Simon Kassianides

Simon Mario Kassianides is an English actor, film director, producer and screenwriter.

Early life

Kassianides was born in London, of Greek Cypriot origin, the son of Helen and Mario Kassianides, both business owners. Kassianides has an older brother, Photis Kassianides, who works in finance.

Kassianides was brought up in Clapham and educated at Dulwich College. At the University of Edinburgh he was the producer and executive producer of a sold out run of Grease at the George Square theatre. Profits were donated to the Macmillan Cancer Support.

Career

In 2002, soon after Kassianides graduated with honours in International Business with Finance and while in London helping his mother open Urban Coffee, a fair trade and organic coffee shop in Tooting Broadway, he was spotted by BAFTA award-winning producer Piers Vellacott.

Kassianides started a course at London's Central School of Speech and Drama but had to leave after being offered a role in the Tennessee Williams' play Night of the Iguana. His performance as Pedro was acclaimed by critics.

Soon after, Kassianides was noted as an actor to watch in a BBC documentary called Making it at Holby.

Since then, Kassianides has appeared in a number of television episodes in the USA and UK, including Casualty, My Life in Film, Plane Spotting, Ultimate Force, Spooks, Recovery, Holby Blue, Suburban Shootout, The Kylie Show, Ashes to Ashes, The Passion, The Fixer, Love Soup, Hustle, Law and Order UK, Nikita, Burn Notice, and Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.

Kassianides has also appeared in several international films such as The Edge of Love, Wuthering Heights, Between Two Fires, Quantum of Solace and Smooch.

In 2010, Kassianides produced, directed and starred in Geezas, a film he completed in record time and within budget. The film made the official selection of the 2012 Hollywood Film Festival, selling out The Arclight Movie Theatre in Hollywood at its premiere. In 2012, Simon Kassianides was for Geezas, which won "Best Actor" and "Best Supporting Actress" at the 2013 British Independent Film Festival. Kassianides directed first time actors who won against the likes of Martin Freeman (The Hobbit) and Anne-Marie Duff (Nowhere Boy).

His work rate and ethic was spotted by the administrators of the Michael Cacoyannis Foundation —created by Michael Cacoyannis, director of Zorba the Greek, to help and promote Greek artists—and was appointed a Global Consultant and Representative of the Foundation in 2012.

Filmography Year Title Role Notes 2004 Casualty Steve Lyon 2005 Ultimate Force Juan 2006 Spooks Mourad 2007 Holby Blue Nico Osman 2008 The Fixer Saban Zira 2008 The Edge of Love Partisan 2008 Quantum of Solace Yusef Kabira 2009 Hustle Tracer 2010 Between Two Fires Ali 2011 Smooch Percy / Flynn 2011, 2013 Nikita Ramon 2011 Geezas Eddie 2012 Burn Notice George Anders 2013 Desert Dancer Sattar 2014 How to Train Your Dragon 2 No-Name Voice 2014–2015, 2017 Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. Sunil Bakshi 2015 Zoo Jean-Michel Lion 2015 Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain Soldiers / Extras 2017 Unforgettable Michael Vargas 2017 Criminal Minds: Beyond Borders Jeffrey Khan 2018 Assassin's Creed Odyssey Stentor Also voices Hades in the DLC 2019 Cliffs of Freedom Gregory 2019Pearson Nick D'Amato Main Cast 2019 Red Shoes and the Seven Dwarfs Arthur Voice 2020, 2023 The Mandalorian Axe Woves 4 episodes 2025 Blood of Zeus Orpheus Voice; 2 episodes