Amr Waked ( ; born ) is an Egyptian film, television and stage actor. He is best known to international audiences and in

Hollywood Hollywood usually refers to: * Hollywood, Los Angeles, a neighborhood in California * Hollywood, a metonym for the cinema of the United States Hollywood may also refer to: Places United States * Hollywood District (disambiguation) * Hollywood ...

for his role in the 2005 film ''

Syriana ''Syriana'' is a 2005 American political thriller film written and directed by Stephen Gaghan, loosely based on Robert Baer's 2003 memoir '' See No Evil''. The film stars an ensemble cast consisting of George Clooney, Matt Damon, Jeffrey Wr ...

''. Other prominent roles include a Yemeni sheikh called Muhammad in ''

Salmon Fishing in the Yemen ''Salmon Fishing in the Yemen'' is a 2011 British romantic comedy drama film directed by Lasse Hallström. The film stars Ewan McGregor, Emily Blunt, Kristin Scott Thomas and Amr Waked. Based on the 2007 novel of the same name by Paul Tor ...

'', Pierre Del Rio in

Luc Besson Luc Paul Maurice Besson (; born 18 March 1959) is a French filmmaker. He directed and produced the films '' Subway'' (1985), '' The Big Blue'' (1988), and '' La Femme Nikita'' (1990). Associated with the '' Cinéma du look'' film movement, he h ...

's ''

Lucy Lucy is an English language, English feminine given name derived from the Latin masculine given name Lucius with the meaning ''as of light'' (''born at dawn or daylight'', maybe also ''shiny'', or ''of light complexion''). Alternative spellings ar ...

'' and Farouk Hassan in '' Ramy. '' In 2019, Waked was sentenced to eight years in prison by an Egyptian military court for spreading

false news Fake news or information disorder is false or misleading information (misinformation, disinformation, propaganda, and hoaxes) claiming the aesthetics and legitimacy of news. Fake news often has the aim of damaging the reputation of a person ...

and insulting state institutions. For that reason, he has no intention of returning to

Egypt Egypt ( , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a country spanning the Northeast Africa, northeast corner of Africa and Western Asia, southwest corner of Asia via the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to northe ...

. He has been residing in

Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...

since October 2017.

Career

Waked's first major role was in ''Ashab wallah business'' (2002) (''Are we friends or just a business''). Reviewers reported that he portrayed the role of "Gehad" so well that many viewers left the theater believing he was actually a

Palestinian Palestinians () are an Arab ethnonational group native to the Levantine region of Palestine. *: "Palestine was part of the first wave of conquest following Muhammad's death in 632 CE; Jerusalem fell to the Caliph Umar in 638. The indigenous p ...

actor, rather than Egyptian. His first lead role was as Ahmed in ''Deil el Samaka'' (''The Fish's Tail'') (2003), and in 2005 he worked alongside

George Clooney George Timothy Clooney (born May 6, 1961) is an American actor, filmmaker, and philanthropist. Known for his leading man roles on screen in both blockbuster and independent films, Clooney has received numerous accolades, including two Ac ...

in the film ''

'', for which in 2006 he won a 'Special Award for Arabs in The International Cinema' at the

Cairo International Film Festival The Cairo International Film Festival is an annual internationally accredited film festival held in Cairo Opera House. It was established in 1976 and has taken place every year since its inception, except for 2011 and 2013, when it was cancelled ...

. Waked joined the cast of the Egyptian

television series A television show, TV program (), or simply a TV show, is the general reference to any content produced for viewing on a television set that is broadcast via over-the-air, satellite, and cable, or distributed digitally on streaming plat ...

''Lahazat Harega'' (''Critical Moments'') in 2007, shooting 32 episodes for season one. In 2008, Waked joined the cast of the

BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

HBO Home Box Office (HBO) is an American pay television service, which is the flagship property of namesake parent-subsidiary Home Box Office, Inc., itself a unit owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. The overall Home Box Office business unit is based a ...

House of Saddam ''House of Saddam'' is a 2008 British docudrama television miniseries that charted the rise and fall of Saddam Hussein. A co-production between BBC Television and HBO Films, the series was first broadcast on BBC Two (in the United Kingdom) in f ...

'' to portray

Saddam Hussein Saddam Hussein (28 April 1937 – 30 December 2006) was an Iraqi politician and revolutionary who served as the fifth president of Iraq from 1979 until Saddam Hussein statue destruction, his overthrow in 2003 during the 2003 invasion of Ira ...

's son-in-law Hussein Kamel. Since the lead role of Saddam Hussein was played by

Israel Israel, officially the State of Israel, is a country in West Asia. It Borders of Israel, shares borders with Lebanon to the north, Syria to the north-east, Jordan to the east, Egypt to the south-west, and the Mediterranean Sea to the west. Isr ...

i actor

Yigal Naor Igal Naor (; born ) is an Israeli actor, sometimes credited as Yigal Naor. Biography Naor was born in Givatayim, Israel, to Mizrahi Jewish parents from Iraq. He has appeared in the American films ''Munich'', ''Green Zone'' and '' Rendition''. ...

, Waked faced punishment by Egypt's Actors Union which opposes normalization of ties with Israel. The union threatened to ban him from all future projects in Egypt. Waked was also criticized by supporters of the

cause for taking an acting role in ''

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'' starring Israeli actress and former IDF soldier

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. In 2009, Waked co-hosted the 33rd Cairo International Film Festival, and in 2010 he rejoined the cast of ''Lahazat Harega''. He joined Hollywood stars

Matt Damon Matthew Paige Damon ( ; born October 8, 1970) is an American actor, film producer, and screenwriter. He was ranked among ''Forbes'' most bankable stars in 2007, and in 2010 was one of the highest-grossing actors of all time. He has received va ...

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, and

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in the 2011 film, '' Contagion'' and co-starred in the British film ''

'' with

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, and

Kristin Scott Thomas Dame Kristin Ann Scott Thomas (born 24 May 1960) is a British actress. A five-time BAFTA Award and Olivier Award nominee, she won the BAFTA Award for Best Actress in a Supporting Role for ''Four Weddings and a Funeral'' (1994) and the Olivi ...

. and also co-starred in ''

'' alongside

Morgan Freeman Morgan Freeman (born June 1, 1937) is an American actor, producer, and narrator. In a career spanning six decades, he has received numerous accolades, including an Academy Award and a Golden Globe Award, as well as a nomination for a Tony ...

and

Scarlett Johansson Scarlett Ingrid Johansson (; born November 22, 1984) is an American actress and singer. The List of highest-paid film actors, world's highest-paid actress in 2018 and 2019, she has been featured multiple times on the Forbes Celebrity 100, ''F ...

. In 2017, he moved to Spain and was sentenced to eight years in prison by an Egyptian court for making pro-democracy comments on social media. Due to these charges, Waked is not able to return to Egypt. Since 2019, Waked has played the father of main character Ramy Hassan on the

Hulu Hulu (, ) is an American Subscription business model, subscription streaming media service owned by Disney Streaming, a subsidiary of the Disney Entertainment segment of the Walt Disney Company. It was launched on October 29, 2007, initially as ...

series '' Ramy''. In 2021 Amr Waked hosted the web series ''Decoded'' (''Dahaleez'') in both Arabic and English. This was the first time he hosted for a news channel which also led him to being featured on The Muslim 500. ''Decoded'' won a Telly Award in 2022.

Filmography

Films

Television

Theater

* 1992, ''Afareet Hamza We Fatma'' as Hamza * 1992, ''

Vinegar Tom ''Vinegar Tom'' is a 1976 play by the British playwright Caryl Churchill. The play examines gender and power relationships through the lens of 17th-century witchcraft trials in England. The script employs features of the epic theater associa ...

'' as The Devil * 1993, ''Crimes Of The Heart'' as Doc * 1993, ''Al Ghaba Al Saeeda'' as The Fox * 1994, ''Tales From Agabad'' as Hero * 1994, ''Compass Berserk'' as Montigu * 1994, ''The Bus'' as Ahmed * 1995, ''Oedipus The President'' as Prometheus * 2000, ''Al Ze'ab Yohaddid Al Madinah'' as The Journalist * 2002, ''Shabab Rewish Tahn'' as Ahmed

Recognition

Awards and nominations

* 1999, won Film Writers and Critics Special Award at

Alexandria International Film Festival The Alexandria International Film Festival for Mediterranean Countries (AIFF) is a film festival in Alexandria, Egypt. It was established in 1979. The festival is organized by the Egyptian Association of Film Writers and Critics (EAFWC). The AIF ...

* 1999, won Best Supporting Actor award at

for ''Gannat al shayateen'' * 2003, won Best Actor award at

for ''Dail el samakah'' * 2006, won Special Award for Arabs in The International Cinema at

for ''

'' * 2006, won Horus Award for Best Supporting Actor at Cairo National Festival for Egyptian Cinema for ''Dam el ghazal'' * 2010, won Best Supporting Actor at Dear Guest Festival for ''Ibrahim Labyad'' * 2010, won Best Actor for Second Role at Cairo National Festival for Egyptian cinema for ''Ibrahim Labyad'' * 2013, won Best Actor at Dubai Film Festival for the Egyptian movie ''Winter of Discontent''

Notes

References

External links

* * * Carlo Coppola
Anche l’attore Amr Waked sulle barricate del Cairo per la libertà
lsdmagazine.com {{DEFAULTSORT:Waked, Amr 1973 births Living people 20th-century Egyptian male actors 21st-century Egyptian male actors Egyptian male film actors Egyptian male stage actors Egyptian male television actors Expatriate male actors in the United States Male actors from Cairo People convicted in absentia The American University in Cairo alumni