Amr Waked
Amr Waked (Arabic: عمرو واكد Egyptian Arabic pronunciation: [ˈʕɑm.ɾe.wæːked];[a] born 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 Farouk Hassan in Ramy.
Amr Waked | |
|---|---|
Waked at the Doha Tribeca Film Festival in 2009 | |
| Born | April 12, 1973 |
| Alma mater | American University in Cairo |
| Occupation | Actor |
| Years active | 1999–present |
| Notable work | |
| Spouse | |
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 is it just 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 | 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 |
Television
- Lahazat Harega ( Critical Moments) Season One (32+ episodes, 2007)[8][10]
- House of Saddam (3 episodes, 2008)[13]
- The Shooting of Thomas Hurndall (2008)[13]
- Lahazat Harega (Critical Moments), Season Two (32+ episodes, 2010)[8][10]
- Abwab el khoof (2011)
- Awlaad Al-Shaware'a
- Spiral (season 4) (2012)
- Flight of the Storks (2013)
- Marco Polo (2014)
- Riviera (2017)
- Ramy (2019–present)
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 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[8]
- 2003, won Best Actor award at Alexandria International Film Festival for Dail el samakah[8]
- 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
Notes
References
- ^ a b 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.
- ^ a b Galupo, Scott; Chaffee, Kevin (21 December 2005). "Stork's gift". The Washington Times.
- ^ a b Patel, Anhoni (10 December 2005). . San Francisco Chronicle. Archived from the original on 28 December 2018. Retrieved 14 May 2010.
- ^ a b Bowman, James (23 November 2005). "See No Evil, Hear No Fact". New York Sun. Retrieved 14 May 2010.
- ^ a b H.A.R. (22 December 2005). . Waleg. Archived from the original on 29 July 2016. Retrieved 14 May 2010.
- ^ "Egyptian Actor Amr Waked Sentenced to Eight Years in Jail for "Spreading False News and Insulting State Institutions"". Egyptian Streets. Retrieved 3 October 2019.
- ^ "A different vehicle". Al-Ahram Weekly. 6–12 September 2001. Retrieved 14 May 2010.
- ^ a b c d e f g h "Amr Waked bio". lahazat-harega.com. Retrieved 15 May 2010.
- ^ "Ultimate sacrifice". The Spectator. 7 September 2001. pp. c-04. Retrieved 14 May 2010.
- ^ a b c Hassan, Hassan (March 2007). "A Doctor in the House?". Egypt Today. from the original on August 24, 2007. Retrieved 14 May 2010.
- ^ Tarbush, Susannah (21 April 2010). . Saudi Gazette. Archived from the original on 22 August 2008. Retrieved 14 May 2010.
- ^ a b Williams, Daniel (23 October 2007). "Egyptian Actor Attacked for Film With Israeli as Saddam Hussein". Bloomberg. Retrieved 14 May 2010.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Eskandar, Wael (5 September 2008). "Amr Waked sticks to his guns". Daily News Egypt. Retrieved 15 May 2010.[dead link]
- ^ Pearson, Bryan (9 September 2007). "Egyptian actor Amr Waked faces ban". Variety. from the original on 17 April 2010. Retrieved 15 May 2010.
- ^ Khalaf, Rayana (November 19, 2019). "Egyptian actor criticized for taking 'acting role' with Israel's Gal Gadot". StepFeed.
- ^ Fahim, Joseph (11 November 2009). "33rd Cairo International Film Fest kicks off". Daily News Egypt. Retrieved 14 May 2010.[dead link]
- ^ "Sisi's Script". Reuters. December 12, 2019.
- ^ Holden, Stephen (1 February 2001). "review: Gannat al Shayateen (1999)". The New York Times. Retrieved 14 May 2010.
- ^ "Eyes wide open". Al-Ahram Weekly. Retrieved 14 May 2010.
- ^ Nakhla, Sherif Iskander (10–16 April 2003). "Sherif Iskander". Al-Ahram Weekly. Retrieved 14 May 2010.
- ^ "Nothing to laugh about". Al-Ahram Weekly. 8–14 April 2004. Retrieved 14 May 2010.
- ^ "Amr Waked". IMDb. Retrieved 2018-09-21.
- ^ "The Shoemaker". Abu Dhabi Film Festival. Retrieved 2018-09-21.
- ^ Awad, Sherif; Hassan, Lamia (May 2010). "Egypt's First 3D Movie in the Works". Egypt Today. from the original on 11 May 2010. Retrieved 14 May 2010.
- ^ Nakhla, Sherif (15–21 January 2004). "Mafia Inc". Al-Ahram Weekly. Retrieved 14 May 2010.
- ^ Rakha, Youssef (7–13 December 2000). "Surplus ministrations". Al-Ahram Weekly. Retrieved 14 May 2010.