Anthony Surath Jayawardena is a British actor, known for his roles as Mr Bhamra in the West End musical Bend It Like Beckham the Musical[1] and for his work with the Royal Shakespeare Company, Shakespeare's Globe[2] and Royal National Theatre. In 2018, he began portraying the role of Rashid Hyatt in the Channel 4 drama Ackley Bridge.
Tony Jayawardena | |
|---|---|
| Born | Anthony Surath Jayawardena London, England |
| Occupation | Actor |
| Years active | 2003–present |
Career edit
Jayawardena appears on the original cast recording of Bend It Like Beckham the Musical, performing the songs "People Like Us" and "The Engagement: Look At Us Now".[3] He was the original Abdul Kareem in the play The Empress by Tanika Gupta, which tells the story of Queen Victoria's relationship with The Munshi, a young man brought over from India to be her servant in the final 15 years of her life. He played Stephano in the RSC's production of The Tempest,[4] which partnered with Intel and Imaginarium Studios and was the first use of real-time motion-capture technology on stage.[5]
Filmography edit
| Year | Title | Role | Director |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2004 | Chasing Liberty | White House Guard | Andy Cadiff |
| 2008 | A Bunch of Amateurs | Kevin Patel | |
| 2009 | National Theatre Live: All's Well That Ends Well | 2nd Lord Dumaine | Marianne Elliot |
| 2010 | National Theatre Live: London Assurance | Mark Meddle | Nicholas Hytner |
| 2011 | Screwed | Bear | Reg Traviss |
| 2012 | Tower Block | Bear | Ronnie Thompson, Eddie |
| 2013 | Trance | Security Guard | Danny Boyle |
| 2016 | A Street Cat Named Bob | Tony | Roger Spottiswoode |
| Year | Program | Role | Episode |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2011 | Kabaddasses | The Marauding Moustache | 1[6] |
| 2012 | Silent Witness | Younis | 2 episodes |
| 2016 | The Windsors | Sandy | Series 1[7] |
| Holby City | Monty the Python | Series 19, episode 10 | |
| 2018 | The Tunnel | Lawrence Taylor | 2 episodes[7] |
| 2018–2022 | Ackley Bridge | Rashid Hyatt | Main role[7] |
| 2020 | The Crown | Sir Sonny Ramphal | 2 episodes |
| 2022 | Avoidance | Keith | |
| TBA | Doctor Jekyll | Malcolm | Post-production |
Stage edit
| Year | Title | Role | Company |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2009 | England People Very Nice | Various | Royal National Theatre |
| Twelfth Night | Fabian | The Royal Shakespeare Company[7] | |
| All's Well That Ends Well | 2nd Lord Dumaine | Royal National Theatre[7] | |
| 2010 | London Assurance | Mark Meddle | |
| 2013 | The Empress | Abdul Kareem | Royal Shakespeare Company |
| Love N Stuff | Mansoor | Theatre Royal Stratford East | |
| 2015 | Bend It Like Beckham the Musical | Mr Bhamra | Phoenix Theatre[7] |
| 2016 | The Invisible Hand | Imam Saleem | Tricycle Theatre[8][9] |
| The Tempest | Stephano | Royal Shakespeare Company[7] | |
| 2017 | Twelfth Night | Sir Toby Belch | Shakespeare's Globe |
| Lions and Tigers | Subhash Bose / Jyotish Gupta | Sam Wanamaker Playhouse | |
| Young Marx | Gert “Doc” Schmidt | Bridge Theatre | |
| 2019 | Hobson's Choice | Hari Hobson | Royal Exchange Theatre |
| 2021 | East is East | Zahir "George" Khan | Birmingham Repertory Theatre |
| 2024 | Nye | Winston Churchill / Doctor Dain | Royal National Theatre |
Discography edit
| Year | Album | Role | Label |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2015 | Bend It Like Beckham the Musical | Mr Bhamra | Sony Music Classical |
References edit
- ^ "Tony Jayawardena and Natasha Jayetileke, Ashanti Omkar - BBC Asian Network". BBC. Archived from the original on 10 November 2017.
- ^ Adams, Tim (28 May 2017). "Twelfth Night review – Emma Rice brings lights, music and the food of life". Archived from the original on 11 September 2017 – via www.theguardian.com.
- ^ Cavendish, Dominic (24 June 2015). "Bend It Like Beckham, Phoenix Theatre, review: 'irresistible'". Archived from the original on 10 November 2017 – via www.telegraph.co.uk.
- ^ "The Tempest". Financial Times. Archived from the original on 22 June 2018. Retrieved 20 November 2016.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link) - ^ "Tech comes to The Tempest in new RSC production". 18 November 2016. Archived from the original on 7 September 2017.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link) - ^ "Comedy Lab - On Demand - All 4". www.channel4.com. Archived from the original on 18 August 2016.
- ^ a b c d e f g "Meet the cast of Channel 4 school drama Ackley Bridge - 2". radiotimes.com. Archived from the original on 22 June 2018. Retrieved 22 June 2018.
- ^ "Interview with Tony Jayawardena from the cast of The Invisible Hand". 3 May 2016. Archived from the original on 10 November 2017.
- ^ "5 minutes with: Tony Jayawardena - 'The West End is a difficult arena to succeed in'". Archived from the original on 29 May 2016.
