Yasmine Akram

Biography

Yasmine Akram is an Irish-Pakistani actress, writer and comedian, best known for playing Janine in the third series of Sherlock. Akram was born in Sharjah in the United Arab Emirates but her family settled in Drogheda, Ireland when she was just 18-months old. Her father is originally from Pakistan and her mother is from Drogheda. She has a sister named Masooma.

Akram graduated from the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, where she studied acting. After graduating from drama school, Akram wrote comedy sketches for the BBC and Channel 4, and hosted for BBC Radio. She wrote her first play, 10 Dates with Mad Mary, a monologue about a young woman’s struggles after leaving prison, and performed the play at Project Arts Centre in Ireland in 2010. This was adapted into the feature film A Date for Mad Mary in 2016.

She writes and performs as half of London-based comedy duo Ford and Akram with English comedian Louise Ford. The duo’s live show in 2011 was directed by Alistair McGowan for the Edinburgh Festival Fringe. In 2013, she co-wrote and co-presented BBC Radio 4’s Irish Micks and Legends with Aisling Bea, with whom she worked on the Channel 4 sketch comedy LOL.