Simon Mario Kassianides is an English actor, film director, producer and screenwriter.

Early life

Kassianides was born in

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

, of Greek Cypriot origin, the son of Helen and Mario Kassianides, both business owners. Kassianides has an older brother, Photis Kassianides, who works in finance. Kassianides was brought up in

Clapham Clapham () is a district in south London, south west London, England, lying mostly within the London Borough of Lambeth, but with some areas (including Clapham Common) extending into the neighbouring London Borough of Wandsworth. History Ea ...

and educated at

Dulwich College Dulwich College is a 2-18 private, day and boarding school for boys in Dulwich, London, England. As a public school, it began as the College of God's Gift, founded in 1619 by Elizabethan actor Edward Alleyn, with the original purpose of ...

. At the

University of Edinburgh The University of Edinburgh (, ; abbreviated as ''Edin.'' in Post-nominal letters, post-nominals) is a Public university, public research university based in Edinburgh, Scotland. Founded by the City of Edinburgh Council, town council under th ...

he was the producer and executive producer of a sold out run of Grease at the George Square theatre. Profits were donated to the

Macmillan Cancer Support Macmillan Cancer Support is one of the largest British charities and provides specialist health care, information and financial support to people affected by cancer. It also looks at the social, emotional and practical impact cancer can have, an ...

Career

In 2002, soon after Kassianides graduated with honours in International Business with Finance and while in London helping his mother open Urban Coffee, a fair trade and organic coffee shop in Tooting Broadway, he was spotted by

BAFTA The British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA, ) is an independent trade association and charity that supports, develops, and promotes the arts of film, television and video games in the United Kingdom. In addition to its annual awa ...

award-winning producer Piers Vellacott. Kassianides started a course at London's

Central School of Speech and Drama The Royal Central School of Speech and Drama, commonly shortened to Central, is a drama school founded by Elsie Fogerty in 1906, as the Central School of Speech Training and Dramatic Art, to offer a new form of training in speech and drama for ...

but had to leave after being offered a role in the

Tennessee Williams Thomas Lanier Williams III (March 26, 1911 – February 25, 1983), known by his pen name Tennessee Williams, was an American playwright and screenwriter. Along with contemporaries Eugene O'Neill and Arthur Miller, he is considered among the three ...

' play '' Night of the Iguana''. His performance as Pedro was acclaimed by critics. Soon after, Kassianides was noted as an actor to watch in a BBC documentary called '' Making it at Holby''. Since then, Kassianides has appeared in a number of television episodes in the USA and UK, including ''

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 ...

'', ''

My Life in Film ''My Life in Film'' is a British television situation-comedy series written by Mark Chappell and originally aired on BBC Three. It was directed by first-time television director Toby MacDonald. It uses iconography, situations and dialogue from f ...

'', ''Plane Spotting'', ''

Ultimate Force ''Ultimate Force'' is a British television Action movie, action drama television series, series that was shown on ITV (TV network), ITV, which deals with the activities of Red Troop of the SAS (Special Air Service). The first episode was broad ...

'', '' Spooks'', '' Recovery'', '' Holby Blue'', '' Suburban Shootout'', ''

The Kylie Show ''X'' is the tenth studio album by Australian singer Kylie Minogue. EMI Music Japan released it first in Japan on 21 November 2007, before its release in Australia by Warner Music Australia two days later. The album was released in the Un ...

'', '' Ashes to Ashes'', '' The Passion'', '' The Fixer'', ''

Love Soup ''Love Soup'' is a British television comedy drama produced by the BBC and first screened on BBC One in the autumn of 2005. It stars Tamsin Greig as Alice Chenery (a role written especially for her) and Michael Landes as Gil Raymond (series 1 on ...

'', '' Hustle'', '' Law and Order UK'', '' Nikita'', ''

Burn Notice ''Burn Notice'' is an American espionage television series created by Matt Nix, which originally aired on the USA Network for a total of seven seasons from June 28, 2007, to September 12, 2013. The show stars Jeffrey Donovan, Gabrielle Anwar, ...

'', and '' Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.'' Kassianides has also appeared in several international films such as ''

The Edge of Love ''The Edge of Love'' is a 2008 British biographical romantic drama film directed by John Maybury and starring Keira Knightley, Sienna Miller, Cillian Murphy, and Matthew Rhys. The script was written by Knightley's mother, Sharman Macdonald. ...

'', ''

Wuthering Heights ''Wuthering Heights'' is the only novel by the English author Emily Brontë, initially published in 1847 under her pen name "Ellis Bell". It concerns two families of the landed gentry living on the West Yorkshire moors, the Earnshaws and the ...

'', ''Between Two Fires'', ''

Quantum of Solace ''Quantum of Solace'' is a 2008 spy thriller film and the twenty-second in the List of James Bond films, ''James Bond'' series produced by Eon Productions. Directed by Marc Forster and written by Neal Purvis and Robert Wade, Neal Purvis, Robe ...

'' and '' Smooch''. In 2010, Kassianides produced, directed and starred in ''Geezas'', a film he completed in record time and within budget. The film made the official selection of the 2012 Hollywood Film Festival, selling out The Arclight Movie Theatre in Hollywood at its premiere. In 2012, Simon Kassianides was for ''Geezas'', which won "Best Actor" and "Best Supporting Actress" at the 2013 British Independent Film Festival. Kassianides directed first time actors who won against the likes of Martin Freeman (''

The Hobbit ''The Hobbit, or There and Back Again'' is a children's fantasy novel by the English author J. R. R. Tolkien. It was published in 1937 to wide critical acclaim, being nominated for the Carnegie Medal and awarded a prize from the ...

'') and Anne-Marie Duff (''

Nowhere Boy ''Nowhere Boy'' is a 2009 British biographical drama film, directed by Sam Taylor-Johnson in her directorial debut. Written by Matt Greenhalgh, it is based on Julia Baird's biography of her half-brother, the musician John Lennon. ''Nowhere ...

''). His work rate and ethic was spotted by the administrators of the Michael Cacoyannis Foundation—created by

Michael Cacoyannis Michalis Kakogiannis (; ; 11 June 1922 – 25 July 2011), usually credited as Michael Cacoyannis or Michael Yannis, was a Greek Cypriot filmmaker, theatre director, and playwright. He is best known for writing, directing, producing, and e ...

, director of '' Zorba the Greek'', to help and promote Greek artists—and was appointed a Global Consultant and Representative of the Foundation in 2012.

Filmography

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Kassianides, Simon English male television actors Living people English people of Greek Cypriot descent English male film actors 1979 births Actors from the London Borough of Lambeth People educated at Dulwich College Alumni of the University of Edinburgh Male actors from London 21st-century English male actors People from Clapham