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Alexander Siddig
Siddig el-Fadil (born 21 November 1965), known professionally as Alexander Siddig, is a Sudanese-born British actor and director. Siddig is best known for his roles as Dr. Julian Bashir in the television series Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, former terrorist Hamri Al-Assad in the sixth season of the series 24, Doran Martell in Game of Thrones, Ra's al Ghul in Gotham, and Philip Burton in Primeval. He also starred in the films Syriana (2005), Hannibal (2006), A Lost Man (2007), Cairo Time (2009), and Inescapable (2012).
Siddig el-Tahir el-Fadil el-Siddig Abdurrahman Mohammed Ahmed Abdel Karim el-Mahdi (Arabic: صدّيق الطاهر الفاضل الصدّيق عبدالرحمن محمد أحمد عبدالكريم المهدي, romanized: Ṣiddīq aṭ-Ṭāhir al-Fāḍil aṣ-Ṣiddīq ʿAbd ar-Raḥman Muḥammad ʾAḥmad ʿAbd al-Karīm al-Mahdī) was born on 21 November 1965 in Omdurman, Republic of Sudan (present-day, Sudan) to a Sudanese father, Tahir El Mahdi, and Gloria Birkett (née Taylor; d. 2001), an English model and theatrical press agent.
Through his father, Siddig is the nephew to Sadiq al-Mahdi, Prime Minister of Sudan during 1966–1967 and 1986–1989, and the filmmaker, poet and painter Hussein Shariffe. Siddig is the great-great-grandson of Muhammad Ahmad, a Nubian religious leader and founder of the Mahdist State who was proclaimed the Mahdi by his disciples. Through his mother, Siddig is the nephew of actor Malcolm McDowell and cousin of film director and screenwriter Charlie McDowell.
Siddig's parents met in the 1960s when his mother travelled to Sudan with a friend, who introduced her to Siddig's father. Initially living in Sudan, in 1967 the family relocated to London. Siddig initially spoke Arabic when he was a child, but by his second year of living in Britain, he had forgotten much of it. On the subject of his childhood, he stated in 2024, "I had a tough time at school and in my teens because being not-white in the UK during the 70s was prickly and you had to sort of negotiate that. I tried to push it aside, my race and my heritage … I would have had to go out of my way to be ethnic." In 1978, Siddig's mother married film director and producer Michael Birkett, who adopted Siddig. Thomas Birkett (b. 1982) is Siddig's half-brother.
Siddig attended St Lawrence College, Ramsgate. He also studied geography and anthropology for a year at University College London before enrolling at the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art (LAMDA).
Siddig's first acting role was at the age of 14 in a non-speaking role, playing King Tut in a BBC children's production. After leaving LAMDA, Siddig worked in theatre as both an actor and director. Siddig's first television role was a Palestinian man in a British six-part miniseries called The Big Battalions (filmed in 1989 but released in 1992), and shortly afterward, he won the role of Prince Feisal in A Dangerous Man: Lawrence After Arabia, a 1990 telefilm sequel to Lawrence of Arabia starring Ralph Fiennes.
Siddig's role in A Dangerous Man: Lawrence After Arabia brought him to the attention of Rick Berman, executive producer of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine (1993). Berman originally considered Siddig for the role of Commander Benjamin Sisko, but decided in the end that Siddig was too young for the role and cast him as Dr. Julian Bashir. Siddig remained with Deep Space Nine for all seven seasons of the series. He also directed the episodes "Business as Usual" (1997) and "Profit and Lace" (1998). In 1995, Siddig also changed his stage name from Siddig El Fadil to Alexander Siddig.
After the completion of Deep Space Nine in 1999, Siddig began directing a film about the Soviet Night Witches. The film was never completed. Siddig told Bidoun magazine that demand for Islamic and Arabic character roles was increasing in both film and television after the September 11 attacks and that people began to approach him with projects within six months of the event. He played a mountain guide in the thriller film Vertical Limit (2000), starring Chris O'Donnell, and Ajay in the postapocalyptic science-fantasy film Reign of Fire (2002) starring Christian Bale. In 2003, Siddig played the role of an Algerian secret agent on the trail of Islamists in the controversial episode "Nest of Angels" of the British television show Spooks (known as MI-5 in the US). Siddig appeared in a cameo role as Khalid Sheikh Mohammed in the film The Hamburg Cell that premiered the following year.
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Alexander Siddig
Siddig el-Fadil (born 21 November 1965), known professionally as Alexander Siddig, is a Sudanese-born British actor and director. Siddig is best known for his roles as Dr. Julian Bashir in the television series Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, former terrorist Hamri Al-Assad in the sixth season of the series 24, Doran Martell in Game of Thrones, Ra's al Ghul in Gotham, and Philip Burton in Primeval. He also starred in the films Syriana (2005), Hannibal (2006), A Lost Man (2007), Cairo Time (2009), and Inescapable (2012).
Siddig el-Tahir el-Fadil el-Siddig Abdurrahman Mohammed Ahmed Abdel Karim el-Mahdi (Arabic: صدّيق الطاهر الفاضل الصدّيق عبدالرحمن محمد أحمد عبدالكريم المهدي, romanized: Ṣiddīq aṭ-Ṭāhir al-Fāḍil aṣ-Ṣiddīq ʿAbd ar-Raḥman Muḥammad ʾAḥmad ʿAbd al-Karīm al-Mahdī) was born on 21 November 1965 in Omdurman, Republic of Sudan (present-day, Sudan) to a Sudanese father, Tahir El Mahdi, and Gloria Birkett (née Taylor; d. 2001), an English model and theatrical press agent.
Through his father, Siddig is the nephew to Sadiq al-Mahdi, Prime Minister of Sudan during 1966–1967 and 1986–1989, and the filmmaker, poet and painter Hussein Shariffe. Siddig is the great-great-grandson of Muhammad Ahmad, a Nubian religious leader and founder of the Mahdist State who was proclaimed the Mahdi by his disciples. Through his mother, Siddig is the nephew of actor Malcolm McDowell and cousin of film director and screenwriter Charlie McDowell.
Siddig's parents met in the 1960s when his mother travelled to Sudan with a friend, who introduced her to Siddig's father. Initially living in Sudan, in 1967 the family relocated to London. Siddig initially spoke Arabic when he was a child, but by his second year of living in Britain, he had forgotten much of it. On the subject of his childhood, he stated in 2024, "I had a tough time at school and in my teens because being not-white in the UK during the 70s was prickly and you had to sort of negotiate that. I tried to push it aside, my race and my heritage … I would have had to go out of my way to be ethnic." In 1978, Siddig's mother married film director and producer Michael Birkett, who adopted Siddig. Thomas Birkett (b. 1982) is Siddig's half-brother.
Siddig attended St Lawrence College, Ramsgate. He also studied geography and anthropology for a year at University College London before enrolling at the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art (LAMDA).
Siddig's first acting role was at the age of 14 in a non-speaking role, playing King Tut in a BBC children's production. After leaving LAMDA, Siddig worked in theatre as both an actor and director. Siddig's first television role was a Palestinian man in a British six-part miniseries called The Big Battalions (filmed in 1989 but released in 1992), and shortly afterward, he won the role of Prince Feisal in A Dangerous Man: Lawrence After Arabia, a 1990 telefilm sequel to Lawrence of Arabia starring Ralph Fiennes.
Siddig's role in A Dangerous Man: Lawrence After Arabia brought him to the attention of Rick Berman, executive producer of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine (1993). Berman originally considered Siddig for the role of Commander Benjamin Sisko, but decided in the end that Siddig was too young for the role and cast him as Dr. Julian Bashir. Siddig remained with Deep Space Nine for all seven seasons of the series. He also directed the episodes "Business as Usual" (1997) and "Profit and Lace" (1998). In 1995, Siddig also changed his stage name from Siddig El Fadil to Alexander Siddig.
After the completion of Deep Space Nine in 1999, Siddig began directing a film about the Soviet Night Witches. The film was never completed. Siddig told Bidoun magazine that demand for Islamic and Arabic character roles was increasing in both film and television after the September 11 attacks and that people began to approach him with projects within six months of the event. He played a mountain guide in the thriller film Vertical Limit (2000), starring Chris O'Donnell, and Ajay in the postapocalyptic science-fantasy film Reign of Fire (2002) starring Christian Bale. In 2003, Siddig played the role of an Algerian secret agent on the trail of Islamists in the controversial episode "Nest of Angels" of the British television show Spooks (known as MI-5 in the US). Siddig appeared in a cameo role as Khalid Sheikh Mohammed in the film The Hamburg Cell that premiered the following year.