Ali Cook

For the England international cricket player, see Alastair Cook.

Ali Cook
Ali Cook as Sgt. Paul McMellon in Kajaki
Born
Alistair Cook

Yorkshire, England
Occupations
Websiteofficial website

Ali Cook (also credited as Alistair Cook) is an English actor and comedian from Yorkshire.[1] Cook played Sgt. Paul McMellon in the feature film Kajaki, which won the Producer of The Year Award at the 2015 British Independent Film Awards and was nominated for a British Academy of Film and Television Arts Award in 2015.[2]

He recently wrote and acted in the short film The Cunning Man,[3] winner of the Arri Alexa short film competition which was long listed for a BAFTA and has currently won over 30 awards.[4][5][6]

Early life and career

Cook's career started on the Channel 5 sketch series, The Jerry@Trick show with the alternative comedians Phil Nichol and Boothby Graffoe. Andrew Newman, then the head of comedy at Five, spotted Cook during tapings which lead to him writing and starring in seven of his own comedy and Magic series for Channel 4, Channel 5, and Sky1. His Channel 4 Series Dirty Tricks was nominated for a British Comedy Award and The Golden Rose of Montreux.[7]

Television career

Cook's acted in the Channel five sketch series Jerry@Trick Show before moving on to co-write and star in TV series, including The Golden Rose of Montreux nominated Monkey Magic (UK TV series), Psychic Secrets Revealed with Derren Brown for Channel 5 and the Secret World of Magic for Sky One. Cook was the star of Channel 4's British Comedy Award nominated, late night show Dirty Tricks.[8] Cook starred in the first Penn & Teller: Fool Us (ITV) hosted by Jonathan Ross. In 2011 he performed his Houdini-style water torture cell escape on The Slammer (CBBC).[9][10]

He has also starred in the France 2 series Le Plus Grand Cabaret du monde produced by Magic. Recent television credits include: Ragdoll for AMC, Mr Selfridge, the role of the villainous Patrick in multiple episodes of Emmerdale in 2016 and the German officer in the BBC's 2018 adaptation of Agatha Christie's The ABC Murders.[11]

Television

Year Title Production Company Channel/Network
2002 The Jerry@trick Show Ronin Entertainments Channel 5
2002 Monkey Magic Objective Productions Channel 5
2003 Psychic Objective Productions Channel 5
2003 Monkey Magic Two Objective Productions Channel 5
2004 Secret World of Magic Objective Productions Sky One
2005 Dirty Tricks Objective Productions Channel 4
2010 Talk of the Terrace - ESPN
2011 Penn & Teller: Fool Us September Films ITV1
2011 The Slammer - CBBC
2011 Le Plus Grand Cabaret du monde - Magic, France 2
2013 Mr Selfridge - ITV1
2016 Emmerdale - ITV1 (multiple episodes)
2018 The ABC Murders (TV series) - BBC 1
2021 Ragdoll - AMC

Film

Cook portrayed Sgt. Paul "Spud" McMellon in 2014's Kajaki. The production won the Producer of The Year Award at the 2015 British Independent Film Awards and was nominated for a British Academy of Film and Television Arts Award in 2015.[12]

Cook stars alongside Katherine Parkinson and Jay Pharoah in 2018's How To Fake A War, directed by Rudolph Herzog and produced by Film and Music Entertainment.

Other recent credits include: Twist for Sky Cinema, The Obscure Life of the Grand Duke of Corsica starring Timothy Spall, Muscle directed by Gerard Johnson, In the Cloud directed by Robert Scott Wildes for Sony Pictures, Once Upon a Time in London directed by Simon Rumley, and British Independent Film Awards nominated thriller Isolani.[13]

In 2011 he appeared in Outside Bet, directed by Sacha Bennett, alongside Bob Hoskins, Phil Davis and Jenny Agutter. He has played the lead role in ten British short film dramas, most notably the psychotic character Greg in Andrew Saunder's and Stephen Frears' Striklem

In 2011, Cook was an executive producer on the feature film Dark Tide, starring Halle Berry.[14]

Filmography

Feature films

Year Title Production Company Director
2005 Sahara Paramount Pictures Breck Eisner
2012 Outside Bet Gateway Films Sacha Bennett
2013 Get Lucky Gateway Films Sacha Bennett
2014 Peterman Control Films Mark Abraham
2014 Lost In Karastan Film and Music Entertainment Ben Hopkins
2014 Kajaki Pukka Films Paul Katis
2015 The Messenger Gateway Films David Blair
2016 The Call Up Stigma Films Charles Barker
2016 Isolani Lola Pictures Paul Wilson
2017 Once Upon a Time in London Zebra Films Simon Rumley
2017 In the Cloud Sony Pictures Robert Scott Wildes
2018 How To Fake A War Film and Music Entertainment Rudolph Herzog
2018 Muscle Stigma Films Gerard Johnson
2021 Twist Sky Original -
2021 The Obscure Life Of The Grand Duke Of Corsica Camelot Films -
2022 Prezidentka, Marlene Film Productions -

Short films

  • 2019 The Cunning Man, Harvest Films

Theatre

Cook has written and performed three critically acclaimed sell-out Edinburgh solo shows: A Touch of Vegas (2008),[15] Pieces of Strange (2010),[16] and Principles and Deceptions (2011)[17]

Stage

Year Type Show/Event Name Production Company Venue
2015 Stage Impossible: London's Magic Spectacular Jamie Hendry Productions Noël Coward Theatre, London
2011 Stage One man show, Principles and Deceptions - Gilded Balloon, Edinburgh
2010 Stage One man show, Pieces of Strange - Gilded Balloon, Edinburgh
2008 Stage One man show, A Touch of Vegas - Gilded Balloon, Edinburgh

Further reading

  • "Interview: Ali Cook, magician, comedian", The Scotsman, 11 August 2010, retrieved 10 September 2022
  • Arthur, Tim (5 July 2010), "Ali Cook: interview", Time Out, archived from the original on 3 February 2019, retrieved 3 February 2019
  • Wise, Louis (5 July 2015), "Grand illusions", thetimes.co.uk, retrieved 10 September 2022

Notes

  1. ^ "Magician and actor Ali Cook heads to Sudbury with new show". Retrieved 11 February 2019.
  2. ^ "Toronto: War Story 'Kilo Two Bravo' Set for November U.S. Release". Variety. 9 September 2015. Retrieved 11 February 2019.
  3. ^ "The Cunning Man". Retrieved 22 August 2021.
  4. ^ "ALEXA LF: News & Updates". Retrieved 22 August 2021.
  5. ^ "The Cunning Man". Retrieved 22 August 2021.
  6. ^ "Appearances are deceptive". Metro (newspaper). 29 July 2013. Retrieved 11 February 2019.
  7. ^ "Making the impossible possible". The Philippine Star. Retrieved 11 February 2019.
  8. ^ "Dirty Tricks". IMDb. Retrieved 26 October 2023.
  9. ^ The trick that killed Houdini (Video). BBC. 19 November 2011.
  10. ^ Wise, Louise (5 July 2015). "Grand illusions - Magic, live and astonishing, is making a comeback". The Times. Retrieved 1 November 2023.
  11. ^ "Episode 3". BBC. Retrieved 26 October 2023.
  12. ^ "Nominations Announced for the EE British Academy Film Awards in 2015". Retrieved 11 February 2019.
  13. ^ "Movies to watch this week at the cinema: Everybody Wants Some!!, Green Room, more". gamesradar.com. Retrieved 10 September 2022.
  14. ^ "First Look at Simon Rumley's Once Upon a Time in London". CraveOnline. 13 April 2017. Retrieved 11 February 2019.
  15. ^ "Ali Cook Review". chortle.co.uk. Retrieved 10 September 2022.
  16. ^ Louisa-Claire Dunnigan,"Ali Cook: Pieces of Strange". broadwaybaby.com. 11 August 2010. Retrieved 10 September 2022.
  17. ^ Emily Priestnall,"Ali Cook - Principles and Deceptions". broadwaybaby.com. 26 August 2011. Retrieved 10 September 2022.