Naveen William Sidney Andrews (born 17 January 1969) is a British and American actor. He is best known for his role as Sayid Jarrah in the television series Lost (2004–2010), for which he was nominated for a Golden Globe Award and a Primetime Emmy Award, as well as winning a Screen Actors Guild Award along with the cast. He has also appeared in films such as The English Patient (1996), Mighty Joe Young (1998), Rollerball (2002), Bride and Prejudice (2004), Planet Terror (2007), The Brave One (2007), and Diana (2013). In 2022, he portrayed Ramesh "Sunny" Balwani in the Hulu miniseries The Dropout.
Early life Andrews was born on 17 January 1969 in Lambeth, London, to Nirmala, a psychologist, and Stanley Andrews, a businessman, both immigrants from Kerala, India. He was raised in the Methodist Church of Great Britain. In 1985, when he was 16, Andrews began a relationship with the 30-year-old Geraldine Feakins.
Career Andrews auditioned for drama school and was accepted at London's Guildhall School of Music and Drama. His studies paid off when he won a role in Hanif Kureishi's film London Kills Me (1991). Andrews starred in the 1993 BBC miniseries Buddha of Suburbia. He portrayed Kip Singh in The English Patient (1996), and Sayid Jarrah in the television series Lost (2004–10).
In 2006, he was voted one of People magazine's World's Most Beautiful People.
He starred in Kama Sutra: A Tale of Love (1996), Mighty Joe Young (1998), and Bride and Prejudice (2004). He has also appeared in films such as Rollerball (2002), Planet Terror (2007), The Brave One (2007), and Diana (2013).
He was Jafar in the American fantasy drama Once Upon a Time in Wonderland (2013–14). In 2014, he provided the voice of Sabal in the video game Far Cry 4. From 2015 to 2017, he starred in the series Sense8, (created by The Wachowskis and J. Michael Straczynski) as Jonas. From 2018 to 2019, he co-starred as ex-MI6 and CIA officer Julian Cousins in the series Instinct, alongside Alan Cumming and Bojana Novakovic. In 2022 Andrews co-starred with Amanda Seyfried as Theranos COO Sunny Balwani in the Hulu limited series The Dropout. In February 2025, it was announced that Andrews would voice the title role of Khan Noonien Singh in the scripted audio drama series Star Trek: Khan.
Personal life Andrews's relationship with Geraldine Feakins lasted from 1985 to 1991. Their son, Jaisal Andrews, was born in 1992. He was later in a relationship with actress Barbara Hershey in Los Angeles, starting in 1998. The couple separated briefly in 2005 and, during that time, Andrews had a son with Czech-French actress Elena Eustache. He and Hershey later reconciled, but in 2010, they announced that they had separated. Andrews was in a long custody dispute with Eustache over their son, and on 7 January 2009, he was granted sole legal and physical custody.
Andrews has spoken about his alcoholism and his two-year addiction to heroin in the mid-1990s. He has described an incident in which he collapsed on set and was treated by emergency services.
He plays guitar and sings, while tap dancing to his own tune as a hobby. He became a naturalised U.S. citizen on 27 May 2010.
Filmography Film
Year Title Role Notes 1991 London Kills Me Bike 1992 Wild West Zaf Double Vision Jimmy 1996 Kama Sutra: A Tale of Love Raj Singh The English Patient Kip Singh 1997 True Love and Chaos Hanif 1998 Bombay Boys Krishna Mighty Joe Young Pindi 1999 Drowning on Dry Land Darshan 2000 A Question of Faith William 2002 Rollerball Sanjay 2003 Easy John Kalicharan 2004 Bride and Prejudice Balraj 2006 Provoked: A True Story Deepak Ahluwalia 2007 Grindhouse Dr. John "Abby" Abbington Segment: Planet Terror The Brave One Dr. David Kirmani 2008 Animals Vic 2013 Diana Dr. Hasnat Khan 2025 Last Days Sonny
Television Year Title Role Notes 1993 The Buddha of Suburbia Karim Amir 4 episodes 1996 The Peacock Spring Ravi Battacharya Television film 1998 My Own Country Dr. Abraham Verghese 2000 The Chippendales Murder Steve Banerjee 2001 The Beast Tamir Naipaul Episode: "The Price" 2003 Future Tense Miles Gupta Unsold TV pilot 2004–2010 Lost Sayid Jarrah 98 episodes 2006 The Ten Commandments Menerith Television film 2010 Law & Order: Special Victims Unit Detective Ash Ramsey Episode: "Shadow" 2012 Sinbad Lord Akbari 7 episodes 2013–2014 Once Upon a Time in Wonderland Jafar 13 episodes 2015–2018 Sense8 Jonas Maliki 18 episodes 2018–2019 Instinct Julian Cousins 21 episodes 2022 The Dropout Ramesh "Sunny" Balwani 8 episodesThe Cleaning LadyRobert Kamdar5 episodes2024Last King of the CrossRay Kinnock8 episodesThe Pradeeps of PittsburghMahesh Pradeep8 episodes
Video games Year Title Role Notes 2014 Far Cry 4 Sabal
Audio YearTitleRoleNotes2024The Seneschal: A Rebel Moon StoryGrigoryMain role2025Star Trek: KhanKhan Noonien SinghMain role
Awards and nominations Year Association Category Project Result Ref.1996 Screen Actors Guild Award Outstanding Cast in a Motion Picture The English Patient 2005 Primetime Emmy Award Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series Lost 2006 Golden Globe Award Best Supporting Actor - Television 2006 Screen Actors Guild Award Outstanding Ensemble in a Drama Series 2022 Hollywood Critics Association Best Supporting Actor in a Limited Series or Movie The Dropout
References
External links