Heshima Salim Thompson ( ; born 23 October 1986) is a British actor and singer. Born in the

London Borough of Brent Brent () is a London boroughs, borough in north-west London, England. It is known for landmarks such as Wembley Stadium, the BAPS Shri Swaminarayan Mandir London, Swaminarayan Temple and the Kiln Theatre. It also contains the Brent Reservoir, W ...

, son of Jamaican Reggae singer Dr Alimantado and brother of soul singer

Zalon Zalon Thompson (born 1 December 1983) is a British pop singer, songwriter and record producer. He is widely known for his backing vocals with Amy Winehouse on her Grammy Award-winning ''Back to Black'' album and tour. Early life Born at Park ...

. In 2001, Heshima began his career singing on

BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

Documentary Heart of Harlesden, he was scouted from the documentary to play a lead role in BBC’s '' Babyfather''. He has appeared on television in '' Spooks,'' '' Spooks: Code 9'' as Jez, ''

Prime Suspect ''Prime Suspect'' is a British police procedural television series devised by Lynda La Plante. Broadcast on ITV between 1991 and 2006, it stars Helen Mirren as Jane Tennison, one of the first female Detective Chief Inspectors in Greater Lo ...

'', ''

Casualty Casualty may refer to: *Casualty (person), a person who is killed or rendered unfit for service in a war or natural disaster **Civilian casualty, a non-combatant killed or injured in warfare * The emergency department of a hospital, also known as ...

'', ''

City Lights ''City Lights'' is a 1931 American synchronized sound film, sound romance film, romantic comedy drama, comedy-drama film written, produced, directed by, and starring Charlie Chaplin. While the film has no audible dialog, it was released with a ...

and'' ''

Judge John Deed ''Judge John Deed'' is a British legal drama television series produced by the BBC in association with One-Eyed Dog for BBC One. It was created by G.F. Newman and stars Martin Shaw as Mr Justice Deed, a High Court judge who tries to seek real ...

.'' In theatre he has appeared at

The Young Vic The Young Vic Theatre is a performing arts venue located on The Cut, near the South Bank, in the London Borough of Lambeth. The Young Vic was established by Frank Dunlop in 1970. Nadia Fall has been artistic director since 2025, succeeding ...

in ''Generations'' and at the

Royal Court Theatre The Royal Court Theatre, at different times known as the Court Theatre, the New Chelsea Theatre, and the Belgravia Theatre, is a West End theatre#London's non-commercial theatres, non-commercial theatre in Sloane Square, London, England, opene ...

in ''Incomplete and Random Acts of Violence''. In 2009, he was nominated for a

Screen Nation The Screen Nation Film & TV Awards, formerly the bfm (black filmmaker) Film and TV Awards, was founded in September 2003 by independent film producer Charles Thompson, as a platform to raise the profile of black British and international film an ...

Award in the Young Shooting Star category. Heshima toured with

Amy Winehouse Amy Jade Winehouse (14 September 1983 – 23 July 2011) was an English singer, songwriter, musician, and businesswoman. With over 30 million records sold worldwide, she was known for her deep, expressive contralto vocals and her eclectic mix ...

along with brother Zalon on her ''

Back to Black ''Back to Black'' is the second and final studio album by English singer-songwriter Amy Winehouse, released on 27 October 2006 by Island Records. Winehouse predominantly based the album on her tumultuous relationship with Blake Fielder-Civil, ...

'' album which was only scheduled to last for 3 months, but the tour was so successful they ended up touring for six years and collected five

Grammy Award The Grammy Awards, stylized as GRAMMY, and often referred to as The Grammys, are awards presented by The Recording Academy of the United States to recognize outstanding achievements in music. They are regarded by many as the most prestigious ...

s. In 2009, he auditioned for the sixth series of ''

The X Factor ''The X Factor'' is a television music competition franchise created by British producer Simon Cowell and his company Syco Entertainment. It originated in the United Kingdom, where it was devised as a replacement for '' Pop Idol'' (2001–200 ...

'' and in 2011, he auditioned for the eighth series. In 2010, he was cast as

Asher Levi Asher Levi is a fictional character from '' EastEnders: E20'', an Internet spin-off of the BBC soap opera ''EastEnders''. Played by Heshima Thompson, Asher is a main character in series two. He is a charismatic street dancer, who uses his talent ...

in series 2 of '' EastEnders: E20''. In March 2012, Thompson auditioned for the first series of

The Voice UK ''The Voice UK'' is a British singing reality competition television series. Created by John de Mol and Roel van Velzen, it premiered on BBC One on 24 March 2012. Based on the original Dutch singing competition '' The Voice of Holland'', and ...

After four chair turns, Heshima chose

will.i.am William James Adams Jr. (born March 15, 1975), known professionally as will.i.am (pronounced "will I am"), is an American rapper, singer, songwriter, record producer and actor. He is the frontman of the musical group Black Eyed Peas, which he ...

as his coach and made it to the battle rounds of the competition. Heshima worked with Zalon,

Salaam Remi Salaam Remi Gibbs (born May 14, 1972) is an American record producer. He is most known for producing material for close associates Nas, Amy Winehouse, and Jazmine Sullivan, but has also produced for other mainstream acts including Alicia Key ...

and

Mark Ronson Mark Daniel Ronson (born 4 September 1975) is a British-American DJ, record producer, and songwriter. He has won nine Grammy Awards, including Producer of the Year for Amy Winehouse's album '' Back to Black'' (2006), as well as two for Record ...

singing and vocal producing on Amy Winehouse's Album Lioness: Hidden Treasures including singles "

Our Day Will Come "Our Day Will Come" is a popular song composed by Mort Garson with lyrics by Bob Hilliard. It was recorded by American R&B group Ruby & the Romantics in early December 1962, reaching #1 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100. Ruby & the Romantics' ori ...

" and "Like Smoke", which features

Nas Nas (born 1973) is the stage name of American rapper Nasir Jones. Nas, NaS, or NAS may also refer to: Aviation * Nasair, a low-cost airline carrier and subsidiary based in Eritrea * National Air Services, an airline in Saudi Arabia ** Nas Air (S ...

. ''Lioness: Hidden Treasures'' debuted at number one on the

UK Albums Chart The Official Albums Chart is the United Kingdom's industry-recognised national record chart for album, albums. Entries are ranked by sales and audio streaming. It was published for the first time on 22 July 1956 and is compiled every week by the O ...

. In 2014, Heshima founded HTG Entertainment a British entertainment agency.

Filmography

References

External links

* 1986 births Living people Male actors from London Black British male actors 21st-century Black British male singers 21st-century British male singers English pop singers Actors from the London Borough of Brent The X Factor (British TV series) contestants The Voice UK contestants British male soap opera actors English people of Ghanaian descent Singers from the London Borough of Brent {{england-actor-stub