Omar Elba
- Actor
- Writer
- Director
Capable of chameleon-like transformations, Omar Elba brings a grounded humanity to every role he plays whether as Tom Hanks's eccentric sidekick in 'A Hologram for the King', Jessica Biel's principled co-worker in 'Limetown', or an autistic refugee struggling to fit in due to his untreated mental disorder in A24's critically acclaimed Netflix Series, 'Mo'.
His nuanced portrayal of a character with autism and PTSD received rave reviews, most notably from the autism community itself. Not personally on the spectrum, Omar worked meticulously with ASD Behavioral Therapists and various members of the autism community in preparation for his role.
He also starred, wrote and directed 'Tim', a Freudian short film about the Ego, Id and Superego. In preparation for the 2 main roles, he transformed his body twice by gaining 20 pounds of fat to play Tim and then losing the weight and gaining 10 pounds of muscle to play Tim's Ego. For the physical transformation between both characters to take place, the two performances (Tim and Tim's Ego) were shot one year apart, respectively. In the film, both characters, Tim (an overweight balding codependent) and Tim's Ego (his better looking more assertive counterpart), are seen interacting onscreen simultaneously.
His nuanced portrayal of a character with autism and PTSD received rave reviews, most notably from the autism community itself. Not personally on the spectrum, Omar worked meticulously with ASD Behavioral Therapists and various members of the autism community in preparation for his role.
He also starred, wrote and directed 'Tim', a Freudian short film about the Ego, Id and Superego. In preparation for the 2 main roles, he transformed his body twice by gaining 20 pounds of fat to play Tim and then losing the weight and gaining 10 pounds of muscle to play Tim's Ego. For the physical transformation between both characters to take place, the two performances (Tim and Tim's Ego) were shot one year apart, respectively. In the film, both characters, Tim (an overweight balding codependent) and Tim's Ego (his better looking more assertive counterpart), are seen interacting onscreen simultaneously.