- Born
- Height5′ 7″ (1.70 m)
- Sacha Dhawan was born in Bramhall, Stockport to Hindu parents though he attended a Roman Catholic secondary school, Thomas Aquinas College, in nearby Stockport. There one of the authors he studied for his final exams was Alan Bennett, by whom he was very impressed. He began as a child actor at the age of 12 and attended the Laine-Johnson School of Acting in Manchester. He is also an accomplished tap-dancer. His enthusiasm for Bennett was such that when auditioning for his play 'The History Boys' on the London stage, Sacha impressed the author not just with his acting but by reciting a poem he had composed about the play and its author. He has appeared in stage versions of 'The History Boys' around the world as well as in the 2006 film adaptation. On television he appeared in two high profile series 'In the Club' as an expectant father and 'Last Tango in Halifax' as a toy boy.- IMDb Mini Biography By: don @ minifie-1
- Born and raised in Greater Manchester, Sacha has become a familiar face on our screens, following his hugely successful film, television and stage career.
Amongst his most recent roles, he is known for portraying the renegade Time Lord known as 'The Master' in Series 12 of 'Doctor Who' in 2020, opposite Jodie Whittaker. He delivered 'a gripping performance' as the Doctor's alter ego, and is set to return for the Doctor Who Centenary Special in 2022. He is also known for playing Orlo in Hulu's Emmy nominated epic anti-historical drama 'The Great', based on the rise of Catherine The Great of Russia. As part of the ensemble on The Great he received a nomination for a Screen Actors Guild Award in both 2021 and 2022.
He is known for starring as the lead, Sathnam, in the award-winning, BAFTA nominated BBC feature length drama 'The Boy With The Topknot'. The film was based on the critically acclaimed memoirs of Sathnam Sanghera with The Times writing that "Sacha Dhawan's performance as Sanghera was beautifully controlled". It was BBC2's highest-rated single drama of 2017.
Sacha's latest projects are playing a leading role in the Channel 4 crime drama 'Suspect', an adaptation of the original Danish series Forhøret which also stars James Nesbitt and Richard E. Grant, as well as 'Wolf' a major new 6-part crime thriller series for the BBC, based on Mo Hayder's acclaimed Jack Caffery novels.
In 2020 he played Dr Sharma in the BBC's adaptation of 'Dracula' created by Sherlock creators Mark Gatiss and Steven Moffat. Prior to that he starred as Marvel villain 'The Steel Serpent' in the Netflix series 'Iron Fist'. He played Dev in Kay Mellor's BBC drama series 'In the Club' about a group of expectant parents who meet at prenatal classes, also starring Hermione Norris. He starred in Series 4 of ITV's 'Mr Selfridge' playing Harry Selfridge's shady business partner Jimmy Dillon. In 2015 he starred alongside Zawe Ashton and Samuel Barnett in the award-winning Channel 4 comedy drama 'Not Safe for Work' in which he "stole the show" (The Telegraph).
Other high profile shows he has had major roles in include playing Naveed Shabazz in the Emmy-nominated '24: Live Another Day' (Day 9) and playing dodgy detective Manish Prasad in Series 2 of the BBC's critically acclaimed police procedural drama 'Line of Duty'. He also starred as Paul in Series 1 of the BAFTA Award winning BBC drama 'Last Tango in Halifax'.
Sacha has appeared in many other highly acclaimed films and TV shows including the BAFTA and Golden Globe nominated 2015 film 'The Lady In The Van' starring Maggie Smith, Paul Abbott's Channel 4 police drama 'No Offence', Emmy-winning and BAFTA nominated Channel 4 cult dark comedy 'Utopia', BBC fantasy drama 'Being Human', BBC drama 'The Deep' and the BBC's multiple Emmy and BAFTA winning 'Sherlock'. He also appeared in M. Night Shyamalan's 2013 sci-fi feature film 'After Earth' with Will Smith and Sophie Okonedo.
In 2007 he won an RTS Breakthrough on Screen Award for his portrayal of Karim in the BAFTA nominated Channel 4 non-fictional drama 'Bradford Riots'. On stage, he played Akhtar as part of the original London and Broadway cast of Alan Bennett's multi-award winning play 'The History Boys', which was made into a hugely popular feature film in which he reprised the same role. Further theatre credits include Alan Bennett's 'Allelujah' at the Bridge Theatre as well as plays at the National Theatre, The Royal Exchange and The Royal Court.
He has voiced a number of animated characters in shows such as The Prince, Go Jetters & Chuggington (see credits) as well as many video game characters including 'Anthem', 'World of Warcraft', 'Lego Marvel Superheroes' 'Game of Thrones' and 'Dragon Quest XI'.
Sacha was born in Stockport and has a native Stockport/Manchester accent. His accent ability is strong, ranging from West Midlands (Wolverhampton) which he used in The Boy With The Topknot to London in Not Safe from Work.- IMDb Mini Biography By: Anthea Represents
- Revealed via Radio 2 interview by Graham Norton 18th March 2017, of actor Sacha Dhawan that was briefly hospitalized during an adolescent re-enactment of the Dirty Dancing (1987) scene involving the 'Lift'.
- People are catching on to diversity and colour-blind casting. For me, it meant turning down certain work and making a stand. There are certain roles - say, terrorist roles - that if I don't feel like it's something truthful, I'm not going to do it.
- [on suffering with anxiety] The saddest thing in this business is that no one will know if you have something like anxiety, because you always have to have this confidence on set. No one will know you've been sitting in your trailer, not eating your lunch because you're trying to sleep because you want to switch the anxiety off. The heartache I'd go through before a scene - worrying that I wouldn't deliver - was traumatic.
- I think I have become wise enough, because I started at a young age and know there are ups and downs in this business - I've realised it's not real. In my job, the not working is real and the actual work is just fantasy. I could see why there was this video telling actors: 'Don't be a dick.'
- I've spent so many years going, 'OK, I'm not brown enough and I'm not white enough. When you go on sets and you don't see anyone like you, you think, 'You're just very lucky to be here, so keep your mouth shut.'
- I'm interested in the dark horse. It's too scary being the face of something, unless it's really right. A lot of young actors want to get a lead role, get into Hollywood. I do everything slow and steady.
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