Haakon Smestad

Haakon Mustafa Akdokur Smestad is the son of the Norwegian painter/ sculptor Brit Hedvig Smestad, and the Turkish jazz musician/ composer Irfan Akdokur. He was born the 15th of February 1984 in the city of Trondheim, Norway, and attended the Rudolf Steiner School in Trondheim from 1991 to 2003. In 2003 at the age of 19 Haakon was accepted into the theatre school HiNT (Høgskolen i Nord-Trøndelag) in Verdal, where he studied for two years. After three years of mostly acting in community theatre, and doing some travelling financed by odd jobs, he continued his acting studies in 2008 at the theatre school Ophelia in Copenhagen, Denmark. In 2010 he decided to move to London where he completed his MA acting degree at the Royal Central School of Speech and Drama in London, UK. Haakon had some work experience as an actor since the end of HiNT, but really didn't start acting professionally until late 2006, and predominantly in theatre productions. Film, television and commercial work came later. Among the theatre venues where he has performed are Trøndelag Theatre, Oslo New Theatre - Trikkestallen, The Opera in Kristiansund, ThesbiTheatre and most recently at The National Theatre in Bergen, Norway where he worked as resident actor in 2011 - 2012. He has also participated in productions outside of Norway, Denmark and the UK for the most part; at the Pleasance Theatre, Embassy Theatre, and Webber Douglas Studio in London to mention a few. Haakon currently works freelance and is primarily based in Bergen and London.