Aml Ameen

Aml Ameen
Ameen at the 2016 Miami International Film Festival presentation of Soy Nero
Born	Aml Eysan Ameen (1985-07-30) 30 July 1985 London, England
Occupation	Actor
Years active	1990s–present
Website	www.amlameen.com

Aml Eysan Ameen (/əˈmɛl əˈmiːn/; born 30 July 1985) is a British actor. He is known for his roles as Trevor (Trife) in Kidulthood (2006), Lewis Hardy in the ITV television series The Bill, Malcolm in the NBC television series Harry's Law, Capheus in the first season of the Netflix original series Sense8, and Alby in The Maze Runner (2014).

Early life

Ameen was born in London, England, to Jamaican and Vincentian parents. He studied acting at the Barbara Speake Stage School, an independent school in London. As a child he appeared in the West End in shows such as Oliver! and Jolson. At the age of 11, he performed on stage with Michael Jackson at the 1996 BRIT Awards in a performance famously invaded by Pulp's singer Jarvis Cocker.

Career

Ameen's first acting role came in 2002 ITV police series The Bill, and he made another guest stint in 2004 before joining the series full-time in 2006 as PC Lewis Hardy, his most famous and popular role to date. Lewis Hardy is a headstrong character who has swapped his life as a street kid to try to make a difference on the right side of the law. He has a few problems with authority and regularly bumps heads with his seniors, most especially frequent beat partner PC Roger Valentine. After Hardy was put undercover and was shot, he was transferred to Operation Trident.

Soon after his guest appearance on The Bill in 2004, he portrayed the character Terry in Bella and the Boys, He also made one-off guest appearances in BBC soap EastEnders and medical drama Holby City. He also starred in the British youth-centred film Kidulthood as the central character Trife, while he also appeared in Second Chance and Red Tails for a special appearance.

In April 2008, he played a leading role in the BBC Three teen drama Dis/Connected, playing Anthony, an 18-year-old college student from London who faces gang trouble on the streets, as well as losing his friend when she commits suicide.

Ameen featured in a film on Channel 4 called Fallout, part of their Disarming Britain mini-season. The London Lite paper described this as his most memorable performance. He featured as AJ in Silent Witness Series 12 Parts 1 and 2. He portrayed a youth worker trying to make a difference in the gang and knife community which presides in South London, and became friends with Leo, one of the senior pathologists doing community service for drunk driving.

Ameen at Dinard British film festival (France), 2006

In June 2008, Ameen began Actors Student Alliance, a drama school set up to discover and teach untapped talent in London. From its inception, the school produced a short film and a theatre showcase for its students. Within its second year, the school expanded into a management company.

He performed at the Tricycle Theatre on the "Not Black and White" season in October 2009. Described as "exceptionally charismatic Aml Ameen the freshest, most inspiring voice in the play" by Time Out London, he received outstanding reviews in the national press. Ameen starred in Jason Barrett's British feature film The Naked Poet, in which he played character Ryan. For this performance, he won Best Actor at the VIPF Awards in 2010.

Ameen also starred in David E. Kelley's legal drama Harry's Law in the first season, which began to air on NBC during the 2011 television season.

Ameen's first Hollywood film role is in George Lucas's Red Tails (2012), about the African American Tuskegee airman in World War II. He played Alby in the 2014 film adaptation of the young adult, science-fiction, dystopian novel, The Maze Runner.

In 2015, Ameen was one of the eight central characters in the initial run of the Netflix series Sense8, produced by the Wachowskis and J. Michael Straczynski. However, conflicts with the Wachowskis resulted in his replacement with Toby Onwumere after filming two episodes of the second season in 2016.

In 2018, Ameen starred as a young Jamaican named "D" in the film Yardie. The film was based on Victor Headley's 1992 cult novel of the same name. Actor Idris Elba made his directorial debut with the film in London and Jamaica.

His own debut as a director was announced in November 2020, for a movie called Boxing Day, in which he would also portray the protagonist. It has been scheduled for release on December 3rd, 2021.

Recognition

He was named one of The Times newspaper's "Ones To Watch" for 2006, and won "Best actor in a TV performance" at the 2007 Screen Nation Awards. Additionally, he presented an award at the Mobo Awards 2006.

Filmography

Film

Year	Title	Role	Notes
2006	Kidulthood	Trevor "Trife" Hector
2010	Shank	Bus Conductor	Cameo
2010	Second Chance	Aaron Bently	Short film
2012	Red Tails	"Bag O'Bones"
2012	The Naked Poet	Ryan
2013	The Butler	Young Cecil Gaines
2013	Evidence	Officer Jensen
2014	The Maze Runner	Alby
2014	Beyond the Lights	Trey
2015	Lila & Eve	Stephon
2016	Soy Nero	Bronx
2017	The Price	Seyi Ogunde
2018	Yardie	Dennis "D" Campbell
2018	Parallel	Devin
2019	Inside Man: Most Wanted	NYPD Detective Remy Darbonne
2020	Run Sweetheart Run	Quidda
2021	Till Death	Tom
TBA	Rustin	Martin Luther King Jr.	Filming

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
2003	EastEnders	Simon	1 episode
	Little Britain	Pupil	1 episode
2004	Bella and the Boys	Terry	TV movie
2004	Holby City	Bradley Norris	1 episode
2006-2007	The Bill	PC Lewis Hardy	Main role
2008	Fallout	Dwayne Edmons	TV movie
2008	Silent Witness	A.J.	2 episodes
2008	Dis/Connected	Anthony	TV movie
2011-2012	Harry's Law	Malcolm Davies	Main cast (season 1), Guest star (season 2)
2012	CSI: Miami	Jack Brody	1 episode
2015	Sense8	Capheus	Main role (season 1)
2020	I May Destroy You	Simon	4 episodes
2022	The Porter

External links

• Aml Ameen at IMDb