Amrou Al-Khadi
Amrou Al-Kadhi is a British-Iraqi writer, drag performer, and filmmaker whose work focuses on queer identity, cultural representation and racial politics.
Upbringing
Amrou Al-Kadhi was born on 23 June 1990 into a tight-knit conservative Iraqi Muslim family in London. He was brought up in Dubai and Bahrain, before the family moved back to London. He claims that discovering marine biology and quantum physics helped him to understand his queer identity. He has a twin brother.Education
In 2006, Amrou Al-Khadi was awarded a two-year scholarship to Eton College where he did his A-levels, then graduated from the University of Cambridge with a BA and M.Phil in the History of Art.Films
His first acting role, at the age of 14, was in Steven Spielberg's film Munich, where he played the role of an Islamic terrorist's son. He has commented that, as an Arab actor, he has been approached to play the role of a terrorist almost thirty times.He has two feature films in development - as writer/director, "Layla", with Film 4 & Fox Cub Films and "Oh, Molly" with BBC Films & Sarah Brocklehurst Productions.
| Year | Title | Role | Production |
| 2018 | Christopher Robin | Actor, Nemir Azizi | |
| 2018 | Anenome | Director and writer | BBC films and Film London |
| 2017 | Victoria Sin | Director and writer | Nowness, Revry |
| 2017 | Runway Arab | Director and writer | Peccadillo Pictures & Revry |
| 2017 | Clash | Director and writer | BBC4 Broadcast, BFI, Revry |
| 2016 | Nightstand | Writer and performer |
Television
Amrou has two TV-series in development - as star, co-creator and co-writer, "Nefertiti", a comedy series in development with Big Talk Productions, and as co-star, co-creator and co-writer, "Beards", in development with Playground Entertainment.| Year | Title | Role | Production |
| 2020 | The Watch | Co-writer, episode 106 | BBC America / BBC Studios |
| 2019 | Little America | Co-writer of 'The Son' episode | Apple Original Series/Universal Television |
| 2018 | Hollyoaks | Writer of episodes 5032, 5092, 5180 and 5275 | Channel 4 |
Theatre
Amrou's stage name is Glamrou. While at Cambridge University, he created and led the musical comedy drag troupe Denim, for which he co-wrote and performed in the following shows. More recently has left the troupe in order to concentrate on solo performance in a show called Glamrou: From Quran to Queen.| Year | Title | Role | Venue | Producer |
| 2018 | Denim: The Reunion Tour | Co-writer, perfomer | Soho Theatre | United Agents |
| 2018 | The Denim Juniors | Co-writer, perfomer | Soho Theatre, Edinburgh Fringe | United Agents |
| 2017 | Denim: World Tour | Co-writer, perfomer | Underbelly, Edinburgh Fringe | |
| 2016 | Denim | Co-writer, perfomer | The Vault Festival | |
| 2016 | Denim Titanique | Co-writer, perfomer | RC Granville & United Music |
Writing
His autobiography, Unicorn: Memoirs of a Muslim Drag Queen was published in 2019 and tells the story of his estrangement from and final reconciliation with his mother and Islam. In 2020, it won the Society of Authors' Somerset Maugham Award.He writes a fortnightly opinion column for The Independent, and a monthly column in Gay Times. He has also contributed to GQ, The Guardian, Attitude, CNN and Little White Lies. He writes on topics ranging from queer identity and Islamophobia, to the philosophy of marine biology and film criticism.