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

Early life

Kassianides was born in

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

, 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 suburb in south west London, England, lying mostly within the London Borough of Lambeth, but with some areas (most notably Clapham Common) extending into the neighbouring London Borough of Wandsworth. History Early history T ...

and educated at

Dulwich College Dulwich College is a 2–19 independent, 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 o ...

. At the

University of Edinburgh The University of Edinburgh ( sco, University o Edinburgh, gd, Oilthigh Dhùn Èideann; abbreviated as ''Edin.'' in post-nominals) is a public research university based in Edinburgh, Scotland. Granted a royal charter by King James VI in 15 ...

he was the producer and executive producer of a sold out run of Grease at the

George Square theatre The Gordon Aikman Lecture Theatre is a category B listed performing arts and lecture theatre located in the historic George Square in Edinburgh. Primarily operated as a lecture theatre for the University of Edinburgh, it is also used for general t ...

. 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, ...

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 Tooting is a district in South London, forming part of the London Borough of Wandsworth and partly in the London Borough of Merton. It is located south south-west of Charing Cross. History Tooting has been settled since pre-Saxon times. Th ...

, he was spotted by BAFTA 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 was 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 young actors and other students. It became a ...

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 thre ...

' 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'', '' My Life in Film'', ''Plane Spotting'', ''

Ultimate Force ''Ultimate Force'' is a British television action drama series that was shown on ITV, which deals with the activities of Red Troop of the SAS (Special Air Service). The first episode was broadcast on 16 September 2002, and a total of four seri ...

'', '' Spooks'', '' Recovery'', '' Holby Blue'', '' Suburban Shootout'', '' The Kylie Show'', '' 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 ...

'', ''

Hustle Hustle or The Hustle may refer to: Film * ''Hustle'' (1975 film), an American crime film starring Burt Reynolds * ''Hustle'' (2004 film), an American television film about Pete Rose * ''Hustle'' (2008 film), a film starring Bai Ling * ''The H ...

'', ''

Law and Order UK ''Law & Order: UK'' is a British police procedural and legal television programme broadcast from 2009 to 2014 on ITV, adapted from the American series ''Law & Order''. Financed by the production companies Kudos Film and Television, Wolf Films, ...

'', ''

Nikita Nikita may refer to: * Nikita (given name) * Nikita, Crimea, a town in Crimea * Nikita the Tanner, a character in East Slavic folklore Film and television *''Little Nikita'', a 1988 film * ''La Femme Nikita'' (film), also known as ''Nikita'', a 19 ...

'', ''

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 Anwa ...

'', 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. Orig ...

'', ''

Wuthering Heights ''Wuthering Heights'' is an 1847 novel by Emily Brontë, initially published under her pen name Ellis Bell. It concerns two families of the landed gentry living on the West Yorkshire moors, the Earnshaws and the Lintons, and their turbulent r ...

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

Quantum of Solace ''Quantum of Solace'' is a 2008 spy film and the twenty-second in the ''James Bond'' series produced by Eon Productions. It is the sequel to ''Casino Royale'' (2006). Directed by Marc Forster and written by Neil Purvis, Robert Wade, and ...

'' 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 nominated as a Discovery Director to watch at the Hollywood Film Festival for 'Geezas' In 2013 Geezas 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) and Anne-Marie Duff (Nowhere Boy) His work rate and ethic was spotted by the administrators of Michael Cacoyannis Foundation, which was created by

Michael Cacoyannis Michael Cacoyannis ( el, Μιχάλης Κακογιάννης, ''Michalis Kakogiannis''; 11 June 1922 – 25 July 2011), sometimes credited as Michael Yannis, was a Greek Cypriot theatre and film director, writer, producer, and actor. ...

- Director of ‘Zorba the Greek’. The Michael Cacoyannis Foundation was created to help and promote Greek artists. In 2012 Kassianides was appointed a Global Consultant and Representative of the MCF.

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 People from Clapham People educated at Dulwich College Alumni of the University of Edinburgh Male actors from London 21st-century English male actors