Amr Waked ( ar, عمرو واكد ; 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 (Baer book), See No Evil''. The film stars an ensemble cast consisting of George Clooney, Mat ...
''.
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 and starring Ewan McGregor, Emily Blunt, Kristin Scott Thomas and Amr Waked. Based on the 2007 novel of the same name by Paul Torday, an ...
'', Pierre Del Rio in
Luc Besson
Luc Paul Maurice Besson (; born 18 March 1959) is a French film director, screenwriter and producer. He directed or produced the films '' Subway'' (1985), ''The Big Blue'' (1988), and '' La Femme Nikita'' (1990). Besson is associated with the ' ...
's ''
Lucy
Lucy is an 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 are Luci, Luce, Lu ...
'' and Farouk Hassan in ''
Ramy. ''
In 2019, Waked was sentenced to eight years in prison by an
Egyptian military
The Egyptian Armed Forces ( arz, القُوّات المُسَلَّحَة المِصْرِيَّة, alquwwat almusalahat almisria) are the military forces of the Arab Republic of Egypt. They consist of the Egyptian Army, Egyptian Navy, Egypti ...
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
, image_flag = Bandera de España.svg
, image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg
, national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond")
, national_anthem = (English: "Royal March")
, i ...
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 ( ar, الفلسطينيون, ; he, פָלַסְטִינִים, ) or Palestinian people ( ar, الشعب الفلسطيني, label=none, ), also referred to as Palestinian Arabs ( ar, الفلسطينيين العرب, label=non ...
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 and filmmaker. He is the recipient of List of awards and nominations received by George Clooney, numerous accolades, including a British Academy Film Awards, British Academy Film A ...
in the 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 (Baer book), See No Evil''. The film stars an ensemble cast consisting of George Clooney, Mat ...
'', 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 ( ar, مهرجان القاهرة السينمائي الدولي) is an annual internationally accredited film festival held in Cairo Opera House. It was established in 1976 and has taken place every year sin ...
. Waked joined the cast of the Egyptian
television series
A television show – or simply TV show – is any content produced for viewing on a television set which can be broadcast via over-the-air, satellite television, satellite, or cable television, cable, excluding breaking news, television adverti ...
''Lahazat Harega'' (''Critical Moments'') in 2007,
shooting 32 episodes for season one.
In 2008, Waked joined the cast of the
BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC
Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...
...
.
, 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.
and in 2010 he rejoined the cast of ''Lahazat Harega''. He joined Hollywood stars
.
. 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.