Biography
Best-known for playing Sayid in supernatural phenomenon "Lost," Naveen Andrews also enjoyed supporting parts in "The English Patient" (1996), "Bride and Prejudice" (2003) and "Diana" (2013), and recurring roles on "Sinbad" (Sky 1, 2012), "Once Upon a Time in Wonderland" (ABC, 2013-14) and "Sense8" (Netflix, 2015-18). Born in Lambeth, London in 1969 to strict Indian immigrant parents, Andrews experienced a repressive childhood in which he was discouraged from his acting ambitions. However, after earning a place at the London Guildhall School of Music & Drama, Andrews never looked back. He made his screen debut in Hanif Kureishi's inner-city drama "London Kills Me" (1991) and a year later landed the leading role of country singer Zaf in the first of many cross-cultural tales, "Wild West" (1992). After playing Kim Cattrall's lover in TV movie "Double Vision" (1992), he took center stage as South London teen Karim in coming-of-age "Buddha of Suburbia" (BBC Two, 1993), showed up as gardener Rav in period piece "The Peacock Spring" (1996) and bared all as Prince Raj in erotic historical drama "Kama Sutra: A Tale of Love" (1996). Andrews first caught Hollywood's attention when he played British Army Sikh sapper Kip Singh in the multiple Oscar-winning "The English Patient" (1996) and was subsequently cast as local tour guide Pindi in gorilla fantasy "Mighty Joe Young" (1998). Andrews also portrayed pioneering physician Dr. Abraham Verghese in TV movie "My Own Country" (1998), appeared as aspiring Bollywood actor Krishna in "Bombay Boys" (1998) and co-starred opposite future long-term girlfriend Barbara Hershey in road movie "Drowning on Dry Land" (1999). After playing a monk in "Question of Faith" (2000) and real-life promoter Steve Banerjee in "The Chippendales Murder" (2000), Andrews was cast as cable news owner Tamir in his first US TV show, "The Beast" (ABC, 2001). The newsroom drama was canceled after just six episodes, but Andrews remained in demand, landing roles in the "Rollerball" (2002) remake, indie rom-com "Easy" (2003), and Jane Austen adaptation "Bride and Prejudice" (2004). But Andrews became a household name when he was cast as Iraqi Communications Officer Sayid Jarrah in "Lost" (ABC, 2004-2010). During his six-season stint in the watercooler hit, Andrews also played Moses' stepbrother Menerith in "The Ten Commandments" (ABC, 2006), an abusive husband in true crime dramatization "Provoked" (2006) and chemical engineer Abby in grindhouse throwback "Planet Terror" (2007). There were also roles as Jodie Foster's ill-fated boyfriend David in revenge flick "The Brave One" (2007) and predator Vic in erotic horror "Animals" (2008). Following the show's end, Andrews enjoyed the recurring roles of Lord Akbari in fantasy adventure "Sinbad" (Sky 1, 2012), Aladdin's nemesis Jafar in fairy tale reimagining "Once Upon a Time in Wonderland" (ABC, 2013-14) and sensate Jonas in the Wachowski siblings' ambitious globe-trotting drama "Sense8" (Netflix, 2015-), and also starred opposite Naomi Watts as the Princess of Wales' lover Dr. Hasnat Khan in the much-maligned biopic, "Diana" (2013). Andrews then signed up to play CIA operative Julian Cousins in the police procedural "Instinct" (CBS, 2018-).
