Barkhad Abdi

Acting

Barkhad Abdi

Born 1985-04-10 · Mogadishu, Somalia

Barkhad Abdi (Somali: Barkhad Cabdi, IPA:[bàrxád̪ ʕábd̪ì]; born April 10, 1985) is a Somali-American actor. He made his acting debut as the pirate Abduwali Muse in the biographical drama film Captain Phillips (2013), which earned him a British Academy Film Award for Best Actor in a Supporting Role, along with Academy Award, Golden Globe Award, and Screen Actors Guild Award nominations. Following his breakthrough, Abdi appeared in the films Eye in the Sky (2015), Good Time (2017), The Pirates of Somalia (2017), and Blade Runner 2049 (2017). Outside of film, he was featured as a series regular on the second season of the Hulu horror anthology Castle Rock (2019) and had a recurring role in the Showtime satirical comedy series The Curse (2023). Description above from the Wikipedia article Barkhad Abdi, licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia.

Acting credits

Blade Runner 2049 poster
7.6

Thirty years after the events of the first film, a new blade runner, LAPD Officer K, unearths a long-buried secret that has the potential to plunge what's left of society into chaos. K's discovery leads him on a quest to find Rick Deckard, a former LAPD blade runner who has been missing for 30 years.

Blade Runner 2049

2017

Good Time poster
7.2

After a botched bank robbery lands his younger brother in prison, Connie Nikas embarks on a twisted odyssey through New York City's underworld to get his brother Nick out of jail.

Good Time

2017

Captain Phillips poster
7.5

The true story of Captain Richard Phillips and the 2009 hijacking by Somali pirates of the US-flagged MV Maersk Alabama, the first American cargo ship to be hijacked in two hundred years.

Captain Phillips

2013

Grimsby poster
6.0

Wrongfully accused and on the run, a top MI6 assassin joins forces with his long-lost, football hooligan brother to save the world from a sinister plot.

Grimsby

2016

Eye in the Sky poster
7.0

A UK-based military officer in command of a top secret drone operation to capture terrorists in Kenya discovers the targets are planning a suicide bombing and the mission escalates from “capture” to “kill.” As American pilot Steve Watts is about to engage, a nine-year old girl enters the kill zone, triggering an international dispute reaching the highest levels of US and British government over the moral, political, and personal implications of modern warfare.

Eye in the Sky

2015

Extortion poster
6.1

A doctor desperately tries to save his wife and their 5 year old son after their vacation in the Bahamas takes an unexpected turn.

Extortion

2017

The Pirates of Somalia poster
6.8

After an inspiring chance encounter with his idol, rookie journalist Jay Bahadur uproots his life and moves to Somalia looking for the story of a lifetime. Hooking up with a local fixer, he attempts to get embedded with the local Somali pirates, only to quickly find himself in over his head.

The Pirates of Somalia

2017

Agent Game poster
5.0

Harris, a CIA interrogator at an Agency black site, finds himself the target of a rendition operation after being scapegoated for an interrogation gone horribly wrong. As the team tasked to bring Harris in begins to question their orders -- and each other --Olsen, a senior intelligence officer, and his subordinate, Visser, raise the stakes. Now, it's up to Harris and some newfound allies to uncover the truth and turn the tables.

Agent Game

2022

The Extraordinary Journey of the Fakir poster
6.9

Ajatashatru Lavash Patel has lived all his life in a small Mumbai neighborhood tricking people with street magic and fakir stunts. He sets out on a journey to find his estranged father but instead gets dragged on a never-ending adventure.

The Extraordinary Journey of the Fakir

2018

Run poster
3.4

The film follows a boat carrying migrants from various African countries through the Mediterranean sea to Italy. When the boat loses orientation and goes off course, things turn violent as the migrants blame the smugglers. After finally making it to shore, the desperate passengers try to evade police and a few manage to get away.

Run

2025

Beneath a Sea of Lights poster
5.9

A Somali billboard repairman working in Dubai decides he wants to experience some of the products advertised on his billboards. It’s an experience that begins innocently enough, but quickly spins out of control, especially when a con man enters the picture.

Beneath a Sea of Lights

2020

Tyson's Run poster
7.7

When fifteen-year-old Tyson attends public school for the first time, his life is changed forever. While helping his father clean up after the football team, Tyson befriends champion marathon runner Aklilu. Never letting his autism hold him back, Tyson becomes determined to run his first marathon in hopes of winning his father's approval. With the help of an unlikely friend and his parents, Tyson learns that with faith in yourself and the courage to take the first step, anything is possible.

Tyson's Run

2022

No artwork available
NR

Set in the near future, a retired soldier’s isolated existence is shattered when a runaway female android seeks refuge on his farm.

Synthetic

Capturing Captain Phillips poster
6.5

A vast and detailed look into the behind the scenes of Captain Phillips (2013). Paul Greengrass, Tom Hanks, cast and crew members of the film takes us to a tour inside the ship and its actual location, the concept and creation of the film's most intense and dramatic sequences, and as usual, stories about the making the film which also highlights the four newcomers who played the important parts of the Somali pirates.

Capturing Captain Phillips

2014

No artwork available
NR

Struggling barge skipper Jan takes on an urgent shipment of sand from Dunkirk to Rotterdam in a last attempt to save himself from financial ruin. Shortly after setting off, he discovers eleven refugees hidden in his cargo. As Jan races north along the canals, his unwanted passengers force him to confront a reality far removed from his own and to see life from a new perspective.

Maalstroom

No artwork available
NR

Lance is a sprinkler contractor in a drought-stricken desert boomtown whose life converges with a criminal duo, led by Abdi, who are hunting for a corpse that has resurfaced on the banks of a receding reservoir. Caught in a web of escalating tensions, false accusations, and buried secrets, Lance, his wife Elana, and estranged son Noah must navigate the pull of shady developer Whip, who partners with Saudi investors on a thirsty alfalfa growing venture, threatening the community’s dwindling water supply.

Alfalfa

A Girl from Mogadishu poster
5.8

The story of the life and times of Ifrah Ahmed, Somali-Irish campaigner against female genital mutilation and cutting.

A Girl from Mogadishu

2019

Wolf Who Cried Boy poster
1.0

A battle of wills ensues when a streetwise teenager trespasses on a dangerous scrapper's territory.

Wolf Who Cried Boy

2015

America; I Too poster
1.0

Three arrested and detained undocumented immigrants must navigate the system to fight impending deportation.

America; I Too

2017

The Making Of 'CAPTAIN PHILLIPS' Behind The Scenes poster
NR

The Making Of "CAPTAIN PHILLIPS". Behind The Scenes footage of the production

The Making Of 'CAPTAIN PHILLIPS' Behind The Scenes

2014

Magan's Fare poster
NR

Magan, a ride-share driver, takes an older woman back to her nursing home, to discover that the facility has given up her bed. Magan must now figure out what to do and decide how far he will go to help her.

Magan's Fare

2025