Amrou Al-Kadhi
British-Iraqi writer, drag performer, and filmmaker
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Amrou Al-Kadhi (born 23 June 1990) is a British-Iraqi writer, actor, drag performer, and filmmaker whose work primarily focuses on queer identity, cultural representation and racial politics.
Amrou Al-Kadhi | |
|---|---|
Al-Kadhi at the 2024 Sundance Film Festival | |
| Born | 23 June 1990 London, England |
| Alma mater | Cambridge University |
| Notable work | Life as a Unicorn |
Early life and education
Al-Kadhi was born in London to a tight-knit conservative Iraqi Muslim family. They were brought up in Dubai and Bahrain, before the family moved back to London.[1] Al-Kadhi claims that discovering marine biology and quantum physics helped them understand their queer identity.[2][3] Al-Kadhi has a twin brother.[4]
In 2006, Al-Kadhi was awarded a two-year scholarship to Eton College, where they did their A-levels,[1][5] then graduated from the University of Cambridge with a BA and MPhil in the History of Art.[6]
Al-Kadhi's stage name is Glamrou. It was at the University of Cambridge that they discovered drag, organising events and becoming a "drag mother" to their fellow drag queens in the university's first professional drag band. While at Cambridge, they created and led the musical comedy drag troupe Denim,[7] for which they co-wrote and performed in shows.[8] More recently, they have left the troupe in order to concentrate on solo performance in a show called Glamrou: From Quran to Queen.[1]
Career
Films
Al-Kadhi's first acting role, at the age of fourteen, was in Steven Spielberg's film Munich, where they played the role of an Islamic terrorist's son. They have commented that, as an Arab actor, they have been approached to play the role of a terrorist almost thirty times.[9]
Al-Kadhi's feature directorial debut Layla, with Film 4 and Fox Cub Films, premiered at the 2024 Sundance Film Festival.
In 2021, Al-Kadhi appeared in the Sony's Spider-Man Universe (SSU) film Venom: Let There Be Carnage as a temporary host of the alien symbiote Venom after he separates from Eddie Brock.
Television
Al-Kadhi has three TV series in development: as writer and creator, Targets, with BBC Drama, as star, co-creator and co-writer, Nefertiti, a comedy series in development with Big Talk Productions, and as co-star, co-creator and co-writer, Beards, in development with Playground Entertainment.
Writing
Al-Kadhi's autobiography, Life as a Unicorn: A Journey From Shame to Pride and Everything In Between, was published in 2019 and tells the story of their estrangement from and final reconciliation with their mother and Islam.[10][11] In 2020, the autobiography won the Society of Authors' Somerset Maugham Award.[12]
They write a fortnightly opinion column for The Independent, and a monthly column in Gay Times.[13] They have also contributed to GQ,[14] The Guardian, Attitude, CNN and Little White Lies.[15] Al-Kadhi writes on topics ranging from queer identity and Islamophobia to the philosophy of marine biology and film criticism.
Personal life
Al-Kadhi is queer and non-binary.[16]
Filmography
Film
| Title | Year | Role | Production |
|---|---|---|---|
| Nightstand | 2016 | Writer and performer | |
| Clash | 2017 | Director and writer | BBC4 Broadcast, BFI, Revry[17] |
| Run(a)way Arab | 2017 | Director and writer | Peccadillo Pictures & Revry[17] |
| Victoria Sin | 2017 | Director and writer | Nowness, Revry[17] |
| Anemone | 2018 | Director and writer | BBC films and Film London[17] |
| Christopher Robin | 2018 | Actor, Nemir Azizi (London Ticket Attendant) | |
| Venom: Let There Be Carnage | 2021 | Actor, Venom (Host Two) | Cameo appearance |
| Layla | 2024 | Director and writer |
Television
| Year | Title | Role | Production |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2018 | Hollyoaks | Writer of episodes 5032, 5092, 5180 and 5275 | Channel 4 |
| 2019 | Little America | Co-writer of "The Son" episode | Apple Original Series/Universal Television |
| 2021 | The Watch | Co-writer, episode 106 | BBC America / BBC Studios[18] |
| 2023 | American Horror Stories | Anna Rexhia season 3 episode 1 "Bestie" | FX on Hulu |
Stage
- 2016, Denim Titanique
Amrou Al-Kadhi performs as Glamrou in Glamrou: From Quran to Queen at the Soho Theatre in September 2022 - 2016, Denim, The Vault Festival[19]
- 2017, Denim: World Tour, Underbelly, Edinburgh Fringe[15]
- 2018, The Denim Juniors, Soho Theatre, Edinburgh Fringe[20]
- 2018, Denim: The Reunion Tour, Soho Theatre[21]
- 2021-22: Glamrou: From Quran to Queen, Soho Theatre[22]
Books
- 2019: Unicorn: The Memoir of a Muslim Drag Queen[23] (4th Estate, HarperCollins UK)Hardback / ISBN 978-0-00-830606-9
- 2022: Life as a Unicorn: A Journey from Shame to Pride and Everything in Between[24](4th Estate, HarperCollins UK)Paperback / ISBN 978-0-00-830610-6
Awards and honours
In June 2020, in honour of the 50th anniversary of the first LGBTQ Pride parade, Queerty named Al-Kadhi among the fifty heroes "leading the nation toward equality, acceptance, and dignity for all people".[25][26] In 2020 Al-Kadhi won the Polari First Book Prize for their memoir Life as a Unicorn.[27]