Hari Dhillon

Hari Dhillon (Punjabi: ਹਰੀ ਢਿੱਲੋਂ (Gurmukhi)) is an American television, film and stage actor, best known for playing Michael Spence in British television medical drama series Holby City.^[1] His name has also been spelled Hari Dillon and Harry Dillon.

Hari Dhillon
Hari Dhillon at the 2019 TIFF premier of Bad Education
Born	1968 (age 55–56) San Francisco, California
Other names	Hari Dillon Harry Dillon Hari Jamil Dillon
Occupation	Actor
Years active	1990s-present
Television	Holby City, This is Us

Early life and education

Dhillon was born^[2] and raised in San Francisco, California. He spent nine months of his childhood in India.^[3] He took one acting class at UC Berkeley in his senior year at San Francisco State University. After graduation, he worked as a prison AIDS educator in California and Hawaii before setting up a theatre company in San Francisco with friends. In 1994, he attended drama school in the United Kingdom.^[3]

Career

Dhillon originally appeared in Holby City in 2001 as recurring minor character Dr. Sunil Gupta, before returning in November 2007 as consultant Michael Spence.^[4] Dhillon took an 'extended break' from Holby City on December 17, 2013, after Michael was forced to leave his post by new CEO, Guy Self (John Michie).^[5]

On June 19, 2014, it was announced Dhillon would be returning to Holby City as Michael for a short stint in late 2014.^[6] During this time, Dhillon also starred alongside Amanda Mealing on Casualty.

His appearances in US TV shows include Medium, Charmed, Without a Trace, The Loop,^[7] and Law & Order: Special Victims Unit.^[8] He also had minor, unnamed roles in the films Cradle 2 the Grave, Wit and Entrapment. He also starred in the Broadway debut of the Ayad Akhtar play, Disgraced.^[9]

Filmography

Television

Year(s)	Title	Role	Notes
1997	Dream Team
2000	Arabian Nights	Prince Hussain
2000	Trial & Retribution		1 episode
2001	Lawless Heart
2001	Holby City	Dr Sunil Gupta	Recurring role
2002	The Agency		1 episode
2003	She Spies		1 episode
2005	Charmed		2 episodes
2005	Medium		1 episode
2006	Mr. Nice Guy
2007	Without a Trace		1 episode
2007	The Loop		5 episodes
2007–2014	Holby City	Michael Spence	Regular role
2014	Casualty		Episode: "Entrenched"
2014	The Mentalist		1 episode
2015	Law & Order: Special Victims Unit	Attorney Varma	Episode: Granting Immunity
2015	The Mysteries of Laura	Swami Sanjay	Episode: "The Mystery of the Exsanguinated Ex"
2016	Criminal Minds: Beyond Borders	Agent Deepak Singh	Episode: Harvested
2016	Midsomer Murders	Reece Dexter	Episode: Breaking the Chain
2016	Madam Secretary	Foreign Minister/Prime Minister	Episodes: Connection Lost/ Render Safe
2017	This Is Us	Sanjay Jahiri	4 episodes
2018	Billions	Michael Panay
2019	Death in Paradise	Jay Carver	Episode: S8:E8
2021	Alex Rider	Ed Pleasance	6 episodes
2023	The Serial Killer's Wife	Maxwell

Film

• Entrapment (1999)
• New World Disorder (1999)
• Wit (2001)
• Cradle 2 the Grave (2003)
• Bad Education (2019)
• Doom: Annihilation (2019)
• The Beanie Bubble (2023)
• We Strangers (2024)
• Trigger Warning (2024)

Theatre

• Mother Teresa Is Dead (2002), Royal Court Theatre, London^[10]
• Drifting Elegant (2004), Magic Theatre, San Francisco^[11]
• A Perfect Wedding (2004), Kirk Douglas Theatre, Los Angeles^[12]
• Morbidity and Mortality (2006), Magic Theatre, San Francisco^[13]
• Charles L. Mee's A Perfect Wedding, which was the inaugural production of the Kirk Douglas Theatre in Los Angeles^[14]
• Original production of Stephen Belber's Drifting Elegant at San Francisco's Magic Theatre, which was later developed into a feature film^[15]
• Broadway debut of the Ayad Akhtar play, Disgraced.^[9]

Awards and nominations

Dhillon was nominated to the long-list of the 2010 National Television Awards in the category for "Best Drama Performance".^[3]

References

1. "Holby City character Michael Spence". BBC. Archived from the original on December 24, 2009. Retrieved January 12, 2010.
2. "Star's girlfriend is worried about his new love: 5 minutes with Hari Dhillon". Glasgow Evening Times. 2008-01-09. Archived from the original on 2011-06-04. Retrieved 2010-01-13.
3. Zeenat Moosa (2009-11-23). "Hari Dhillon - Holby City and the National Television Awards (interview)". The Asian Today. Archived from the original on 2009-12-11. Retrieved 2010-01-12.
4. "Familiar face at Holby". Metro. 2007-10-31. Archived from the original on 2012-09-29. Retrieved 2010-01-13.
5. "Holby City actor takes break from show". Digital Spy. 17 December 2013. Archived from the original on 27 May 2014. Retrieved 19 June 2014.
6. "Dhillon to reprise role as Michael Spence" Archived 2014-06-21 at the Wayback Machine, digitalspy.co.uk; accessed October 25, 2014.
7. "Hari Dhillon partial filmography". Movies & TV Dept. The New York Times. 2012. Archived from the original on October 26, 2012. Retrieved January 14, 2010.
8. "Scoop: Law & Order: SVU on NBC". broadwayworld.com. April 8, 2015. Archived from the original on September 24, 2015. Retrieved August 28, 2015.
9. Isherwood, Charles (October 23, 2014). "When the Soul Must Be Heard". Archived from the original on December 10, 2019. Retrieved January 6, 2015.
10. Paul Taylor (2002-07-02). "Mother Teresa Is Dead, Jerwood Theatre Upstairs at the Royal Court, London". The Independent. Archived from the original on June 6, 2011. Retrieved 2010-01-12.
11. Robert Hurwitt (2004-05-05). "Rape metaphor pervasive in fuzzy "Drifting Elegant"". San Francisco Chronicle. Retrieved 2010-01-12.
12. Terry Morgan (2004-11-11). "A Perfect Wedding (review)". Backstage West. Retrieved 2010-01-12.
13. Harvey, Dennis (March 9, 2006). "theater review: Morbidity and Mortality". Variety. Retrieved January 14, 2010.
14. Terry Morgan (2004-11-11). "Douglas Theatre Opens for Mee". Backstage West. Retrieved 2010-01-13.
15. Dennis Harvey (2006-10-17). "Drifting Elegant". Variety. Archived from the original on 2008-03-10. Retrieved 2010-01-13.

External links

• Hari Dhillon at IMDb