Biography
Sikander Malik is a British actor, director and producer born in Nottingham and now living in London. He has appeared in several films including Rocky Balboa, directed by Sylvester Stallone. He is well known for playing Jamil Fadel in popular teen soap, Hollyoaks (Channel Four, Lime Pictures), and Asa Anwar in medical drama Doctors (BBC). In 2015, Sikander was nominated for the Best Actor Jury Prize at the St. Albans Film Festival. Currently he has two short films (writer, director) and a feature film in pre-production which he will also be directing.
Sikander always took a keen interest in drama and the arts, eagerly taking part in school performances from an early age. In 2001, Sikander joined the Nottingham Youth Theatre (NYT), an after school drama society, where he soon thrived becoming heavily involved in many productions with leading roles in several productions including 'West Side Story', 'Romeo and Juliet' and 'The Nutcracker'.
After completing college, he travelled to America during a year out and was offered the opportunity to work with Sylvester Stallone in the MGM produced Hollywood blockbuster 'Rocky Balboa.'
Sikander then attended Kings College (University of London) where he soon became involved in many performances such as My Fair Lady and Jekyll & Hyde. After graduating, he worked in many small student films, and charity theatre productions, slowly building his portfolio.
In 2010, he auditioned for the award-winning Channel Four UK teen drama 'Hollyoaks'. The role was for the romantic and comedic character 'Jamil'. He got the part. Sikander played the character for two years, developing his sense of comic timing, and building upon his acting experience. Here, Sikander gained an in depth knowledge of the inner workings of the television industry, working alongside some of the most accomplished directors, writers and technical teams in the business. In 2012, Sikander decided to leave 'Hollyoaks' in search of more challenging roles and began work at the BBC, appearing as cast member 'Asa (Acer) Anwar' on BBC One's award winning drama, 'Doctors'
Upon leaving 'Hollyoaks', Sikander was offered the lead in a new independent romantic comedy 'Long Walk Home'. The film received rave reviews, and was officially selected for screening by numerous film festivals around the world, including The British Film Institute (BFI), the Raindance International Film Festival 2012 (Europe's largest independent film festival), Virgin Media Shorts, Acko Slovakia, The Portobello Pop Up, Thurrock Int'l Film Festival and The National Screentest Festival 2014 to name a few.
Impressed after watching Sikander's performance at the BFI screening of 'Long Walk Home' (25th January 2014), director Michael Beddoes offered Sikander the lead in a new psychological drama set along the River Thames - 'Flotsam' (written by Kristina Heaney & Michael Beddoes). Sikander also came on board as Associate Producer. In 2015, Sikander was nominated for the Best Actor Jury Prize at the St. Albans Film Festival.
Sikander is now focussed on producing a series of new independent short and feature films which he is writing and directing.
