Shazad Latif

Real world article

(written from a production point of view)

Shazad Latif
Birth name:	Shazad Khaliq Iqbal
Date of birth:	8 July 1988
Place of birth:	London, England, UK
Roles:	Actor
Character(s):	Ash Tyler; Additional characters

Shazad Latif (born 8 July 1988; age 37) is the British actor who played Ash Tyler in the first and second seasons of Star Trek: Discovery.

Latif also portrayed the Klingon Voq, for which, prior to the episode "The Wolf Inside", he was credited under the name Javid Iqbal, since using his real name in relation to this character would likely have revealed information intended to be a major plot twist.

Originally, CBS announced in December 2016 that Latif was to portray the Klingon Kol, a protégé of T'Kuvma. [1] However, in April 2017, it was stated that Latif would instead play Tyler, [2] while T'Kuvma's protégé was renamed Voq (who would, ultimately, still be played by Latif) and the name Kol was given to a leader of a rival Klingon Great House (portrayed by Kenneth Mitchell). [3]

In disguising his role as Voq, Latif chose his credited name in memory of his deceased father. He noted that the period of maintaining the deception was "a year of keeping up a crazy secret [it] was like being in the CIA." [4]

Latif was born in London and is of a mixed English, Scottish, and Pakistani descent. In 2009-11, he played a recurring role as data analyst Tariq Masood on the eighth through tenth seasons of Spooks. In 2012-15, he had a recurring role in the comedy series Toast of London. In 2016, he played Dr. Henry Jekyll in the third season of Penny Dreadful, alongside Harry Treadaway. He can also be seen in guest roles in episodes of Silk, Black Mirror (with Lydia Wilson), Love Matters, and Ordinary Lies.

He also appeared in films such as The Man Who Knew Infinity (2015), The Second Best Exotic Marigold Hotel (2015), The Commuter (2018, with Jonathan Banks and Ross Carter), and Rogue Agent (2022).

In 2022, Latif was cast in the lead role of Captain Nemo in Nautilus, however, despite the first season having already been filmed, the show was shelved by Disney. [5]

Star Trek appearances

Voq
DIS: "The Vulcan Hello", "Battle at the Binary Stars", "The Butcher's Knife Cares Not for the Lamb's Cry"

Ash Tyler
Star Trek: Discovery
Multiple appearances

Voq (mirror)
DIS: "The Wolf Inside"

Ash Tyler
DIS: "Will You Take My Hand?"

Appearances as Ash Tyler

• DIS:
  • "Choose Your Pain"
  • "Lethe"
  • "Magic to Make the Sanest Man Go Mad"
  • "Si Vis Pacem, Para Bellum"
  • "Into the Forest I Go"
  • "Despite Yourself"
  • "The Wolf Inside"
  • "Vaulting Ambition"
  • "The War Without, The War Within"
  • "Will You Take My Hand?"
  • "Point of Light"
  • "Saints of Imperfection"
  • "The Sound of Thunder"
  • "Light and Shadows"
  • "If Memory Serves"
  • "The Red Angel"
  • "Perpetual Infinity"
  • "Through the Valley of Shadows"
  • "Such Sweet Sorrow"
  • "Such Sweet Sorrow, Part 2"

External links

• Shazad Latif at Instagram
• Shazad Latif at X (formerly Twitter)
• Shazad Latif at the Internet Movie Database
• Shazad Latif at Wikipedia