Allan Mustafa
{{Short description|British actor, comedian and writer (born 1985)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=June 2024}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Allan Mustafa
| image =
| caption =
| birth_name = Allan Kamal Arif Mustafa
| birth_date = {{birth date and age|1985|09|29|df=y}}
| birth_place = Surrey, England
| education =
| occupation = Actor, comedian, writer
| years_active = 2012–present
| website =
}}
Allan Kamal Arif Mustafa{{Cite news|last=Wollaston|first=Sam|url=https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2018/oct/27/the-joke-is-always-on-us-how-people-just-do-nothing-struck-comedy-gold|title='The joke is always on us': how People Just Do Nothing struck comedy gold|date=27 October 2018|work=The Guardian|access-date=10 April 2020|language=en-GB|issn=0261-3077}} (born 29 September 1985), also known by his nickname Seapa, is a British actor, comedian and writer who is best known for portraying Anthony "MC Grindah" Zografoff in the BBC mockumentary series People Just Do Nothing, which he co-created and co-wrote with Steve Stamp, Hugo Chegwin and Asim Chaudhry.{{cite web |title=Allan Mustafa |url=https://www.comedy.co.uk/people/allan_mustafa/ |website=British Comedy Guide |access-date=6 May 2020}}{{cite web |title=One of the funniest TV shows of recent years has been renewed for a final season |url=https://www.shortlist.com/entertainment/tv/people-just-do-nothing-series-five/355383 |website=Shortlist |access-date=6 May 2020 |language=en |date=1 May 2018}}
Early and personal life
Allan Kamal Arif Mustafa was born on 29 September 1985 to immigrant parents; his mother is from the Czech Republic and his father was Kurdish-Iraqi. His parents fled Baghdad, due to Saddam Hussein's regime, in the early 1980s.{{Cite magazine |last=Stecher |first=Nicolas |date=13 February 2022 |title='How the F-k Did This Get on the Telly?': Inside the Cult-Hit UK Mockuseries 'People Just Do Nothing' |url=https://www.rollingstone.com/tv-movies/tv-movie-features/people-just-do-nothing-creators-interview-1274567/ |access-date=17 February 2024 |magazine=Rolling Stone}}{{Cite news |last=Cumming |first=Ed |date=17 May 2023 |title=Allan Mustafa on People Just Do Nothing and the problem with 'working class TV' |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/tv/0/allan-mustafa-people-just-do-nothing-interview/ |access-date=17 February 2024 |work=The Telegraph |language=en-GB |issn=0307-1235}}{{Cite web |date=23 August 2021 |title=People Just Do Nothing's Allan Mustafa interview: 'Everything I did, I failed at' |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/films/features/allan-mustafa-interview-people-just-do-nothing-b1904578.html |access-date=17 February 2024 |website=The Independent |language=en}} He has an older sister.{{Cite web |title='I used to walk around junior school thinking I was Snoop': Allan Mustafa's honest playlist {{!}} Music {{!}} The Guardian |url=https://www.theguardian.com/music/2023/oct/30/allan-mustafa-honest-playlist-kurupt-fm-people-just-do-nothing |access-date=17 February 2024 |website=amp.theguardian.com|date=30 October 2023 |last1=Pelley |first1=Rich }} His father died in 2012.
Mustafa grew up in Chessington, Kingston upon Thames and attended Chessington School. As a teenager he had jobs at Chessington World of Adventures and as a cleaner at a carpet shop.{{Cite web |last=Wray |first=Daniel Dylan |date=8 November 2018 |title=Kurupt FM On Their First Dates, Jobs and Drug Experiences |url=https://www.vice.com/en/article/yw7zam/kurupt-fm-on-their-first-dates-jobs-and-drug-experiences |access-date=17 February 2024 |website=Vice |language=en}} He has said that he was arrested around six times as a teenager, mainly for graffiti, the first time being when he was around 14 years old.{{Cite web |last=JaackMaate's Happy Hour |date=1 September 2022 |title=304 – KURUPT FM – Allan 'Seapa' Mustafa & Hugo Chegwin Discuss People Just Do Nothing! |url=https://open.spotify.com/episode/1B7cAGLlre4CmjlcpwwPyr?si=yr_mueI_TL2YZqn1pGtdKQ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240217000000/https://open.spotify.com/episode/1B7cAGLlre4CmjlcpwwPyr?si=yr_mueI_TL2YZqn1pGtdKQ |archive-date=17 February 2024 |access-date=17 February 2024 |website=Spotify}} [https://m.imdb.com/title/tt22140254/ Alt URL]{{cite news |title=Kurupt FM On Their First Dates, Jobs and Drug Experiences – VICE |url=https://www.vice.com/en/article/kurupt-fm-on-their-first-dates-jobs-and-drug-experiences/ |access-date=6 May 2020 |work=vice.com}}
Growing up, Mustafa had a passion for music and used to rap, MC and was involved in pirate radio.{{Cite web |last=Tate |first=Gabriel |date=18 July 2014 |title=Radio gag-gag: introducing the stars of BBC3's new mockumentary People |url=https://www.standard.co.uk/lifestyle/london-life/radio-gaggag-introducing-the-stars-of-bbc3s-new-mockumentary-people-just-do-nothing-9614140.html |access-date=17 February 2024 |website=Evening Standard |language=en}} He did a music production course at Thames Valley College, which he ended up dropping out of.{{Cite web |last=Nadal |first=Rich |date=30 June 2017 |title=Interview: How staying Kurupt Beats the daily Grindah |url=https://www.aroundealing.com/reel-life/interview-how-staying-kurupt-beats-the-daily-grindah/ |access-date=17 February 2024 |website=Around Ealing |language=en-GB}} He later worked in a call centre with Hugo Chegwin, Asim Chaudhry, and Daniel Sylvester Woolford. With whom, along with their friend Steve Stamp, he would go on to create the show People Just Do Nothing.{{Cite web |date=13 July 2015 |title=People Just Do Nothing: How BBC3's latest comedy started with a series |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/tv/features/people-just-do-nothing-how-bbc3-s-latest-comedy-started-with-a-series-of-youtube-webisodes-10386171.html |access-date=17 February 2024 |website=The Independent |language=en}}
Career
Mustafa met Hugo Chegwin, through a mutual friend, after which Chegwin introduced Mustafa to Steve Stamp and Asim Chaudhry, with whom he created YouTube mockumentary videos about a fictional pirate radio station. This led to the group being commissioned for People Just Do Nothing, a BBC mockumentary about West London pirate radio station Kurupt FM. The pilot aired on BBC iPlayer in July 2012. The show ran for five series, winning a BAFTA and a Royal Television Society Award. In 2019, production began on a feature length adaptation of the series called People Just Do Nothing: Big in Japan. The film was positively received by both fans and critics.{{cite web |title='People Just Do Nothing' Movie Adaptation Shooting In Japan & UK For Focus Features & BBC Films |url=https://deadline.com/2019/11/people-just-do-nothing-movie-adaptation-japan-release-2020-1202796760/ |website=Deadline |access-date=6 May 2020 |date=28 November 2019}}
Mustafa appeared in the 2020 Netflix film Love Wedding Repeat as Chaz, the boyfriend of Freida Pinto's character Amanda.{{cite web |title=Curtis Brown |url=https://www.curtisbrown.co.uk/news/allan-mustafa-joins-star-studded-cast-in-new-netflix-comedy-love-wedding-repeat |website=curtisbrown.co.uk |access-date=6 May 2020}}{{cite news |title=Love Wedding Repeat: Netflix rom com's multiple timelines explained |url=https://www.radiotimes.com/movies/love-wedding-repeat-explained/ |access-date=6 May 2020 |work=Radio Times}}
Mustafa starred for two series of the BBC Radio 4 sitcom Ability as the "useless carer" Bob, for the character played by comedian Lee Ridley, who also wrote the series.{{Cite web|url=https://www.comedy.co.uk/radio/ability/|title=Ability – Radio 4 Sitcom|first=British Comedy|last=Guide|website=British Comedy Guide}}
In 2022, he wrote and starred in the Channel 4 series The Curse,{{Cite AV media |url=https://www.imdb.com/title/tt16352098/fullcredits/?mode=desktop&ref_=m_ft_dsk |title=The Curse (TV Series 2022– ) - IMDb |access-date=2025-02-11 |via=www.imdb.com}}{{Cite web |url=https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2022/feb/06/the-curse-review-a-sublime-caper-with-an-unfeasibly-brilliant-cast |work=The Guardian |access-date=28 April 2022 |title=The Curse review – a sublime crime caper with an unfeasibly brilliant cast |first=Jack |last=Seale |date=6 February 2022}} and the BBC Three series Peacock.{{Cite web |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/bbcthree/article/e433958d-08ca-4714-9c3d-6b2fd67e94b8 |publisher=BBC Three |access-date=28 April 2022 |title=Peacock's Allan 'Seapa' Mustafa: 'People are being more open about body image issues' |date=25 April 2022 |first=Harvey |last=Day}}
Filmography
| class="wikitable sortable" |
| Year
! Title ! Role ! class="unsortable"|Notes |
|---|
| 2012
| BBC Comedy Feeds | Sniper | Episode: "People Just Do Nothing" |
| 2014–2018
| Grindah | 27 episodes; also co-writer and co-creator |
| rowspan="2"|2017
| MC Grindah | Episode: "Kurupt FM" |
| Sounds Like Friday Night
| Grindah | Episode #1.1 |
| 2018
| Kurupt FM vs Top Gear | Grindah | Television film |
| 2020
| Chaz | Feature film |
| 2021
| People Just Do Nothing: Big in Japan | MC Grindah | Also co-writer |
| rowspan="2"|2022
| Grocer | Episode #1.5 |
| Kurupt FM the Greatest Hits
| MC Grindah | Online video |
| 2022–2023
| Albert | 6 episodes; also co-writer |
| 2022–2024
| Peacock | Andy Peacock | Series lead (9 episodes) |
| 2023
| Jackdaw | |
| 2024
| Ludwig | Gary Jennings | 1 episode |
References
{{reflist}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Mustafa, Allan}}
Category:21st-century English comedians
Category:21st-century English male actors
Category:Actors from the Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames
Category:British people of Kurdish descent
Category:Comedians from the Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames
Category:English people of Czech descent
Category:English people of Iraqi descent
Category:English male comedians