Kosar Ali
Ali in 2020
Born (2003-12-21) 21 December 2003 (age 20)
London, England
OccupationActress
Years active2019–present

Kosar Ali (born 21 December 2003)[1] is a British actress. Her debut role in the 2019 film Rocks leading her with a nomination at only 17 for Best Supporting Actress at the 74th British Academy Film Awards whilst also being the youngest recipient to win two British Independent Film Awards. She plays Victoire in Dangerous Liaisons on Starz.

Early and personal life

Ali lives in Newham, East London. She comes from a large British Somali Muslim family she had no acting experience before being street cast.[2]

Career

Ali was discovered at her school when she was 13 years old by director Sarah Gavron and casting director Lucy Pardee as they were street casting for the film Rocks.[3][4] The actresses were given a story outline, but no dialogue, and worked chronologically with Gavron and the writers, Theresa Ikoko and Claire Wilson. Occasionally the actresses were not even told the cameras were rolling; they naturally fell into conversations that were filmed without the director calling "action" or "cut". Gavron said that she even reshot a classroom scene which Ali told her was not working authentically.[1]

The film premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival in 2019 and opened in Britain on 18 September 2020.[5] For her work on this film Ali was nominated at the British Academy and Film awards in the Best Supporting Actress category being the first hijabi woman to be nominated for this. Ali also was one of the youngest actors to win two British Independent Film Awards (BIFA), for 'supporting actress' and 'most promising newcomer', in February 2021.[6]

In 2021, Ali starred in a BBC comedy short, PRU, about unruly adolescents in the British system; the title stands for Pupil Referral Unit, an alternative schooling system for badly behaved students.[7][8]

In 2022, she plays the leading role of Victoire in the Starz television series Dangerous Liaisons.[9]

In 2023 she starred in two short films Muna and Luna as well as her debut performance in WorldPlay at the royal court theatre which she has had critical acclaim for.

Accolades

Year Award Category Result Ref
2021 British Independent Film Awards BIFA Award for Best Supporting Actress Won
Most Promising Newcomer Won [10]
British Academy Film Awards Best Actress in a Leading Role Nominated [7][11][12]

Filmography

Year Title Role Notes
2019 Rocks Sumaya Debut role; Ali was one of the youngest winners of 2 British Independent Film Awards
2021 PRU Hanna 1 episode
2022 Dangerous Liaisons Victoire 8 episodes
2023 Muna Muna
2023 Luna
2023 [[WORDPLAY (Theatre)|royal court

References

  1. ^ a b Harrison, Ellie (25 October 2020). "Rocks star Kosar Ali: 'People can't decide if they want black women to be their shield or their target'". The Independent. Retrieved 25 November 2022.
  2. ^ Williams, Holly (8 March 2020). "Rocks stars: meet the teenage cast of the hot new British film". the Guardian. Retrieved 25 November 2022.
  3. ^ Tutt, Louise (30 March 2021). "'Rocks' stars Bukky Bakray and Kosar Ali talk acting inspirations, future plans". Screen Daily.
  4. ^ Godfrey, Alex (10 March 2021). "How Lucy Pardee spots future film stars in the wild". The Telegraph. Archived from the original on 19 April 2021.
  5. ^ McCann, Allison (September 18, 2020). "The Nigerian-British Writer Putting Black Joy on Stage and Screen". New York Times.
  6. ^ Minelle, Bethany (19 February 2021). "Rocks: Cast of unknowns wins big at British Independent Film Awards". Sky News. Archived from the original on 2021-03-10.
  7. ^ a b Kemp, Ella (9 March 2021). "Meet Kosar Ali – the BAFTA-nominated teen star of 'Rocks'". NME. Retrieved 25 November 2022.
  8. ^ Dahir, Ikran (23 March 2021). "'PRU' Star Kosar Ali Explained That Controversial Somali Lesbian Line". BuzzFeed News. Retrieved 25 November 2022.
  9. ^ Roth, Jaclyn. "Kosar Ali Found Herself Through Acting: 'It's A Nice Feeling To Belong Somewhere'". Grazia US. Retrieved 25 November 2022.
  10. ^ "Winners & Nominations". BIFA. 4 December 2020. Retrieved 13 March 2021.
  11. ^ Sherwin, Adam (9 March 2021). "Bafta 2021 nominations: Rocks star Bukky Bakray and Daniel Kaluuya lead breakthrough year for diverse talent". INews. Retrieved 13 March 2021.
  12. ^ Maher, Kevin (8 April 2021). "Rocks, the teenage Britflick that became the awards darling". The Times. Retrieved 25 November 2022.

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