Ryan Coogler’s X-Files reboot is taking shape with Himesh Patel the latest to be cast – but who is the actor taking on one of the lead roles.
X-Files is one of the most beloved sci-fi shows of the past 40 years. The investigations into paranormal cases by FBI duo Mulder and Scully – played by David Duchovny and Gillian Anderson respectively – captivated a generation in the 1990s.
Now, Ryan Coogler is looking to take us back into the world of unexplained phenomena with a reboot of the X-Files, with two new agents, played by Danielle Deadwyler and Himesh Patel, being assigned to a long-closed division that is devoted to cases involving unexplained phenomena.
The show has been greenlit for a pilot by Hulu and Coogler – who has had huge success on the big screen recently with Sinners – is writing the pilot and will direct.
But how much do you know about Himesh Patel, who will play one of the as-yet-untitled lead roles?
He made his name in a UK soap opera
Himesh had his big break – as so many do – in a soap opera. In Himesh’s case, it was EastEnders, one of the biggest soaps in the UK, where, at the age of 16, he appeared as the nerdy Tamwar Masood.
Tamwar quickly became a fan favourite character, and he stayed on the show for nine years, being involved in some hugely dramatic storylines, including setting up a business and being severely burnt in a housefire, having run inside to try and save his wife.
He sat an exam on the same day as his audition
When the audition for EastEnders came up, Himesh was sitting his GCSE exams. On the day of his audition, he sat his last exam – and as soon as he finished he was rushed by his parents to the location of the auditions. A casting assistant saw him outside the audition room and asked him to read for the casting director.
Himesh did a paper round until age 21
Despite finding fame at the age of 16, Himesh stayed grounded. His parents ran a newsagents shop in his native Cambridgeshire in England and, to help them out, he would deliver newspapers for them in some mornings – a role he carried on until he was 21. Himesh says that, while he hated the paper round at the time, in retrospect it helped to stop him getting carried away with being famous.
He really did sing all the songs in Yesterday
Himesh’s breakthrough film role was as Jack Malik in the film Yesterday (2019). In it, he plays a singer-songwriter who discovers that he is the only person who remembers The Beatles and then finds success playing their songs. In the movie, Himesh does all the singing live himself, helping to keep the movie feeling authentic.
He took part in an escape room in preparation for his role in Good Grief
In 2024, Himesh starred in the bittersweet drama Good Grief, which ran on Netflix, which focuses on an artist’s attempts to death with the sudden death of his husband and the solace he finds in his closest friends.
In preparation for that, Himesh and his co-stars spent weeks together at director Dan Levy’s house talking about their experiences of love and loss, as well as taking part in a Crystal Maze-themed escape room, all to help build up the chemistry between the three lead actors and make it believable that they’d been friends for decades.
He’s teaming up with Christopher Nolan again
Himesh is set to appear in The Odyssey this year, Christopher Nolan’s take on the epic tale. This won’t be the first time the pair have worked together – Himesh was in Tenet in 2020 too.
