Christopher Simpson (actor)

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Christopher Simpson
Born1975 (age 48–49)
Dublin, Republic of Ireland
NationalityIrish
Occupations
Years active2002–present
Musical career
OriginLondon, England
Genres
Instrument(s)Vocals
Years active2008–2009
Websitewww.christophersimpson.net

Christopher Crawford Gatsinzi Simpson (born 1975) is an Irish actor. He played Karim in the film adaptation of Monica Ali's novel Brick Lane.

Early life[edit]

Simpson was born in Dublin, Ireland. His father is Irish and his mother was of Greek-Rwandan descent.[1] His father met his mother in Rwanda whilst training to be a teacher. When Simpson was a child he visited Rwanda with his mother.[2] His mother's first language was Kinyarwanda.

Simpson lived in Dublin until he was six years old. After his parents divorced, he moved to London with his mother and his sister, Fiona, where he has lived ever since.[3][4]

When Simpson was at primary school, he began attending drama classes on Thursday evenings[5] with an amateur dramatics club.[2]

Acting career[edit]

Simpson has often been cast in South Asian roles, although his heritage is mixed European and African.

In 2002, he played twins, Magid and Millat, in White Teeth. In 2003, he starred in Second Generation, and appeared in State of Play.

In 2003, Simpson played a supporting role in Code 46.[6] In 2004, he played the role of Hassan Sabbah in The Keeper: The Legend of Omar Khayyam.[7] In 2005, he appeared in Chromophobia.[6] In 2006, he played a supporting role in Mischief Night. In 2007, he played the lead role of Karim in the film adaptation of Monica Ali's novel Brick Lane,[8] and a supporting role in Exitz.[7]

Simpson had one week to learn the part of Karim for Brick Lane.[8][9][10]

In 2008, Simpson was a British Independent Film Awards jury member.[8]

In 2006, Simpson played the role of Dionysus in Conall Morrison's The Bacchae of Baghdad (an updated version of Euripides's play The Bacchae) at the Abbey Theatre.[2]

In 2011, he played the role of Maz in John Donnelly's The Knowledge,[11] and the role of Parvez in Steve Waters' Little Platoons, both at the Bush Theatre.[12][13][14]

In 2016, he played the role of Sebastian in Bryony Lavery's adaptation of Brideshead Revisited at the English Touring Theatre and UK National Tour.[15]

Music career[edit]

Main article: Very Present Tense

In 2008, whilst he was artist-in-residence with creative arts group Metal[8] Simpson completed a song cycle, Very Present Tense. He wrote it over a number of years in response to the death of his mother. The songs which reference musical idioms, including blues, jazz and Rwandan folk, reflecting his Rwandan and Irish family heritage,[16] The album was developed in collaboration with composer, Tom Havelock.[17]

On 8 August 2008, the song cycle premiered at the arts hub in Edge Hill Station pavilion,[18][19] during the Liverpool European Capital of Culture.[20] On 29 September 2009, he performed the work for the second time with Metal at the Village Green Festival, this time working with a group of musicians from Southend. Simpson then worked on recording the work.[21]

Other work[edit]

In 2001, Simpson made a documentary for BBC Radio 4 called Other,[3] exploring the identities of people who have parents of different origins and have grown up in a culture belonging to neither parent.[20]

Simpson has narrated audio books for Slumdog Millionaire (originally published as Vikas Swarup's Q & A), E. M. Forster's A Passage to India and Hanif Kureishi's The Buddha of Suburbia.[22]

Personal life[edit]

In 1996, Simpson's mother died; Simpson and his sister returned to Rwanda to bury her ashes.[3]

Filmography[edit]

Film[edit]

Year Title Role Notes
2003 Code 46 Paul Supporting role
2005 Chromophobia Derek
The Keeper: The Legend of Omar Khayyam Hassan Sabbah
2006 Take 3 Girls Rafiq
Mischief Night Big Man Qassim
2007 Exitz Dr. Murli Patel
Brick Lane Karim Lead role
2008 My Father's Son Ameer Short
2009 Little Foxes Jeff Supporting role
2009 It's a Wonderful Afterlife J.J Jaan
2010 Ever Here I Be Jason Short
2012 Day of the Flowers Ernesto Supporting role
2013 Sixteen Headmaster

Television[edit]

Year Title Role Notes
2002 White Teeth Magid Iqbal/Millat Iqbal 2 episodes: "The Trouble with Millat", "The Return of Magid Iqbal"
2003 State of Play Adam Greene 4 episodes: "#1.1", "#1.3", "#1.5", "#1.6"
Second Generation Sam Khan 2 episodes: "#1.1", "#1.2"
2005 All About George Ash 6 episodes: "#1.1", "#1.2", "#1.3", "#1.4", "#1.5", "#1.6"
The Man-Eating Leopard of Rudraprayag Sanji TV film
2007 Shameless Murad 1 episode: "#4.4"
Be More Ethnic Sol De Silva TV film
2008 Spooks: Code 9 Vik 6 episodes: "#1.1", "#1.2", "#1.3", "#1.4", "#1.5", "#1.6"
2017 The Good Karma Hospital Anton Kartik 1 episode: "#1.2"

Stage[edit]

Year Title Role Venue
2001 The Ramayana[23] Bharatha Royal National Theatre
2002 Pericles[23] Pericles Royal Shakespeare Company/Cardboard Citizens
2003 Fragile Land[23] Omar Hampstead Theatre
2006 The Bacchae of Baghdad[23] Dionysus Abbey Theatre
2007 Fallujah[23][24] Iraqi gunman Institute of Contemporary Arts/Old Truman Brewery
2011 The Knowledge[23] Maz Bush Theatre
Little Platoons[23] Parvez
2012 LeanerFasterStronger[25][26][27] Voice Sheffield Theatres
Forests[28][29] Orlando Birmingham Repertory Theatre
2016 Brideshead Revisited[15] Sebastian English Touring Theatre/UK National Tour

Discography[edit]

Albums[edit]

Album Title Album details Chart positions Certifications
Very Present Tense
  • Released: 8 August 2008
  • Label:
  • Formats: Digital Download

References[edit]

  1. ^ "Passing for Desi: The Strange Case of Christopher Simpson". The Woyingi Blog. 29 March 2011. Retrieved 1 May 2013.
  2. ^ a b c Lynch, Donal (26 February 2006). "Homing in on Simpson no job for amateurs". Irish Independent. Retrieved 1 May 2013.
  3. ^ a b c Simpson, Christopher (2001). "Other". BBC Radio 4. SoundCloud. Retrieved 1 May 2013.
  4. ^ "White Teeth". Masterpiece Theatre. 6 February 2003. Retrieved 1 May 2013.
  5. ^ "dnk4". lineone. n.d. Retrieved 1 May 2013.
  6. ^ a b Southern, Nathan (n.d.). "Christopher Simpson". Fandango. Retrieved 1 May 2013.
  7. ^ a b "Christopher Simpson". Theiapolis. n.d. Retrieved 1 May 2013.
  8. ^ a b c d "Christopher Simpson". The British Independent Film Awards. Archived from the original on 28 June 2013. Retrieved 1 May 2013.
  9. ^ "Brick Lane (15)". Time Out. 10 October 2007. Retrieved 1 May 2013.
  10. ^ Smith, Neil (12 November 2007). "Brick Lane (2007)". BBC. Retrieved 1 May 2013.
  11. ^ Sierz, Aleks (18 January 2011). "The Knowledge". The Stage. Retrieved 1 May 2013.
  12. ^ Sierz, Aleks (25 January 2011). "Little Platoons". The Stage. Retrieved 1 May 2013.
  13. ^ Coveney, Michael (25 January 2011). "Little Platoons". Whatsonstage.com. Archived from the original on 31 January 2011. Retrieved 1 May 2013.
  14. ^ "Little Platoons". The British Theatre Guide. n.d. Retrieved 1 May 2013.
  15. ^ a b Hickling, Alfred (5 May 2016). "Brideshead Revisited review – Waugh's charming men hit the stage in style". The Guardian. Retrieved 1 June 2018.
  16. ^ Smirke, Richard (7 August 2008). "Chris Simpson: Very Present Tense". Metro. Retrieved 1 May 2013.
  17. ^ "Very Present Tense". Tête à Tête. n.d. Retrieved 1 May 2013.
  18. ^ Anderson, Vicky (4 August 2008). "Culture Diary: Actor unveils his new train of musical thought". Liverpool Daily Post. Retrieved 1 May 2013.
  19. ^ Parker, Samantha (6 August 2008). "Festival time for kids is a feast for imagination!". Liverpool Echo. Retrieved 1 May 2013.
  20. ^ a b "Christopher Simpson". Bush Theatre. Archived from the original on 17 April 2014. Retrieved 1 May 2013.
  21. ^ "Christopher Simpson". Metal. n.d. Retrieved 1 May 2013.
  22. ^ Kerns, Michelle (20 April 2009). "Interested in 'Slumdog Millionaire?' Forget the paperback and the movie – get the audiobook". Examiner.com.
  23. ^ a b c d e f g "Christopher Simpson". Birmingham Repertory Theatre. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 1 May 2013.
  24. ^ Bond, Paul (1 June 2007). "Fallujah: Sympathy alone is not enough". World Socialist Web Site. Retrieved 1 May 2013.
  25. ^ "LeanerFasterStronger – First Day of Rehearsals". Sheffield Theatres. 25 April 2012. Archived from the original on 17 May 2013. Retrieved 1 May 2013.
  26. ^ "LeanerFasterStronger". The Stage. Retrieved 1 May 2013.
  27. ^ Connor, Laura (7 June 2012). "Review: LeanerFasterStronger". ForgeToday.com. Archived from the original on 29 June 2013. Retrieved 1 May 2013.
  28. ^ Michael, Billington (5 September 2012). "Forests – review". The Guardian. Retrieved 1 May 2013.
  29. ^ Matthew, Tucker (7 November 2012). "Forests (REVIEW): Calixto Bieito Condenses The Spirit of Shakespeare With Nudity And Violence". The Guardian. Retrieved 1 May 2013.

External links[edit]

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