Introduction
David Avery is a British film, television and theatre actor. He is best known for The Night Manager, Starred Up and Borderline.
Background
Avery was born April 6, 1986 in Birmingham, England. He attended Baverstock Secondary School in Druids Heath, Birmingham until 2002. After graduating he relocated to North London with his immediate family. In 2007 he auditioned for the Acting for Screen masters course at the Central School of Speech and Drama. Avery successfully earned a place on the one year course led by Amanda Brennan.
Career
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 Pictures International, was one of the first online web series to make the transition to UK television. 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. 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".
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. 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. The shows popularity got the attention of London Live (TV channel) 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.
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 edition 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. 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. The film was directed by David Mackenzie and went on to win various awards including Best Feature Film at BAFTA Scotland 2014.
His career gained momentum in 2016 with a stand out performance as Freddie Hamid in BBC/AMC's The Night Manager. The British-American television series is based on the 1993 novel of the same name by John le Carre and has been updated to present day. The series was directed by Susanne Bier and lead cast include Tom Hiddleston, Hugh Laurie and Olivia Coleman. The series to date has 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."
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.
Filmography
Television
| 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 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 | 1.04, 2.JIW | |
| 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 Mansour | 6 episodes | |
| The Dumping Ground | Kingsley Jackson | Episode 4.20 | |
| 2017 | Liar | Officer Brown | 2 episodes |
| Cormoran Strike | Nico Kolovas-Jones | 2 episodes "The Cuckoo's Calling" | |
| Borderline | Tariq Mansour | 6 episodes |
Film
| 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
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