Jamie Zubairi

Jamie Zubairi (born 1972) is an English-Malaysian actor, writer and artist. He started his acting career working on the BBC television series ''Grange Hill'' and has appeared on numerous television shows including ''Cucumber'', on radio as Inspector Chen in Qiu Xiaolong's Inspector Chen detective series, as well as being a prolific stage performer and writer.

Early life and education

Jamie Zubairi was born in Aldershot, England in 1972 to an English mother and a Malaysian father. From 1973, Zubairi was brought up in Klang, Malaysia, but returned to England in his teenage years. Zubairi was educated at Rutland Sixth Form College and then studied Art Foundation at the De Montfort University in Leicester, England. Zubairi trained to be an actor at LAMDA, graduating in 1997.

Career

Zubairi has performed in many stage productions. In 2010, he wrote and starred in ''Skylarking'' at the North Devon Festival and appeared in ''Wolf'' at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe. The next year, Zubairi played the father in Yellow Earth's ''Why The Lion Danced'' and made his New York stage debut at the 59E59 Theaters in George Orwell's ''Burmese Days''. In 2012, he performed in '' You Me Bum Bum Train'', Mozart's ''Abduction From The Seraglio'', ''These Associations'' at Tate Modern by Tino Sehgal and performed his one-man mixed-media project ''Unbroken Line'' at the Oval House Theatre. In 2014 Zubairi co-wrote, co-produced and performed in ''Expectations''. He has appeared as Dr. Rank in ''A Doll's House'' and in ''Parliament Square'' at the Royal Exchange Theatre.

In 2015, Zubairi appeared as Max in three episodes of Russell T Davies' ''Cucumber'' and released nationwide in 2018. In 2018, Zubairi appeared in ''Witness for the Prosecution'' at County Hall, London.

In 2021, Zubairi appeared as Dorje Lingpa in the seventh series of '' Doctor Who: The Early Adventures''.

In March 2022, Zubairi starred as Kenneth Williams in ''Diary of a Somebody'', which was performed at the Seven Dials Playhouse, London. In June 2022, Zubairi starred as Kuzinov in ''In The Weeds''. The play, set on a Hebridean island, was performed at the Ustinov Studio in Bath and rated 3/5 stars by ''The Stage''. In November 2022, Zubairi appeared in the play ''Guy Fawkes'' as Kit Wright, performing at the York Theatre Royal. Jessie Burchett, writing for ''The Yorker'' praised Zubairi, writing that he "inject da welcome dose of pantomime energy".

Zubairi starred as Three and Petko in the BBC audiobook for Doctor Who: The Eighth Doctor Adventures: Connections, due for release in December 2022. Zubairi features alongside Nicola Walker and Paul McGann.

In May 2024, Zubairi starred in ''When the Mountains Meet'', a stage show touring Scotland. In the last quarter of 2024, Zubairi appeared as Mr Krish in the play ''The Elephant in the Room'', which was performed at Waterloo East Theatre, London.

On 14 February 2025, Zubairi was featured on "Hometown Pride" - a collaboration between the Thamesmead Community Choir and fellow Thamesmead-based artists J Cocoa, Kei the Artist and Jules. The track was funded by Arts Council England. The group had performed to an audience of more than 6000 on the main stage at Thamesmead Festival in Southmere Park in August 2024. From March 2025, Zubairi appeared as Hiroshi in the West End production of ''My Neighbour Totoro'' for a 34-week run, which was later extended to March 2026.

Acting credits

Film

Television

Theatre

Audiobooks

Music videos

Video games

References

External links

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Zubairi, Jamie
1972 births
Living people
English people of Malaysian descent
21st-century English male actors
Alumni of De Montfort University
British film actors
British male stage actors
British television actors
British male writers
Alumni of the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art
Male actors from Aldershot
Male actors from Rutland