Ben Kingsley first appeared in the ITV sitcom ‘Pardon the Expression’ in 1966. That same year, he was also seen in the British television thriller series, ‘Orlando.’ He played the role of ‘Peter Batterby’ and starred in 6 episodes of the show. In 1972, he made his feature film debut in the British action-thriller ‘Fear Is the Key’ directed by Michael Tuchner. While the film failed to perform in the United States, it had a decent run at the Europe box office. In 1982, he portrayed ‘Mahatma Gandhi’ in the period biographical film ‘Gandhi’ directed by Richard Attenborough. The film saw worldwide acclaim upon release and performed well at the box office, grossing over $127.8 million on a budget of $22 million. Kingsley also won several awards, including the Academy Award and 2 ‘BAFTA Awards’ for his performance in the film. He next starred in films like ‘Betrayal’ (1983), ‘Harem’ (1985), ‘Turtle Diary’ (1986), ‘Maurice’ (1987), ‘Without a Clue’ (1988), ‘Testimony — The Story of Shostakovich’ (1988), ‘Slipstream’ (1989), ‘The 5th Monkey’ (1990), and ‘A Violent Life’ (1990). Kingsley received an Academy Award nomination for his portrayal of ‘Meyer Lansky’ in the 1991 American biographical crime drama film ‘Bugsy’ directed by Barry Levinson. Even though the reviews for the film were positive, it only achieved moderate success at the box office.Â
He continued to star in films like ‘Sneakers’ (1992), ‘Searching for Bobby Fischer’ (1993), ‘Schindler's List’ (1993), ‘Death and the Maiden’ (1994), ‘Species’ (1995), ‘Twelfth Night’ (1996), ‘The Assignment’ (1997), ‘The Confession’ (1999), ‘Spooky House’ (2000), and ‘Rules of Engagement’ (2000). In 2000, he played the role of ‘Don Logan’ in the British psychological black comedy crime film ‘Sexy Beast’ directed by Jonathan Glazer. The film opened to critical acclaim and earned an 87% approval score on Rotten Tomatoes. Kingsley also received several award nominations, including the Academy Award and Golden Globe Award nominations, for his role in the film. He went on to appear in films like ‘A.I. Artificial Intelligence’ (2001), ‘Tuck Everlasting’ (2002), ‘House of Sand and Fog’ (2003), ‘Thunderbirds’ (2004), ‘A Sound of Thunder’ (2005), ‘Oliver Twist’ (2005), ‘Lucky Number Slevin’ (2006), ‘You Kill Me’ (2007), ‘Elegy’ (2008), ‘Fifty Dead Men Walking’ (2008), ‘Shutter Island’ (2010), ‘Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time’ (2010), and ‘The Dictator’ (2012). In 2013, he starred as ‘Trevor Slattery / Mandarin’ in the American superhero film ‘Iron Man 3’ directed by Shane Black. The film received positive reviews from critics and was a massive box office success, grossing over $1.215 billion on a $200 million budget.Â
He next appeared in films like ‘Ender's Game’ (2013), ‘Learning to Drive’ (2014), ‘Night at the Museum: Secret of the Tomb’ (2014), ‘Life’ (2015), ‘Self/less’ (2015), ‘The Jungle Book’ (2016), ‘War Machine’ (2017), ‘An Ordinary Man’ (2017), ‘Backstabbing for Beginners’ (2018), ‘Operation Finale’ (2018), ‘The Red Sea Diving Resort’ (2019), and ‘Locked Down’ (2021). He was last seen in the 2021 American superhero film ‘Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings’ directed by Destin Daniel Cretton. The film was a critical and commercial success, grossing over $432.2 million on a 200 million budget. He is all set to appear in the upcoming fantasy film ‘The School for Good and Evil.’