Aml Ameen () (born 30 July 1985) is a British actor and filmmaker. He is best known for his roles as Trevor (Trife) in Kidulthood (2006), Malcolm Davies in Harry's Law, Lewis Hardy in the ITV television series The Bill, Capheus in the first season of the Netflix original series Sense8, and Alby in The Maze Runner (2014). His directorial debut was the 2021 romantic comedy Boxing Day.
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Early life and education
Aml Ameen was born on 30 July 1985 in London, England, to Jamaican and Vincentian parents. He has a sister. His parents divorced when he was 15.
He studied acting at the Barbara Speake Stage School, an independent school in London. As a child he appeared in the West End in shows such as Oliver! and Jolson. At the age of 11, he performed on stage with Michael Jackson at the 1996 BRIT Awards in a performance famously invaded by Pulp's singer Jarvis Cocker.
Career
2002–2011
Ameen's first acting role came in 2002 ITV police series The Bill, and he had another guest stint in 2004 before joining the series full-time in 2006 as PC Lewis Hardy.
Soon after his guest appearance on The Bill in 2004, he portrayed the character Terry in Bella and the Boys, He also made one-off guest appearances in BBC soap EastEnders and medical drama Holby City. He also starred in the British youth-centred film Kidulthood as the central character Trife, while he also appeared in Second Chance and Red Tails for a special appearance.
In April 2008, he played a leading role in the BBC Three teen drama Dis/Connected, playing Anthony, an 18-year-old college student from London who faces gang trouble on the streets, as well as losing his friend when she commits suicide.
Ameen featured in a film on Channel 4 called Fallout, part of their Disarming Britain mini-season. The London Lite paper described this as his most memorable performance. He featured as AJ in Silent Witness series 12 parts 1 and 2. He portrayed a youth worker trying to make a difference in a South London community, and became friends with Leo, one of the senior pathologists doing community service for drunk driving.
In June 2008, Ameen began Actors Student Alliance, a drama school set up to discover and teach untapped talent in London. From its inception, the school produced a short film and a theatre showcase for its students. Within its second year, the school expanded into a management company.
He performed at the Tricycle Theatre on the "Not Black and White" season in October 2009.
Ameen starred in season 1 of David E. Kelley's legal drama Harry's Law, which began to air on NBC in 2011.
2012–2018
Ameen's first Hollywood film role was in George Lucas's Red Tails (2012), about the African American Tuskegee airman in World War II. He played Alby in the 2014 film adaptation of the novel The Maze Runner.
In 2015, Ameen was one of the eight central characters in the initial run of the Netflix series Sense8, produced by the Wachowskis and J. Michael Straczynski. However, conflicts with Lana Wachowski resulted in his firing and replacement with Toby Onwumere after filming two episodes of the second season in 2016.
In 2018, Ameen starred as a young Jamaican named "D" in the film Yardie. The film was based on Victor Headley's 1992 cult novel of the same name. Actor Idris Elba made his directorial debut with the film in London and Jamaica.
2020–present
Ameen's own debut as a director was announced in November 2020. Boxing Day was released on 3 December 2021 and, as the writer, Ameen used elements from his own life. The film stars Ameen, Aja Naomi King, Leigh-Anne Pinnock (in her film debut), Marianne Jean-Baptiste, Stephen Dillane, and Martina Laird. Boxing Day received mixed reviews.
He played the role of Tom in the podcast The Left Right Game.
In addition to his theatrical work, Ameen has used his voice to shed light on issues within the industry. In 2022, he featured in a BBC Radio 4 documentary My name Is Ricardo P Lloyd, exploring race in theatre.
Recognition
He was named one of The Times newspaper's "Ones To Watch" for 2006, and won "Best actor in a TV performance" at the 2007 Screen Nation Awards.
