‘Slow Horses’ Star Antonio Aakeel Makes Directorial Debut With Short Film ‘Lessons in Pretending’ (EXCLUSIVE)

Antonio Aakeel, whose turn as Hassan Ahmed in Apple TV+’s “Slow Horses” brought him international recognition, has wrapped his first short film as a director. “Lessons in Pretending,” which Aakeel also wrote and stars in, is a darkly comic drama examining fame, shame and the performance of public redemption.

The film follows Arun Khan, a former teen film star whose career has collapsed into scandal. Agreeing to lead a drama school masterclass as a crisis-management exercise, he finds the controlled setting rapidly overtaken by addiction, sexual impulse and a piece of career-defining news.

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Shila Bentley produced the project under her Bentley & Shi Productions banner in association with CA Studios, the production arm of London’s City Academy. The arrangement marks CA Studios’ first venture into film production. Bentley also appears in the film opposite Aakeel; the supporting cast is drawn from working drama students, whose presence grounds the masterclass setting in something immediate and lived-in.

“I wanted to make something that felt funny, ugly and honest,” Aakeel said. “After years of working as an actor, I became fatigued by how performative this industry can be, not just on screen, but in the way we survive it. There is often very little room to lose control when you are in forward motion. With ‘Lessons in Pretending,’ I wanted to examine that relentlessness in a way I think many creatives will recognise.”

Aakeel first came to broader attention in the debut season of “Slow Horses,” playing a kidnapped student whose rescue drives the show’s central thriller plot, opposite Gary Oldman and Jack Lowden. He has since taken roles in The CW’s “Sherlock & Daughter,” opposite David Thewlis, and Lena Dunham’s Netflix comedy “Too Much.”

“Antonio’s script was sharp, uncomfortable and deeply human,” Bentley said. “It felt current because the industry is shifting so quickly, and the emotional toll of trying to survive inside it feels more visible than ever. There’s something exciting about supporting a story that confronts that pressure with real bite.”

The film will soon be on the festival circuit.