Qasim Akhtar

Akhtar was born and raised in Burnage, Manchester to a British Pakistani family. ^[1] Since childhood, Akhtar had an interest in acting. He trained at the Manchester School of Acting.^[2]

Prior to making his breakthrough appearance in Shameless, Akhtar had his first acting experience through the 2006-released Mischief Night, written and directed by Penny Woolcock, and in the film, he stars as Asif Khan.^[3]

Akhtar gained prominence through his role as Chesney Karib in Shameless, appearing in 85 episodes between 2007 and 2013. This was followed by two different roles in Waterloo Road: Aron in 2007 and Wayne Bodley in 2011.^[4]

In 2014, Akhtar joined the cast of the long-running soap opera Coronation Street as Zeedan Nazir, a son of Kal Nazir (played by Jimi Mistry).^[5] Upon his first exit of the show in 2018, Akhtar began another stint within the show in 2021 but exited again in February 2023.^[6]

Akhtar was injured in a quad bike accident in 2018 and took up fitness.^[7] He leads a relatively private life but he has expressed his platform being used to discuss the state of representation of British Asian actors in television and film.^[8] In July 2026, he was awarded damages from the The Sun newspaper to settle a libel claim at the High Court of Justice.^[9]

He was nominated as Best Newcomer at the British Soap Awards for his work on the role of Zeedan Nazir in Coronation Street.^[10] The depiction of the complex characters from cultures similar to his has been applauded for bringing authenticity to the British TV.^[11]