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Amr Waked
Amr Waked.jpg
Waked at the Doha Tribeca Film Festival in 2009
Born (1973-04-12) April 12, 1973 (age 51)
Alma mater American University in Cairo
Occupation Actor
Years active 1999–present
Notable work
  • Syriana
  • Lucy
  • House of Saddam
Spouse(s)
Sarah Shaheen
(m. 2015)

Amr Waked (Arabic: عمرو واكد Egyptian Arabic pronunciation: [ˈʕɑm.ɾe.wæːked]; 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. Other prominent roles include a Yemeni Sheikh called Muhammad in Salmon Fishing in the Yemen, Pierre Del Rio in Luc Besson's Lucy and Farouk Hassan in Ramy.

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. 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). 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. 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, shooting 32 episodes for season one.

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. 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. 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.

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, 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. 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.

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

Year Title Role Notes
1999 Gannat al shayateen
(The Paradise of the Fallen Angels)
Nona
2001 Li li Shiekh Abdel Al
2001 Ashab wala business ?
(Are we friends or is it just business?)
Gihad
2003 Men nazret ain
(At First Sight)
Akram
2003 Dail el samakah
(The Fish Tail)
Ahmed
2003 Sahar el layaly
(Staying up nights)
(Voice)
2004 Ahla al awkat
(Best Times)
Hisham
2004 Khalty Faransa
(My aunt France)
Yousif
2004 Tito Faris
2004 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 Syriana
2008 Genenet al asmak
(The Aquarium)
Yousif El nady
2009 Ibrahim labyad
(Ibrahim the white)
Ashry
2009 The Traveller
2009 Al-Gondorji
(The Shoemaker)
Saber
2010 Il padre e lo straniero
(The father and the stranger)
Walid
2010 Alf Leila We Leila
(One Thousand and One Nights)
Meg Windermere
2011 Contagion Rafik
2012 Salmon Fishing in the Yemen Sheikh Muhammed bin Zaidi bani Tihama
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
2021 Super-héros malgré lui Ivan Stona / Le Schizo
2023 Firebrand Dr. Mulay Al-Farabi

Television

Year Title Role Notes
2007-2010 Lahazat Harega ( Critical Moments) Dr. Ramy
2008 House Of Saddam Hussein Kamal 3 Episodes
2008 The Shooting of Thomas Hurdell Mohammad
2010 Abwab El Khoof Adam Yassin
2010 El-Gamaah Amr
2010 Ostrich's Feather Karem 30 Episodes
2011 Odysseus Eukaristos 2 Episodes
2012 Spiral Yannis 7 Episodes
2014 Marco Polo Yusuf 9 Episodes
2017 El Herbaya Mokhtar
2017 Riviera Delormes 10 Episodes
2019-Present Ramy Farouk Hassan 28 Episodes
2021 Decoded (Aljazeera) Himself Host

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
  • 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
  • 1999, won Best Supporting Actor award at Alexandria International Film Festival for Gannat al shayateen
  • 2003, won Best Actor award at Alexandria International Film Festival for Dail el samakah
  • 2006, won Special Award for Arabs in The International Cinema at Cairo International Film Festival for Syriana
  • 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

See also

Kids robot.svg In Spanish: Amr Waked para niños

  • Cinema of Egypt
  • List of Egyptian films of the 2000s
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