Selva Rasalingam

British film actor (born 1968)

Selva Rasalingam
Selva Rasalingam as Jesus in The Gospel of Luke (2016)
Born	1968 (age 55–56)^[1] Tottenham, London, England, U.K.
Alma mater	Guildhall School of Music and Drama
Occupation	Actor
Years active	1991–present

Selva Rasalingam is a British actor. He has appeared on stage in London's West End and the Royal Shakespeare Company, on television in Doctor Who, Luther and Hustle, and film in Damascus Cover, Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time and Skyfall in which he was a member of the stunts cast.^[2] He played the role of Jesus in the 2014 version of The Gospel of John.^[3]^[4]^[5]

Life

Selva Rasalingam was born in Tottenham in North London to a Tamil father and English mother.^[6] He trained at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama (1988–91), London.^[7]

Career

Rasalingam portrayed Jesus in The Gospel of John and the other three Gospels produced by the Lumo Project,^[8] which was well-received as dramatisation and academically for its Biblically accurate depiction. He studied diverse historical and academic sources in preparation for the role, and filming spanned five years.

Other stage appearances include An Adventure by Vinay Patel (The Bush Theatre) Guantanamo: Honor Bound to Defend Freedom in the West End, the award-winning The Riots (Tricycle Theatre), and Amir in Pulitzer-Prize winning play Disgraced (The English Theatre Frankfurt).

Performances

Filmography

The Way of the Wind (2022 film), as Jeroboam
Damascus Cover (2018 film), as Sabri
The Intent 2: The Come Up (2018 film), as Mehmet
Profile (2018 film), as Nabil
The Mummy (2017 film), as King Menehptre
The Gospel of Matthew (2016 film), as Jesus
The Gospel of Mark (2016 film), as Jesus
The Gospel of Luke (2016 film), as Jesus
Risen (2016 film), as James
The Gospel of John (2014 film), as Jesus
Skyfall (2012 film), as Silva's Mercenary
The Veteran (2011 film), as Fawwaz
The Devil's Double (2011 film), as Rokan
Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time (2010 film), as Persian Captain
Man About Dog (2005 film), as Sheik Aga Fayed
I Am Slave TV drama 2004, as Amir

Television

Bodies (2023 TV series) Netflix / as Prime Minister
Cœurs noirs (2022 TV series) France Télévisions / Mandarin Télévision / Prime Video as Major Hadar
D'argent et du sang (2022 TV series) Curiosa Films / Canal+ as The American
Ten Percent (2022 TV series) (2022 Amazon Prime Video) as Mark
The Good Karma Hospital (2022 ITV) as Amit
Doc Martin (2022 TV series) Buffalo Pictures / ITV as Professor Naveen Shukla
Honour (2020 ITV) as Ari Mahmod
Cursed (2020 Netflix) as Dizier
Doctors (2019 BBC) as Dave Masters
Versailles (2018 BBC / Canal+), as Barek
Eastenders (2018 BBC), as Umar Kazemi
Strike Back: Retribution (2018 Left Bank Pictures / Cinemax / Sky), as General Farid
Silent Witness - series 21 (2018 BBC), as Asst. Commissioner Khan
The Missing - series II (2016 BBC), as Azad
Luther - series III (2013 BBC), as Craig Lane
Run (2012 Acme Films for Channel 4), as Rakesh
Doctor Who (2012 BBC), as Ranjit
Hustle (TV series) VII, final episode (2012 Kudos Film and Television / BBC), as Barir
The Borgias (2011 TV series), (Showtime / Sky Atlantic), as Tommaso Carracci
Londyńczycy (2008 TVP1), as Zayed Rampal
Waking the Dead, (2008 BBC), as Rashid
Spooks, (2007 Kudos Film and Television / BBC), as Ranjit

Theatre

An Adventure, Bush Theatre, 2018, as Older Rasik
The Captive Queen, Sam Wanamaker Playhouse / Shakespeare's Globe, 2018, as Soleyman
Disgraced, The English Theatre Frankfurt, 2016, as Amir
The Nightmares of Carlos Fuentes, Arcola Theatre, 2014, as Kevin/Khaled
The Riots, Tricycle Theatre, 2012, as Mohammed Hammoudan
On the Record, Arcola Theatre, 2011, as Lasantha Wickrematunge
Guantanamo: Honor Bound to Defend Freedom, Ambassadors Theatre, 2004, as Moazzam Begg
Midnight's Children, Royal Shakespeare Company, 2003, as Shiva

Radio

Fall of the Shah, BBC Radio Drama, 2019
The Bethlehem Murders, BBC Radio 4 Drama, 2018
Tommies: 11 November 1917 (S8E2), BBC Radio 4 Drama, 2017
Tommies: 10 November 1917 (S8E1), BBC Radio 4 Drama, 2017
Midnight's Children, BBC Radio 4 Drama, 2017
Tommies: 2 December 1916 (S5E4), BBC Radio 4 Drama, 2016

Other

Watch Dogs: Legion, Ubisoft, 2020, Actor (voice)

References

^ Rasalingam at findmypast.co.uk
^ Edward Gunawardhana, Tina (11 April 2019). "A Thespian's Life". Hi Online. Retrieved 28 March 2020.
^ Peter T, Chattaway (26 November 2014). "New film based on John's gospel comes to Netflix next week". Patheos.com. Retrieved 21 September 2016.
^ "Jesus in words and pictures". King's College London. 12 March 2015. Retrieved 21 September 2016.
^ Edward N. McNulty Jesus Christ, Movie Star 2015 "Gospel of John (2014). With little fanfare, the Lumo Project released this second version of the fourth Gospel late in 2014 (to be followed by films of the other three Gospels in 2015). The director of the newest Jesus film is the noted TV producer David Batty. The text of John is read by Brian Cox (KJV) and David Harewood (NIV) as the actors act out the story ... The cast looks more ethnic than in other Jesus films, with the portrayal of Christ by Shakespearan actor Selva Rasalingam."
^ "Selva Rasalingam". University of Warwick. British Black and Asian Shakespeare Performance Database. Retrieved 13 June 2017.
^ Francis, Martin (12 December 2014). "Gospel films stick strictly to the text". Church Times. Retrieved 13 June 2017.
^ Jesse, Carey (26 January 2015). "Hollywood Jesuses: The Definitive Ranking". Relevant. Retrieved 13 June 2017.