Updated 11.21.07

Alexander Siddig played Dr. Julian Bashir, a graduate of Starfleet Medical and a brilliant specialist in multi-species medicine. He graduated second in his class and could have gone anywhere, but due to his naivete and his zealous expectations of adventure, he chose the remote space station Deep Space Nine. "Julian is a humanist, and a bit of a philosopher," according to Siddig. "He's confident and incredibly enthusiastic about medicine. Although, along with that level of confidence, there is a certain youthful arrogance as well."

Siddig possesses the distinction of being the first major Star Trek cast member native to the African continent, having been born in Sudan before moving to England. His mother is British, and acting runs in the family — his uncle is actor Malcolm McDowell (who played Dr. Tolian Soran in "Star Trek Generations").

Background

After growing up in England and attending the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Arts (LAMDA) he worked in the theatre as an actor and director, but he did have a backup plan in case his acting career didn't pan out. "If I didn't make it as an actor, I might go to the Sudan and help out," Siddig has said. "And if I were a geographer and anthropologist, I would be pretty much equipped to go and do some stuff there. It's all about land management. It's about soil types and such. So I started learning that and I found geography to be way too hard, and anthropology way too easy!"

His acting talents rendered that plan unnecessary. On stage he appeared as the lead in such productions as "Hamlet" and "Arthur." Upon completion of the three-year program at LAMDA, he joined the Manchester Library Theater in London, where he appeared in productions of "Brother Eichemann" and "Sinbad the Sailor."

Still in London, Siddig then went on to try his hand at directing, and made his directorial debut at the Arts Threshold Theater with productions of "Lotus and the Rats" and "Julius Caesar." During this period he was called back to acting, only this time on television. In 1991, Siddig made his TV debut in the independent British television production of "The Big Battalions," a three-part drama. He also appeared in "A Dangerous Man: Lawrence After Arabia" which aired on PBS.

DS9 Journey

When Star Trek producer Rick Berman saw a bearded Siddig's work in "A Dangerous Man," he imagined the actor playing the part of Benjamin Sisko on DS9, but upon meeting a clean-shaven Siddig in person, he knew the actor was too young to be the father of a teen, and cast him as Dr. Bashir.

For the first three years of the show, he was credited as "Siddig El Fadil," but later changed the name to the simpler-for-western-audiences-to-pronounce "Alexander Siddig." While on the show, he began a romance with costar Nana Visitor ("Kira Nerys") which resulted not only in a marriage between Star Trek co-stars (a first) but a son, Django El Tahir El Siddig. The couple divorced in 2001 but have both spoken at conventions about their continuing friendship and amicability.

Drawing upon his stage experience, Siddig tried his hand at directing for television when he helmed two Ferengi-centric episodes of DS9, "Business as Usual" and "Profit and Lace."

Rising Star

Since DS9's finale, Siddig — or "Sid" — has seen his star rise in increasingly high-profile projects and roles, first in the big-screen action movies "Vertical Limit" and "Reign of Fire" and the British television series Spooks. Then in 2005 he made a big splash in Stephen Gaghan's "Syriana" (with Christopher Plummer and Robert Foxworth) and Ridley Scott's "Kingdom of Heaven," in each playing a character named "Nasir." Also in 2005, he was back on stage again co-starring with Kim Cattrall in the West End theatre production of "Whose Life Is It Anyway."

In 2006, Sid starred in the title role of the BBC historical drama about ancient Rome, "Hannibal" (which co-starred Ben Cross, now cast as the new "Sarek"). Then in December of that year, we saw him as "Gabriel," the archangel who appears to Mary of Nazareth with some startling news, in "The Nativity Story."

Transitioning quickly to a completely different role, Sid joined the cast of 24 in the 2007 season as a terrorist who tries to cooperate with the U.S. government (with Manny Coto as executive producer and James Cromwell as another guest star). Then he was back in theaters and back to ancient Rome as "Theodorus Andronikos" in "The Last Legion" (coming to DVD December 18, 2007).

In 2007 Sid worked with his uncle Malcolm McDowell to film "Doomsday," a futuristic action thriller directed by Neil Marshall, starring Bob Hoskins and Rhona Mitra. The story takes place 30 years in the future, about attempts to contain and cure a deadly plague which threatens to wipe out humanity. Siddig and McDowell filmed the movie in South Africa and the U.K. early in the year, and it was previewed at Comic-Con in July. Theatrical release is expected sometime in 2008.

For more information about all of Sid's latest projects, visit SidCity.net.