The Kerala Government has named actor Antony Varghese, known to audiences as Pepe, a Celebrity Influencer for Kerala Sports. He announced the appointment on Instagram, calling himself grateful "to be part of a state that celebrates sports and cinema with so much love", he wrote. He also shared photos from the occasion, including one with former India footballer IM Vijayan.
The sports connection
Antony is a keen cricket and football fan. He plays for Kerala Strikers in the Celebrity Cricket League and turns out for local matches in his spare time. He recently played a cricketer in Nahas Hidhayath's I'm Game, alongside Dulquer Salmaan, and shot batting scenes at Greenfield Stadium in Thiruvananthapuram. He is also regarded as the first Indian actor to hold a professional boxing licence.
Up next
His next film is Thottam, with Keerthy Suresh. His most recent lead role was in Paul George's action film Kattalan.
From Pepe to action star
Antony Varghese made his debut as Vincent Pepe in Lijo Jose Pellissery's Angamaly Diaries (2017), which is where the nickname comes from. He followed it with Swathanthryam Ardharathriyil (2018) and Lijo's Jallikattu (2019), India's official entry for the 93rd Academy Awards.
Jallikattu was only the third Malayalam film to be picked as India's Oscar entry, after Guru (1997) and Adaminte Makan Abu (2011). It did not make the final shortlist of 15 films.
His biggest hit came with RDX (2023), Nahas Hidhayath's martial-arts action film, where he played Dony alongside Shane Nigam and Neeraj Madhav. He later headlined Kondal (2024), an action drama set at sea, in which he played Manuel.
Other films
His other credits include Ajagajantharam, Chaaver and Poovan, along with Paul George's Kattalan. The closest link to his boxing licence came in Govind Vishnu's sports drama Daveed (2025), where he played Ashiq Abu, an underdog boxer.
I'm Game, his film with Dulquer Salmaan, is now streaming on JioHotstar, and Thottam with Keerthy Suresh is next.
Also read: I'm Game OTT release date: Dulquer Salmaan's action thriller to stream on JioHotstar from October 16
