Shazad Latif

Born in London of mixed Pakistani, English and Scottish descent, Latif grew up in Tufnell Park, North London. His father was Javed Iqbal, a Pakistani.[1] He studied at the Bristol Old Vic Theatre School and performed in many stage productions including King Lear, playing Cornwall, and Richard Sheridan's comedy School for Scandal, as Joseph Surface. He left the school a year early to take up his role in Spooks.[2]

Shazad Latif, Timur Bekmambetov, Valene Kane at the press conference of Profile at Berlinale 2018

Spooks was his first major role on television, as the highly skilled technician and data analyst Tariq Masood.[2][3] He appeared in all three series of Toast of London as the recurring character Clem Fandango, one of the studio staff recording the voiceover artist Steven Toast (Matt Berry).

In 2016 he joined the cast of Penny Dreadful as the literary character Dr. Jekyll.[4]

In 2017, Latif was cast as the role of Lieutenant Ash Tyler in Star Trek: Discovery,[5] after initially being announced as playing a Human.[6] It was later revealed that Latif had also portrayed the Klingon Voq in the series, credited under his late father's name to conceal a related plot twist.[1]

Shazad Latif played ISIS fighter Bilel in the 2018 thriller film Profile by Timur Bekmambetov. The film takes place entirely on computer screens. It premiered at the 68th Berlin International Film Festival where it won the Panorama Audience Award.

While his character on the show Spooks is a technological expert, in real life Latif is a self-proclaimed technophobe.[3]

• Shazad Latif at IMDb