Jamie Zubairi | |
|---|---|
| Born | August 19, 1972 Aldershot, England |
| Nationality | English-Malaysian |
| Education | |
| Occupation(s) | Actor, writer, artist |
| Years active | 1997–present |
| Website | Official website |
Jamie Zubairi (born 19 August 1972) is an English-Malaysian actor, writer and artist. He started his acting career working on the BBC television series Grange Hill [ citation needed ] and has appeared on numerous television shows including Cucumber [1] and Holby City , [2] [3] on radio as Inspector Chen in Qiu Xiaolong's Inspector Chen detective series, as well as being a prolific stage performer and writer.
Jamie Zubairi was born in Aldershot, England in 1972 to an English mother and a Malaysian father. From 1973, Zubairi was brought up in Klang, Malaysia, [4] but returned to England in his teenage years. Zubairi was educated at Rutland Sixth Form College and then studied Art Foundation at the De Montfort University in Leicester, England. Zubairi trained to be an actor at LAMDA, graduating in 1997.[ citation needed ]
Zubairi has performed in many stage productions. In 2010, he wrote and starred in Skylarking at the North Devon Festival and appeared in Wolf at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe.[ citation needed ] The next year, Zubairi played the father in Yellow Earth's Why The Lion Danced and made his New York stage debut at the 59E59 Theaters in George Orwell's Burmese Days . [5] [6] In 2012, he performed in You Me Bum Bum Train , Mozart's Abduction From The Seraglio , These Associations at Tate Modern by Tino Sehgal and performed his one-man mixed-media project Unbroken Line at the Oval House Theatre. [7] In 2014 Zubairi co-wrote, co-produced and performed in Expectations. He has appeared as Dr. Rank in A Doll's House and in Parliament Square at the Royal Exchange Theatre. [8]
In 2015, Zubairi appeared as Max in three episodes of Russell T Davies' Cucumber . In 2017, the feature film Tides was released. It stars Zubairi, but is notable for also being his first screenwriting credit. Tides had its World Premiere at the BFI London Film Festival and released nationwide in 2018. [9] In 2018, Zubairi appeared in Witness for the Prosecution at County Hall, London. [10]
In 2021, Zubairi appeared as Dorje Lingpa in the seventh series of Doctor Who: The Early Adventures .
In March 2022, Zubairi starred as Kenneth Williams [11] in Diary of a Somebody, [12] [13] which was performed at the Seven Dials Playhouse, London. [14] In June 2022, Zubairi starred as Kuzinov in In The Weeds. The play, set on a Hebridean island, was performed at the Ustinov Studio in Bath and rated 3/5 stars by The Stage . [15] In November 2022, Zubairi appeared in the play Guy Fawkes as Kit Wright, [16] performing at the York Theatre Royal. Jessie Burchett, writing for The Yorker praised Zubairi, writing that he "inject[ed] a welcome dose of pantomime energy". [17]
Zubairi starred as Three and Petko in the BBC audiobook for Doctor Who: The Eighth Doctor Adventures: Connections, due for release in December 2022. [18] Zubairi features alongside Nicola Walker and Paul McGann. [19]
In May 2024, Zubairi starred in When the Mountains Meet, a stage show touring Scotland. [20] In the last quarter of 2024, Zubairi appeared as Mr Krish in the play The Elephant in the Room, which was performed at Waterloo East Theatre, London. [21] [22]
On 14 February 2025, Zubairi was featured on "Hometown Pride" - a collaboration between the Thamesmead Community Choir and fellow Thamesmead-based artists J Cocoa, Kei the Artist and Jules. The track was funded by Arts Council England. The group had performed to an audience of more than 6000 on the main stage at Thamesmead Festival in Southmere Park in August 2024. [23] From March 2025, Zubairi appeared as Hiroshi in the West End production of My Neighbour Totoro for a 34-week run, which was later extended to March 2026. [24] [25]
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2002 | Between the Wars | Video seller | Short film |
| 2008 | Out of Milk | Narrator | |
| How I Learned to Love Richard Here | Max | ||
| 2015 | Starship Goldfish | Emby | Voice only |
| 2017 | Tides | Zooby | Feature film; Also co-writer |
| Sleep | Santi | Short film | |
| 2019 | Strange Cities Are Familiar | Theo | |
| 2021 | Time Family | William / Damien / Jesus | |
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2001 | Grange Hill | Steve Jones | 4 episodes in Series 24 |
| Married/Unmarried | Dance Recital Audience | ||
| 2005 | Will & Grace commercial idents | Sponsored by Maltesers | |
| 2010 | Holby City | Harvey Posner | 3 episodes |
| 2012 | Cuckoo | John | Episode: "The Wedding" |
| 2015 | Cucumber | Max | 3 episodes |
| 2017 | Silent Witness | Jason Bradwell | Series 20, "Covenants" Parts 1 and 2 |
| 2018 | EastEnders | Dr. Daniel Zainuddin | Episode dated 8 November 2018 |
| 2020 | #SketchPack | Episode: "Light Bulb Moments" | |
| Year | Title | Role | Venue | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1997 | Hansel & Gretel | Montresor | Theatre Royal Stratford East | |
| 2007 | The Letter | Wyndham's Theatre | ||
| 2009 | Skylarking | Area 10, Peckham | Also writer, director | |
| 2010 | North Devon Festival | |||
| Wolf | Edinburgh Festival Fringe | |||
| 2011 | Why The Lion Danced | The Father | ||
| Burmese Days | John Flory/U Po Kyin | 59E59 Theaters, New York City | ||
| 2012 | You Me Bum Bum Train | The MC | ||
| Abduction From The Seraglio | The Pasha | |||
| These Associations | Associate | Tate Modern | ||
| Unbroken Line | Dolah | Ovalhouse Theatre | ||
| 2016 | A Doll's House | Dr. Rank | ||
| 2018 | Witness for the Prosecution | County Hall, London | ||
| 2022 | Diary of a Somebody | Kenneth Williams | Seven Dials Playhouse | |
| In The Weeds | Kazumi Fujimoto | Ustinov Studio | ||
| Guy Fawkes | Kit Wright | York Theatre Royal | ||
| 2024 | When the Mountains Meet | Scotland tour | ||
| The Elephant in the Room | Mr Krish | Waterloo East Theatre | ||
| 2025 | My Neighbour Totoro | Hiroshi | Gillian Lynne Theatre, [26] | RSC debut |
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2018 | Inspector Chen Mysteries | Inspector Chen | Voiceover |
| 2021 | Doctor Who: The Early Adventures | Dorje Lingpa | Voiceover |
| 2022 | Doctor Who: The Eighth Doctor Adventures: Connections | Three/Petko [18] | Voiceover |
| 2024 | The Death and Life of River Song | Peevy / Com-Tech 2 | 4 episodes |
| Year | Artist | Title | Role |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2014 | Chrissie Hynde | "Adding the Blue" | Painter |
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2010 | James Bond 007: Blood Stone | Additional voices | Voiceover |
| Just Cause 2 | Radio Announcer | ||
| 2017 | Dragon Quest XI: Echoes of an Elusive Age | Ryu / Additional Voices (English version) | |
| 2018 | Vampyr | Rakesh | |
| 2019 | Total War: Three Kingdoms | Cao Cao | |