David Avery (born 6 April 1986) is a British film, television and theatre actor. He is best known for The Night Manager, Starred Up and Lost in London.

David Avery
Avery in 2015
Born (1986-04-06) 6 April 1986 (age 38)
Birmingham, England
OccupationActor
Years active2009–present

Background

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Avery was born 6 April 1986 in Birmingham, England. He attended Baverstock Secondary School in Druids Heath, Birmingham until 2002. After graduating Avery relocated to London with his immediate family. In 2008 he graduated from the Central School of Speech and Drama with an MA in Acting for Screen.[1]

Career

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Avery's first on screen role came in 2009 by starring in the third series of Sofia's Diary. He joined the lead cast as Flex featuring throughout the series. Sofia's Diary, produced by Sony Television, was one of the first online web series to make the transition to UK television.[2] Avery's first feature film part was in Fit written and directed by Rikki Beadle-Blair. Shortly after, Avery landed the part of Nicos in The Inbetweeners Movie. The film went on to break UK box office records for the opening weekend.[3] In 2012 Avery took part in the June edition of Monologue Slam UK. Actors take to the stage to compete against each other by performing monologues to a professional industry panel. Avery won first prize for his performance, "The monologue that David performed captivating the room was 'Nowhere in America' by Bathsheba Doran".[4]

Avery is also notable for playing lead character Marcus Graham in the multi-award-winning web-to-television series Brothers With No Game. The series amassed a huge international following when the first episode was released online in June 2012.[5] Avery and the cast later returned for a second series with the public demand being so high and winning six awards at the LA Web Festival 2013.[6] The show’s popularity got the attention of London Live and went on to be broadcast in 2014. The lead cast of the show also went on to win Favourite Web Series Ensemble at the first ever Screen Nation Digital-iS awards.[7]

Avery's television work continued when he joined the cast of CBBC's The Dumping Ground. Avery played Kingsley Jackson alongside Victoria Alcock. The family were a popular addition to the first series, so much so they were asked to return to the show for a Christmas Special episode, “Jody in Wonderland”. The series went on to win a BAFTA that year for Best Drama.[8] His next major role was landing the part of Ashley in feature film Starred Up opposite Jack O'Connell and Ben Mendelsohn. The film received excellent reviews ("Raw and Immediate" – Variety) and 4/5 stars from Empire magazine.[9][10] The film was directed by David Mackenzie and went on to win various awards including Best Feature Film at BAFTA Scotland 2014.[11]

His career gained momentum in 2016 with a stand out performance as Freddie Hamid in the BBC/AMC series The Night Manager. The British-American production is based on the 1993 novel of the same name by John le Carré. The series was directed by Susanne Bier and the lead cast included Tom Hiddleston, Hugh Laurie and Olivia Colman. The series won two Primetime Emmy Awards and three Golden Globes.

Later that year Avery joined the lead cast of Borderline, a retro-scripted comedy series following the work of UK Border Force staff at the fictional Northend Airport. Avery received a number of positive reviews for his performance as Agent Tariq Mansour. The Guardian wrote – "For instance, there's border agent Tariq, a failed DJ and one of characters who succeeds in injecting genuine humour into his part with subtle timing and a good line in kill-me-now-I-hate-my-life facial expressions."[12]

In 2017 Avery starred in Lost in London opposite Woody Harrelson and Owen Wilson. It was the first film ever to broadcast live into movie theatres worldwide as it was shot in real time. The film was captured in one take using 24 shooting locations and included car and foot chase scenes.

Deadline announced in December 2022 that Avery would be joining the cast of MGM+’s and Sky's second season of Domina playing the role of Domitius.[13]

Filmography

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Television

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Year Title Role Notes
2009 Sofia's Diary Flex 2 episodes
2010 Missing Pete Walsh Episode 2.2
Coming Up – DIP Theo Episode 8.7
2012 Brothers With No Game Marcus Graham[14] 14 episodes (Seasons 1 & 2)
Pini Dave Episode "Gorillas in the Mist"
2013 Doctor Who Fabian Episode "The Name of the Doctor"
The Dumping Ground Kingsley Jackson 2 Episodes "S.O.S" & "Jody in Wonderland".
2014 24: Live Another Day Donny 2 episodes
2015 Spotless Yilmaz Episode 1.7
2016 The Night Manager Freddie Hamid 2 episodes
Doctors Jake Ashby Episode "Promises, Promises"
Borderline Tariq Mansoor 6 episodes
The Dumping Ground Kingsley Jackson Episode "Two For Joy"
2017 Liar Officer Brown 2 episodes
Cormoran Strike Nico Kolovas-Jones 2 episodes "The Cuckoo's Calling"
Borderline Tariq Mansoor 6 episodes
2018 Troy: Fall of a City Xanthius 7 episodes
Urban Myths Freddie Mercury Episode: "Backstage at Live Aid"
2019 Urban Myths Freddie Mercury Episode: "Princess Diana, Freddie And Kenny – One Normal Night"
London Kills Alex Barker Episode: "Sex Games"
Gold Digger Zac Episode: "Her Daughter"
Man Like Mobeen Cal Episode: "Return of the Pack"
2020 Bancroft Det. Sup. Jake Harper 3 episodes
Man Like Mobeen Cal Episode: "You Reap What You Sow"
Gangs of London Anthony 4 episodes
2021 We Are Lady Parts Abdullah 5 episodes
Stath Lets Flats Bambos 2 episodes[15]
2023 Domina Domitius[16] TBC

Film

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Year Title Role Notes
2010 Fit Marios Nominated – Grand Prize Chéries-Chéris – Feature Film
2011 The Inbetweeners Movie Nicos Won – Empire Award – Best Comedy
Nominated – Empire Award – Best British Film
Nominated – Evening Standard British Film Award – Blockbuster of the Year
2013 Starred Up Ashley Won – BAFTA Awards, Scotland – Best Feature Film
Nominated – British Independent Film Awards – Best British Independent Film
2015 Drift Bisher Won – Best Drama at Portobello Film Festival
Kill Your Friends Fisher
2016 Criminal Kebab Clerk
Mona Frasier Won – Grand Prize at Luxor Film Festival
2017 Lost in London Sayed

Awards

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Screen Nation Digital-iS Awards – Favourite Web Series Ensemble – Brothers With No Game

LA Web Festival 2013 – Brothers With No Game – Winner Outstanding Ensemble David Avery, Jay Marsh, Zephryn Taitte and Isaac Sosanya.

Monologue Slam UK – June 2012 Champion

References

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  1. ^ "David Avery: He's got game". voice-online.co.uk.
  2. ^ "'Sofia's Diary' penciled in on U.K. TV". 17 April 2008.
  3. ^ John Plunkett. "The Inbetweeners Movie breaks UK comedy box office record". The Guardian.
  4. ^ "David Avery – Bloodyqwerty's Blog". wordpress.com.
  5. ^ Annika Allen. "Brothers with no Game web series is here". FLAVOURMAG.
  6. ^ "Hit UK web series wins six awards at LA Web Festival". voice-online.co.uk. Archived from the original on 20 June 2015. Retrieved 24 March 2015.
  7. ^ "CEREMONY". DIGITAL-iS MEDIA AWARDS.
  8. ^ "Children's in 2013". bafta.org.
  9. ^ Peter Debruge. "'Starred Up' Review: David Mackenzie Takes Brutal Look at Prison Life – Variety". Variety.
  10. ^ "Empire's Starred Up Movie Review". Empire.
  11. ^ "British Academy Scotland Awards 2014 Winners Announced". bafta.org.
  12. ^ "Borderline: as Brent as a nine point memo". the Guardian. 2 August 2016.
  13. ^ Whittock, Jesse (5 December 2022). "'Domina': Trio Join Cast For Season 2 Of Sky And MGM+'s Ancient Rome Drama Series". Deadline. Archived from the original on 5 December 2022.
  14. ^ "Marcus – Characters – Brothers With No Game Characters – London Live". londonlive.co.uk. Archived from the original on 30 May 2015. Retrieved 12 April 2015.
  15. ^ "Julia Davis, Charlie Cooper and David Avery to guest star in Stath Lets Flats". Royal Television Society. 7 September 2021. Retrieved 1 November 2023.
  16. ^ Whittock, Jesse (5 December 2022). "'Domina': Trio Join Cast For Season 2 Of Sky And MGM+'s Ancient Rome Drama Series". Deadline. Archived from the original on 5 December 2022.
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