Amr Waked

Amr Waked (Arabic: عمرو واكد‎; born (1973-04-12)April 12, 1973) is an Egyptian film, television, and stage actor. He is best known to international audiences and in Hollywood for his role in the 2005 film Syriana.[1][2][3][4][5] Other prominent roles include a Yemeni Sheikh called Muhammad in Salmon Fishing in the Yemen, Pierre Del Rio in Luc Besson's Lucy and Ray Dussette in Geostorm.

Amr Waked
Born (1973-04-12) April 12, 1973
Cairo, Egypt
Alma materAmerican University in Cairo
OccupationActor
Years active1999–present
Notable work
Spouse(s)Sarah Shaheen

In 2019, Waked was sentenced to eight years in prison by an Egyptian military court for spreading false news and insulting state institutions. For that reason, he has no intention of returning to Egypt.[6] He has been residing in Spain since October 2017.

Career

Waked's first major role was in Ashab wallah business (2002) (Are we friends or just a business).[7] Reviewers reported that he portrayed the role of "Gehad" so well that many viewers left the theater believing he was actually a Palestinian actor, rather than Egyptian.[8][9] His first lead role was as Ahmed in Deil el Samaka (The Fish's tail) (2003), and in 2005 he worked alongside George Clooney in the film Syriana, for which in 2006 he won a 'Special Award for Arabs in The International Cinema' at the Cairo International Film Festival. Waked joined the cast of the Egyptian television series Lahazat Harega (Critical Moments) in 2007,[10] shooting 32 episodes for season one.[8]

In 2008, Waked joined the cast of the BBC/HBO television series House of Saddam to portray Saddam Hussein's son-in-law Hussein Kamel.[11][12] Since the lead role of Saddam Hussein was played by Israeli actor Yigal Naor, 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.[13][12][14] Waked was also criticized by supporters of the Palestinian cause for taking acting role in Wonder Woman 1984 starring Israeli actress and former IDF soldier Gal Gadot.[15]

In 2009, Waked co-hosted the 33rd Cairo International Film Festival,[16] and in 2010 he rejoined the cast of Lahazat Harega. He joined Hollywood stars Matt Damon, Jude Law, Kate Winslet, and Gwyneth Paltrow in the 2011 film, Contagion and co-starred in the British film Salmon Fishing in the Yemen with Emily Blunt, Ewan McGregor, and Kristin Scott Thomas.[8] and also co-starred in Lucy alongside Morgan Freeman and Scarlett Johansson. 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.[17]

Since 2019, Waked has played the father of main character Ramy Hassan on the Hulu series Ramy.

Filmography

Films
Year Title Role Notes
1999[13][18] Gannat al shayateen
(The Paradise of the Fallen Angels)		 Nona
2001[13][8] Li li Shiekh Abdel Al
2001[13] Ashab wala business
(Are we friends or just a business)		 Gihad
2003[19] Men nazret ain
(At First Sight)		 Akram
2003[13][20] Dail el samakah
(The Fish Tail)		 Ahmed
2003 Sahar el layaly
(Staying up nights)		 (Voice)
2004[21] Ahla al awkat
(Best Times)		 Hisham
2004[13] Khalty Faransa
(My aunt France)		 Yousif
2004 Tito Faris
2004[13] Sib wana Aseeb
(Lose and I'll lose)		 Kariem
2005 Kalam fel hob
(Talking about love)		 Hassan
2005 Dam el ghazal
(The Gazelle's Blood)		 Atef
2005[13][2][3][4][5] Syriana
2008[13] Genenet al asmak
(The Aquarium)		 Yousif El nady
2009 Ibrahim labyad
(Ibrahim the white)		 Ashry
2009[13][1] The Traveller
2009[22][23] Al-Gondorji
(The Shoemaker)		 Saber
2010 Il padre e lo straniero
(The father and the stranger)		 Walid
2010[24] Alf Leila We Leila
(One Thousand and One Nights)		 Meg Windermere
2011 Contagion Rafik
2012 Salmon Fishing in the Yemen
2012 Winter of Discontent Amr
2014 El Ott
The cat
2014 Lucy Pierre Del Rio
Colt 45 Baron
2014 The Blue Mauritius
2017 Geostorm Dussette
2020 Wonder Woman 1984 Emir Said Bin Abydos

Television

Theater
  • 1992, Afareet Hamza We Fatma as Hamza
  • 1992, Vinegar Tom 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[25]
  • 1995, Oedipus The President as Prometheus
  • 2000, Al Ze'ab Yohaddid Al Madinah as The Journalist[26]
  • 2002, Shabab Rewish Tahn as Ahmed

Recognition

Awards & nominations

References
  1. Schemm, Paul (1 July 2008). "Egito aposta no renascimento do cinema, e Omar Sharif volta à ação" (in Portuguese). G1. Associated Press. Retrieved 14 May 2010.
  2. Scott Galupo; Kevin Chaffee (21 December 2005). "Stork's gift". The Washington Times.
  3. Patel, Anhoni (10 December 2005). "Syriana - A Jigsaw Puzzle". San Francisco Chronicle. Archived from the original on 28 December 2018. Retrieved 14 May 2010.
  4. Bowman, James (23 November 2005). "See No Evil, Hear No Fact". New York Sun. Retrieved 14 May 2010.
  5. H.A.R. (22 December 2005). "Amr Waked & Syriana". Waleg. Archived from the original on 29 July 2016. Retrieved 14 May 2010.
  6. "Egyptian Actor Amr Waked Sentenced to Eight Years in Jail for "Spreading False News and Insulting State Institutions"". Egyptian Streets. Retrieved 3 October 2019.
  7. "A different vehicle". Al-Ahram Weekly. 6–12 September 2001. Retrieved 14 May 2010.
  8. "Amr Waked bio". lahazat-harega.com. Retrieved 15 May 2010.
  9. "Ultimate sacrifice". The Spectator. 7 September 2001. pp. c-04. Retrieved 14 May 2010.
  10. Hassan, Hassan (March 2007). "A Doctor in the House?". Egypt Today. Archived from the original on August 24, 2007. Retrieved 14 May 2010.
  11. Tarbush, Susannah (21 April 2010). "'House of Saddam' brings Saddam's complexities to the small screen". Saudi Gazette. Archived from the original on 22 August 2008. Retrieved 14 May 2010.
  12. Williams, Daniel (23 October 2007). "Egyptian Actor Attacked for Film With Israeli as Saddam Hussein". Bloomberg. Retrieved 14 May 2010.
  13. Eskandar, Wael (5 September 2008). "Amr Waked sticks to his guns". Daily News Egypt. Retrieved 15 May 2010.
  14. Pearson, Bryan (9 September 2007). "Egyptian actor Amr Waked faces ban". Variety. Archived from the original on 17 April 2010. Retrieved 15 May 2010.
  15. https://stepfeed.com/egyptian-actor-criticized-for-taking-acting-role-with-israel-s-gal-gadot-4487
  16. Fahim, Joseph (11 November 2009). "33rd Cairo International Film Fest kicks off". Daily News Egypt. Retrieved 14 May 2010.
  17. "Sisi's Script". Reuters. December 12, 2019.
  18. Holden, Stephen (1 February 2001). "review: Gannat al Shayateen (1999)". The New York Times. Retrieved 14 May 2010.
  19. "Eyes wide open". Al-Ahram Weekly. Retrieved 14 May 2010.
  20. Nakhla, Sherif Iskander (10–16 April 2003). "Sherif Iskander". Al-Ahram Weekly. Retrieved 14 May 2010.
  21. "Nothing to laugh about". Al-Ahram Weekly. 8–14 April 2004. Retrieved 14 May 2010.
  22. "Amr Waked". IMDb. Retrieved 2018-09-21.
  23. "The Shoemaker". Abu Dhabi Film Festival. Retrieved 2018-09-21.
  24. Sherif Awad; Lamia Hassan (May 2010). "Egypt's First 3D Movie in the Works". Egypt Today. Archived from the original on 11 May 2010. Retrieved 14 May 2010.
  25. Nakhla, Sherif (15–21 January 2004). "Mafia Inc". Al-Ahram Weekly. Retrieved 14 May 2010.
  26. Rakha, Youssef (7–13 December 2000). "Surplus ministrations". Al-Ahram Weekly. Retrieved 14 May 2010.
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