Simon Mario Kassianides is an English actor, film director, producer and screenwriter.
Simon Kassianides | |
|---|---|
 Kassianides in 2012 | |
| Born | Simon Mario Kassianides |
| Occupation |
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| Years active | 2004–present |
Early life
editKassianides was born in London, of Greek Cypriot origin, the son of Helen and Mario Kassianides, both business owners. Kassianides has an older brother, Photis Kassianides, who works in finance.
Kassianides was brought up in Clapham and educated at Dulwich College. At the University of Edinburgh he was the producer and executive producer of a sold out run of Grease at the George Square theatre. Profits were donated to the Macmillan Cancer Support.[citation needed]
Career
editIn 2002, soon after Kassianides graduated with honours in International Business with Finance and while in London helping his mother open Urban Coffee,[1][2] a fair trade and organic coffee shop in Tooting Broadway, he was spotted by BAFTA award-winning producer Piers Vellacott.[citation needed]
Kassianides started a course at London's Central School of Speech and Drama but had to leave after being offered a role in the Tennessee Williams' play Night of the Iguana. His performance as Pedro was acclaimed by critics.[3]
Soon after, Kassianides was noted as an actor to watch in a BBC documentary called Making it at Holby.[citation needed]
Since then, Kassianides has appeared in a number of television episodes in the USA and UK, including Casualty, My Life in Film, Plane Spotting, Ultimate Force, Spooks, Recovery, Holby Blue, Suburban Shootout, The Kylie Show, Ashes to Ashes, The Passion, The Fixer, Love Soup, Hustle, Law and Order UK, Nikita, Burn Notice, and Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.
Kassianides has also appeared in several international films such as The Edge of Love, Wuthering Heights, Between Two Fires, Quantum of Solace and Smooch.
In 2010, Kassianides produced, directed and starred in Geezas, a film he completed in record time and within budget.[4] The film made the official selection of the 2012 Hollywood Film Festival,[5] selling out The Arclight Movie Theatre in Hollywood at its premiere. In 2012, Simon Kassianides was nominated as a Discovery Director to watch at the Hollywood Film Festival[clarification needed] for Geezas,[citation needed] which won "Best Actor" and "Best Supporting Actress" at the 2013 British Independent Film Festival. Kassianides directed first time actors who won against the likes of Martin Freeman (The Hobbit) and Anne-Marie Duff (Nowhere Boy).[6]
His work rate and ethic was spotted by the administrators of the Michael Cacoyannis Foundation[7]—created by Michael Cacoyannis, director of Zorba the Greek, to help and promote Greek artists—and was appointed a Global Consultant and Representative of the Foundation in 2012.
Appearances
edit| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2004 | Casualty | Steve Lyon | |
| 2005 | Ultimate Force | Juan | |
| 2006 | Spooks | Mourad | |
| 2007 | Holby Blue | Nico Osman | |
| 2008 | The Fixer | Saban Zira | |
| 2008 | The Edge of Love | Partisan | |
| 2008 | Quantum of Solace | Yusef Kabira | |
| 2009 | Hustle | Tracer | |
| 2010 | Between Two Fires | Ali | |
| 2011 | Smooch | Percy / Flynn | |
| 2011, 2013 | Nikita | Ramon | |
| 2011 | Geezas | Eddie | |
| 2012 | Burn Notice | George Anders | |
| 2013 | Desert Dancer | Sattar | |
| 2014 | How to Train Your Dragon 2 | No-Name | Voice |
| 2014–2015, 2017 | Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. | Sunil Bakshi | |
| 2015 | Zoo | Jean-Michel Lion | |
| 2015 | Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain | Soldiers / Extras[8] | |
| 2017 | Unforgettable | Michael | |
| 2017 | Criminal Minds: Beyond Borders | Jeffrey Khan | |
| 2018 | Assassin's Creed Odyssey | Stentor | Also voices Hades in the DLC |
| 2019 | Cliffs of Freedom | Gregory[9] | |
| 2019 | Pearson | Nick D'Amato | Main Cast |
| 2019 | Red Shoes and the Seven Dwarfs | Arthur | Voice |
| 2020, 2023 | The Mandalorian | Axe Woves | 4 episodes |
References
edit- ^ "notfortourists.com – Just another WordPress site".
- ^ "THE 10 BEST Restaurants in London - Updated August 2021 - Tripadvisor". www.tripadvisor.com.
- ^ "Drama Queen- This Month's Theatre".
- ^ "Geezas The Movie". Archived from the original on 22 January 2012.
- ^ "2012 Hollywood Film Festival Features Selection".
- ^ "Winners of the British Independent Film Festival 2013 Announced!". www.britflicks.com. Archived from the original on 8 September 2013.
- ^ "The Michael Cacoyannis Foundation". Archived from the original on 4 November 2012.
- ^ Konami (2015). Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain. Scene: Closing credits, 0:32 in, Cast.
- ^ "Cliffs of Freedom Cast and Crew". mubi. Retrieved 10 September 2018.