Movies

Siddig El Tahir El Fadil El Siddig Abdurrahman Mohammed Ahmed Abdel Karim El Mahdi (born 21 November 1965) is a Sudanese-born English actor and director known professionally as Siddig El Fadil and subsequently as Alexander Siddig.

Siddig is best known for his roles as Dr. Julian Bashir in the television series Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, former terrorist Hamri Al-Assad in the sixth season of the series 24, Doran Martell in Game of Thrones, and Ra's al Ghul in Gotham. He also starred in the films Syriana (2005), Hannibal (2006), A Lost Man (2007), Cairo Time (2009) and Inescapable (2012).

Early life
Siddig was born in Omdurman, Sudan. His father, Tahir El Mahdi, was Sudanese; his mother, Gloria (née Taylor; d. 2001) was English. She was the older sister of actor Malcolm McDowell.

Siddig's parents met in the 1960s when his mother travelled to Sudan with a friend who introduced her to Siddig's father. Siddig's father was a student at Cambridge University in the 1950s and was proficient in English. Siddig's uncle Sadiq al-Mahdi was Prime Minister of Sudan from 1966–1967 and again from 1986–1989. Siddig is also the great-great-grandson of Muhammad Ahmad, a Nubian religious leader who was proclaimed the Mahdi by his disciples.

Siddig's mother remained in Sudan for three years and returned to London with Siddig and his father. Siddig was two years old at the time. Siddig initially spoke Arabic when he was a child, but by his second year of living in Britain he had forgotten much of it. In 1978 his mother married film director and producer Michael Birkett and in 1982 the two had a son together named Thomas. Siddig's mother worked as a model and theatrical press agent.

Siddig attended St Lawrence College, Ramsgate. He also studied geography and anthropology for a year at University College London before enrolling at the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art (LAMDA).