Film Aakeel gained his first leading feature role in the film
Eaten by Lions as Omar, a young man in search of his estranged father. The film had a wide cinematic release in April 2019 and also starred comedians
Johnny Vegas,
Jack Carroll and
Asim Chaudhry. Screen Daily announced Aakeel would be leading Abid Khan's debut feature
Granada Nights as Ben, a heartbroken British tourist on a journey of hedonism and discovery in
Granada, Spain. He appeared opposite Oscar-winner
Alicia Vikander in
Warner Bros.' 2018
Tomb Raider reboot, directed by
Roar Uthaug. In 2016, Aakeel was cast alongside
Riz Ahmed and
Billie Piper in the London crime thriller
City of Tiny Lights directed by
BAFTA winner
Pete Travis. The film had its world premiere at the
Toronto International Film Festival 2016 and released in UK cinemas April 2017. Later that year, Aakeel landed a supporting role in
The Hungry,
Film London's contemporary feature adaptation of
Shakespeare's
Titus Andronicus playing troubled brother to
Life of Pi's
Suraj Sharma. The Film premiered under special presentations at the 2017
Toronto International Film Festival. In 2015, he appeared as Raza in feature film
The Contract, written by
David Marconi and directed by Nic Auerbach. Aakeel starred as Nasir Baloch in the political short film
The Line of Freedom, directed by David Whitney. The film depicts the true story of a murdered student rights activist and premiered at the
Dubai International Film Festival. Upon its release, the film immediately met with controversy and was subsequently prohibited in Pakistan.
Television Aakeel gained his first television role in the
E4 series
Skins. He then led an episode of
BBC One's
Moving On playing Mati, a young refugee whose leave to remain is revoked on his eighteenth birthday. Directed by
Reece Dinsdale, the episode won 'Best Daytime Programme' at the
Royal Television Society Awards in 2018. In May 2017, he appeared in
BBC One's three-part BAFTA winning drama
Three Girls directed by
Philippa Lowthorpe. In 2019, Aakeel appeared in two episodes of the
Channel 4 drama series
Ackley Bridge as
Anwar Wazir. Later that year, Aakeel began portraying the recurring role of Rafael Hyland in the
BBC One thriller series
Dublin Murders.
Video game Aakeel gained his first video game role in the
Immortals of Aveum as Devyn.
Theatre Aakeel was cast in the title role in the stage adaptation of
Guantanamo Boy. The play ran at the
Half Moon Theatre and toured nationally at
Middle Temple Hall,
Almeida Theatre,
The Hat Factory,
Mercury Theatre,
Burnley Youth Theatre and
The Drum Theatre.
The Stage's Susan Elkin wrote Aakeel "is great as the distraught, anguished, terrified Khalid. The downhill spiral followed by the final return of a damaged-for-life boy to Rochdale is well handled too. He has a very expressive face." In 2015, he played the lead role of Artie in
Waiting for Garbo at the
Crescent Theatre as part of the Birmingham Theatre Festival. Love Midlands Theatre reviewed the performance, commenting his "portrayal of a brash New Yorker falling apart is utterly convincing." Antonio has also performed locally with
Midlands based theatre company Round Midnight. ==Filmography==