Hugh Quarshie

Hugh Quarshie is a Ghanaian-born British actor. He is known for his long-running role as Ric Griffin on the BBC One medical drama Holby City (2001–20), and for playing Captain Panaka in the Star Wars film Episode I – The Phantom Menace. He is also known for stage roles with the Royal Shakespeare Company. His film work includes Highlander, Nightbreed, and Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald.

Early life and education Hugh Quarshie was born in Accra, Ghana. He emigrated with his family to the United Kingdom at the age of three.

He studied PPE at Christ Church, Oxford.

Career

Quarshie had considered becoming a journalist before taking up acting.

He has been a member of the Royal Shakespeare Company (RSC) since 1981 and an associate since 2005 and has appeared in many stage productions.

He has also appeared in many television programmes, including the serial Behaving Badly with Judi Dench. He is well known for playing the roles of Sunda Kastagir in Highlander, Captain Panaka in Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace, and Ric Griffin on the television series Holby City. He portrayed Lieutenant Obutu in Wing Commander.

He appeared in the 2007 two-part Doctor Who episode "Daleks in Manhattan"/"Evolution of the Daleks" as Solomon, the leader of the shanty town Hooverville. He headed the cast of Michele Soavi's The Church (1989) as Father Gus, and played Aaron the Moor in the BBC Television Shakespeare's Titus Andronicus.

Quarshie has also narrated for television. His work includes the 2006 documentary Mega Falls of Iguacu (about the Iguaçu Falls), the 2009 adaptation of Small Island, and the 2010 BBC Wildlife series The Great Rift: Africa's Wild Heart.

Personal life In September 2010, Quarshie featured in an episode of the television genealogy series Who Do You Think You Are?, in which he traced his Ghanaian and Dutch origins. The episode revealed that Quarshie is part of his country's old mixed-race elite as one of his ancestors, Pieter Martinus Johannes Kamerling, was a Dutch official on the Gold Coast. This also made him a distant relative of Dutch actor Antonie Kamerling.

Quarshie was a supporter of the Women's Equality Party. Awards and nominations In 1987, he was nominated for the Laurence Olivier Award for Best Actor and in 2022 he was nominated for the British Academy Television Award for Best Actor for playing Neville Lawrence in Stephen.

He has also won a Critics' Circle Theatre Award and an Emmy Award.

Filmography

Film

Year Title Role Notes 1980 The Dogs of War Zangaron Officer 1985 Baby: Secret of the Lost Legend Kenge Obe 1986 Highlander Sunda Kastagir 1989 La Chiesa Father Gus 1990 Nightbreed Detective Joyce 1999 Wing Commander Lieutenant Obutu Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace Captain Panaka 2000 It Was An Accident George Hurlock Threesome Dave Short film 2003 Conspiracy of Silence Fr Joseph Ennis, SJ 2011 Ghosted Ade 2012 Black Magic Short film 2013 The Meeting Jack 2018 Red Sparrow Simon Benford Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald Mustafa Kama 2020 What Matters Ewan Short film 2021 Fire Ants Ewen 2022 The Railway Children Return General HarrisonThe SonDr. Harris 2023 Book Club: The Next Chapter Ousmane 2024 The Return Imphinomous

Television

Theatre