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Raza Jaffrey

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Raza Jaffrey
Born
Liverpool, Merseyside, England
Occupation(s)Actor, singer
Spouses
​
​
(m. 2007; div. 2009)​
​
​
(m. 2014)​
Children2

Raza Jaffrey is a British actor and singer. He is known for his roles as Zafar Younis in the BBC One spy drama series Spooks (2004–2007) and Neal Hudson in the CBS medical drama Code Black (2015). He also had a recurring role as Aasar Khan in season 4 of the Showtime series Homeland (2014). More recently, he appeared in the NBC series The Enemy Within (2019) and the Starz series The Serpent Queen (2022–).

Early life and education

Jaffrey was born in Liverpool, Merseyside. His father, Hyder Jaffrey, was born in Agra, then part of India, and later moved to Pakistan after Partition. Hyder Jaffrey emigrated to the UK in 1948 to train in the merchant navy and later became a captain. Hyder met Joan Bradshaw, an Irish Catholic Liverpudlian, in the early 1950s and they lived in Karachi, Pakistan, for a decade. The couple married in 1962 and had four children, of whom Raza was the youngest.[1][better source needed]

Jaffrey grew up in London and was educated at Dulwich College between 1986 and 1991, alongside actors Rupert Penry-Jones and Chiwetel Ejiofor.[1][2]

Jaffrey's initial career aspiration was to become a Royal Air Force pilot and he passed the entrance exams for it and went on to study English and Drama at Manchester University with the intention of gaining a degree to join officer training. However while at university, he became interested in acting and joined the Bristol Old Vic Theatre School after graduation.[1]

While at university, Jaffrey appeared in several plays at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe, including The London Vertigo by Brian Friel, and at the Pendley Open Air Shakespeare Festival, including Henry VIII and A Comedy of Errors. In his final year at Manchester, he worked with Royal Shakespeare Company chief associate director Gregory Doran, which he has cited as one of the things that led him to apply for Bristol Old Vic Theatre School and eventually go on to become a professional actor. Throughout his time at Manchester, he was also the lead singer of a jazz funk band. He also participated on America's Next Top Model.[citation needed]

Career

Jaffrey has worked extensively on stage, appearing in Romeo and Juliet (Haymarket Theatre), Cyrano De Bergerac (Theatre Royal), East Is East (Oldham Coliseum), and 14 Songs, 2 Weddings, and a Funeral (Lyric Hammersmith, Birmingham Repertory Theatre). His break came in 2001 when he was cast as Sky in Mamma Mia! at the Prince Edward Theatre, London, directed by Phyllida Lloyd. From this, he went on to land the leading role in Andrew Lloyd Webber's production of A. R. Rahman's Bombay Dreams at the Apollo Theatre, London, directed by Steven Pimlott.[3] He won rave reviews for his performance, with the BBC hailing him as "the most exciting new leading man to emerge in a London musical since Hugh Jackman became an overnight star in the National Theatre production of Oklahoma".[4]

After leaving Bombay Dreams he appeared in ITV1's M.I.T.: Murder Investigation Team, the HBO/BBC co-production Dirty War, and the three-part BBC drama Life Isn't All Ha Ha Hee Hee. In 2005, he began work on the BBC One spy drama series Spooks as agent Zafar Younis. During that time, he returned to the stage, playing Orsino in Shakespeare's Twelfth Night at the Albery Theatre, London, and was cast in the David Cronenberg film Eastern Promises.

Jaffrey left Spooks to join the BBC One drama series Mistresses and went on to star in Sharpe's Peril and the films Infinite Justice, for which he won the Best Supporting Actor Award at the Kara Film Festival,[5] The Crew, and Harry Brown. In 2010, he appeared in Sex and the City 2 as Gaurav. He then went on to star as cheating boyfriend Mike in the BBC1 comedy Accidental Farmer.

In 2011, he appeared as the French supervillain Cain on the NBC superhero drama The Cape before working for NBC again on the Steven Spielberg–produced drama Smash, airing in early 2012. In Smash, he played Dev, the English boyfriend of a rising Broadway star,[6] working as a press officer in the New York Mayor's office.[7] He did not return to the show for its second season.[8][9] In 2019, Jaffrey played Ottoman Janissary Captain Sunal Demir in the historical romance drama film, Cliffs of Freedom.

Jaffrey still continues to sing and has performed in several concert productions, including singing at the London Palladium with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra,[10] and with the BBC Concert Orchestra for BBC Radio 2. He was also the creator and co-producer of the dance show RED, a celebration of dozens of styles of movement and dance, brought together by their influences on and from India. He took the show to Johannesburg's Nelson Mandela Theatre.[11] He played the role of Billy Flynn in Chicago at the Garrick Theatre in London.

Personal life

Jaffrey married actress Miranda Raison in 2007. They divorced two years later.[12] In 2012, Jaffrey began a relationship with actress Lara Pulver. The couple married two years later.[13] The couple have a son and daughter.[14]

Filmography

Film

Year Title Role
2004 Dirty War Rashid Dhar
2006 Infinite Justice Kamal Khan
2007 Eastern Promises Doctor Aziz
2008 The Crew Keith Thompson
2009 Harry Brown Father Bracken
2010 Sex and the City 2 Butler Gaurau
2016 The Rendezvous Jake Al-Shadi
2019 Cliffs of Freedom Sunal Demir
2020 The Rhythm Section Proctor
2021 Sweet Girl Vinod Shah

Television

Year Title Role Notes
1999 EastEnders Mr Datani
2002 Casualty Hakkan Tahsin
2004–2007 Spooks Zafar Younis 23 episodes
2005 Murder Investigation Team Kareem Dobar Episode: "Phone Tag"
2005 Life Isn't All Ha Ha Hee Hee Krishan
2008 Sharpe's Peril Lance Naik Singh
2008–2009 Mistresses Hari 12 episodes
2011 The Cape Cain / Raimonde LeFleur Episode: "Tarot"
2012 Smash Dev Sundaram Season 1
2014 Death in Paradise Adam Frost
2014 Once Upon a Time in Wonderland Taj 3 episodes
2014 Law & Order: Special Victims Unit Defense Lawyer Episode: "Spring Awakening"
2014–2015 Elementary Andrew Mittal 4 episodes; Recurring role
2014 Homeland Aasar Khan 7 episodes; Recurring role
2015 Code Black Neal Hudson Main role
2017 Adventure Time Danny Episode: "Ring of Fire"
2018–2021 Lost in Space Victor Dhar Recurring role (15 episodes)
2019 The Enemy Within Daniel Zain Main role
2022 The Serpent Queen Francis, Duke of Guise Main role
2022 Pantheon Vinod Chanda (voice) 8 episodes
2023 Maternal Jack Oliviera ITV drama[15]

Radio

Year Title Role Notes
2008 Double Science Danny Woods, Anish

References

  1. ^ a b c O'Connell, Alex (27 December 2014). "Raza Jaffrey: 'By the end people will see there are no heroes in Homeland'". The Times.
  2. ^ "Eminent OAs, Drama: Penry-Jones, Rupert". Dulwich College. Archived from the original on 24 December 2012.
  3. ^ Apollo Victoria Theatre
  4. ^ "Drama Faces: Raza Jaffrey". BBC. August 2005. Archived from the original on 22 July 2012.
  5. ^ Dehlavi Films
  6. ^ Andreeva, Nellie (25 February 2011). "NBC's 'Grimm' And 'Smash' Add To Casts". Deadline Hollywood.
  7. ^ Eng, Joyce (5 March 2011). "Anjelica Huston Joins NBC's Smash". TV Guide.
  8. ^ Goldberg, Lesley (May 2012). "'Smash' Shakeup: Four Stars Axed From Second Season". Hollywood Reporter.
  9. ^ "UPDATED: Brian d'Arcy James, Will Chase, Jaime Cepero and Raza Jaffrey Not Returning as Regulars on SMASH". Broadway World. May 2012.
  10. ^ "Lyrics by Don Black - BBC Radio 2 concert". 17 July 2008.
  11. ^ RED: The Indian Dance Spectacular
  12. ^ Cripps, Charlotte (4 November 2015). "Miranda Raison interview: The Spooks actress is set to star in The Winter's Tale with Kenneth Branagh and Judi Dench". The Independent.
  13. ^ Jacques, Adam (29 March 2015). "Camilla Schneideman & Lara Pulver: 'I realised the flapjacks I gave". The Independent.
  14. ^ Lampert, Nicole (29 December 2022). "Lara's next big role? A juggling act she knows only too well". The Jewish Chronicle.
  15. ^ "ITV commissions six part medical drama, Maternal". itv.com/presscentre. Retrieved 28 July 2022.
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