnor, and Karen Pittman.[7]

His first novel, American Dervish, was published by Little Brown Publishing in January 2012 to positive reviews from critics. He is working on his second novel.[8]

Works

Film and television

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

Stage

Year Title Notes
2011 Disgraced Writer
2012 The Invisible Hand Writer

Books

Awards

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Associated Press (April 16, 2013). "Ayad Akhtar’s ‘Disgraced,’ play about a dinner party gone awry, wins Pulitzer Prize for drama". Washington Post.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 Wagner, Annie (October 19, 2005). "Annie Wagner Talks to Ayad Akhtar and Tom Glynn". The Stranger. Retrieved May 31, 2011.
  3. ↑ Pais, Arthur J. (October 6, 2005). "What goes on in a terrorist's mind". Rediff. Retrieved May 31, 2011.
  4. ↑ Dudek, Duane (May 19, 2011). "Akhtar finds new opportunities in fiction, HBO". Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. Retrieved May 31, 2011.
  5. ↑ Jones, Chris (Jan 21, 2012). "Tolerance is no easy out in riveting 'Disgraced'". Chicago Tribune.
  6. ↑ Broadway.com. "Lincoln Center Theater to Kick Off LCT3 Season with Ayad Akhtar's Disgraced".
  7. ↑ http://www.disgracedonbroadway.com/
  8. ↑ Akhtar, Ayad (January 6, 2012). "'Dervish' Whirls Into Publishing World". Wall Street Journal. Retrieved January 19, 2012.
  9. ↑ "Little, Brown and Company Fall '11/Winter '12" (PDF). Little, Brown and Company. May 10, 2011. Retrieved May 31, 2011.
  10. ↑ King, Susan (November 30, 2005). "Getting into the Spirit of awards season". Los Angeles Times. p. E3.
  11. ↑ ""Six Finalists Named For Steinberg/ATCA," nation's largest new play award".
  12. ↑ "OBIE Winners" playbill.com

External links