Career Highlights
- Fluent in English, French and Arabic
- Studied English Literature at Cambridge University
- Played the role of Ziad Jarrah in United 93
- Studied acting under the tutelage of Philippe Gauilier at the prestigious Ecole Phillippe Gaulier in Paris, home to alumni such as Sacha Baron Cohen, Helena Bonham Carter, Emma Thompson and Roberto Begnini
- While studying acting, he was cast in a lead guest role in the acclaimed BBC-TV series Spooks
Khalid Abdalla is the star of the 2007 film The Kite Runner directed by Marc Foster based on the novel by author Khaled Hosseini. Abdalla plays the main role of Amir, a boy from the Wazir Akbar Khan district of Kabul, who is plagued by his guilty conscience after abandoning his friend Hassan, the son of his father’s Hazara servant.
Khalid Abdalla grew into his acting and directing skills while studying English Literature at Cambridge University. In 1998, he directed a production of Someone Who’ll Watch Over Me by Frank McGuinness, and became the youngest director to receive 5 stars from The Scotsman newspaper. Abdalla’s first screen role came in a 2005 episode of Spooks, however he did not receive international recognition until his performance in the Academy Award-nominated and BAFTA-winning United 93, which chronicled the events aboard United Airlines Flight 93.
Abdalla, a son of Egyptian parents, draws from his only family lineage to play Middle Eastern roles, while making a conscious attempt to dismiss onscreen stereotypes. He is currently filming Green Zone with Matt Damon and director Paul Grengrass, based on the 2006 book Imperial Life in the Emerald City by journalist Rajiv Chandrasekaran. The thriller, set to release in 2010, takes place in the Green Zone in Iraq before the surge by the United States.
Khalid Abdalla sat down with ThinkTalk host Zack Sherwood to talk about his career as an actor and offer advice to students interested in acting. He has some great points on preparing for cultural roles, typecasting and why it's important to expect surprise opportunities.
