Edward George Skrein is an English actor, film director, screenwriter and rapper. He rose to wide international success with his music, before becoming known as an actor in independent films or television series. On the years that followed, he became famous for portraying Daario Naharis in the third season of the television series Game of Thrones. Skrein later rose to even greater recognition with portraying the villain Francis Freeman/Ajax in the superhero-comedy film, Deadpool. Skrein went on replacing Jason Statham in the action film The Transporter: Refueled and later portrayed the cocky cyborg bounty hunter Zappan in . He later starred as Leut. Dick Best in the war film Midway. Skrien later made his feature film debut with the short filmLittle River Run, which he released on his Instagram.
In 2004, Skrein released a three track EP under the record labelDented Records. In 2007, he released his first album, The Eat Up. He has collaborated with a variety of artists including Foreign Beggars, Asian Dub Foundation, Plan B, Dubbledge and Doc Brown. Later that year, Skrein released a collaborative EP, Pre-Emptive Nostalgia, with the group A State of Mind. In 2009 Skrein collaborated with rapper Dr Syntax to bring the collaborative album Scene Stealers under the name Skreintax.
Acting
Skrein made his acting debut in Plan B's short film Michelle. Skrein got his first lead role in Plan B's Ill Manors. Skrein portrayed Daario Naharis in the third season of the television series Game of Thrones. However, in the fourth season of the series, he was replaced by Dutch actor Michiel Huisman. Skrein states that it was not his choice to leave the show. In 2014, Skrein was cast in , replacing Jason Statham as the lead. Though the film was critically panned, his performance was praised. In 2016, Skrein played the lead villain, Ajax, in the blockbuster action film Deadpool. In 2017 Skrien also appeared in the music video for 'Eye Contact' by Ocean Wisdom playing the bad guy. In 2018, Skrein starred in psychological revenge thriller, In Darkness, alongside Natalie Dormer and Stacy Martin; principal photography began in early 2016. He was slated to star in the Hellboy reboot as Ben Daimio, a Japanese-American character; after controversy over his casting, Skrein announced on Twitter that he was stepping down from the role in the hopes an actor of the proper ethnicity would be cast. On November 8, 2019, he starred in Roland Emmerich’s blockbuster movieMidway, co-starring Mandy Moore, Patrick Wilson, Luke Evans, Aaron Eckhart, Nick Jonas, Dennis Quaid and Woody Harrelson.
Directing and Writing
Skrein made his feature film debut by directing and writing the short drama filmLittle River Run which he released on July 20, 2020 at his Instagram.
