Nicholas George Mohammed (born 1980) is a British actor, comedian and writer. In the UK, he is best known for portraying the comedic character Mr. Swallow, originally on radio and later across both stage and television. He is also the creator, writer and star of the Sky One/Peacock comedy series Intelligence. Outside of the UK, Mohammed is best known for his role as Nathan "Nate" Shelley in the first three seasons of the Apple TV+ series Ted Lasso, for which he was nominated in the Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series category at the 73rd and 74th Primetime Emmy Awards.
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Early life and education
Nicholas George Mohammed was born in Leeds, England. His mother was a Cyprus-born general practitioner and his Trinidad-born father worked in law.
Mohammed was educated at Abbey Grange High School in Leeds. He turned down an offer to study at the University of Cambridge and instead chose to study for a BSc in geophysics at Durham University, where he was a member of St Aidan's College and played violin in the university orchestra. He auditioned for the Durham Revue twice but failed to get in, and instead frequented the local comedy circuit.
After graduating from Durham in 2003, Mohammed began studying for a PhD in seismology at the Bullard Laboratories and Magdalene College, Cambridge. He did not complete his doctorate, after dropping out to pursue comedy. Whilst in Cambridge, he successfully auditioned for the Cambridge Footlights.
Career
From ages 16 to 30, Mohammed worked as a close-up magician for hotels and weddings.
Mohammed is known for his character Mr Swallow, a megalomaniac magician. Developed during his time in Cambridge Footlights, the character's voice and attitude were inspired by his English teacher in secondary school, who spoke in the same high-pitched Northern accent as Mr Swallow does, and named for the fact she would swallow a lot in between sentences.
In 2010, Mohammed featured in the second series of BBC One's Reggie Perrin and was a co-presenter in BBC Three comedy series The King Is Dead alongside Simon Bird and Katy Wix. He made guest appearances in Pete & Dud: The Lost Sketches, Miranda, How Not to Live Your Life and Life's Too Short, and appeared in Series 2 Episode 4 of the BBC Radio 4 musical comedy show Alex Horne Presents The Horne Section.
Following his Radio 4 debut (Quarters), Mohammed had a second series Nick Mohammed in Bits (2010). He was a cast member of BAFTA-nominated CBBC sketch show Sorry, I've Got No Head, and supported Angelos Epithemiou (as one of his radio show characters, Mr Swallow) on his 2010 national tour. He had a supporting role in all three series of the E4 comedy Drifters.
In 2011, Mohammed wrote and starred in the original comedy-drama 'Magic', an episode of the Channel 4 anthology series Coming Up. From 2014 to 2016, he played Mr Love in CBBC show Hank Zipzer. He appeared in two episodes of Uncle in 2014 and 2015. In 2015, he joined the cast of ITV comedy The Job Lot. He wrote and starred in two series of Detective Sergeant Nick Mohammed, a comedy set in a police station, for BBC Radio 4.
In 2018, he voiced Piglet in the Disney film Christopher Robin. Also in 2018, it was announced that he would collaborate on a new comedy series titled Intelligence with David Schwimmer for Sky One. In 2019, Mohammed appeared in the second series of Stath Lets Flats. That same year, he also wrote and starred in the TV pilot, The Mr Swallow Show, for Channel 4, based on his Mr Swallow character; the show was not picked up to series.
From 2020 to 2023, he played Nathan "Nate" Shelley in the Apple TV series Ted Lasso. During the three series he appeared on the show, he was nominated for two Primetime Emmy Awards (2021 and 2022) and won a Screen Actors Guild Award as part of the ensemble in 2022.
Personal life
Mohammed learned the violin as a child and played in his university orchestra at St Aidan's College at Durham University. There he met his future wife, Becca, whom he married in 2014. They have three children.
Mohammed moved to Richmond, London, in 2014, and lived there for nearly a decade before moving on. His eldest son, Finn, has an eidetic memory, which was showcased when they both appeared on an episode of 8 Out of 10 Cats Does Countdown.
Mohammed is allergic to fish and seafood.