Himesh Patel

Himesh Jitendra Patel (born 13 October 1990) is a British actor, musician, and singer. He began his career portraying Tamwar Masood in the BBC soap opera EastEnders (2007–2016). This was followed by roles in the Channel 4 sitcom Damned (2016–2018) and the films Yesterday (2019) and Tenet (2020). In 2021, Patel starred in the HBO miniseries Station Eleven, earning a nomination for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Limited Series or Movie. That same year, he also starred in Adam McKay's Netflix film Don't Look Up, earning a Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Cast in a Motion Picture nomination. Early life Patel was born on 13 October 1990 in Sawtry, Cambridgeshire. His parents are both Indian Gujaratis. His mother was born in Zambia and his father was born in Kenya. He grew up speaking Gujarati. Patel attended Prince William School in Oundle, Northamptonshire. As a child, he began impersonating his favourite characters on television and film. When he was 11, he was cast in a school play, This Is Your Life, Santa Claus, as Michael Aspel. Upon the suggestion by a teacher, his parents then signed him up for a local theatre group, the Key Youth Theatre in Peterborough. Later, he became a member of The Young Actors' Company in Cambridge, where he also took film classes. He took piano lessons and bought himself an electric guitar and taught himself to play at the age of 13.