Amr Waked’s biography, fact, career, awards, net worth and life story

Amr Waked (Arabic: عمرو واكد; born April 12, 1973) is an Egyptian film, television, and stage actor, known for his roles portraying Middle Eastern and Mediterranean characters. He is best known to international audiences and in Hollywood for his role in the 2005 film Syriana. Other prominent roles include the Yemeni Sheikh Muhammad in Salmon Fishing in the Yemen, and Pierre Del Rio in Luc Besson’s Lucy.

Background

Waked was born on April 12, 1973, in Cairo, Egypt. He is a graduate of the American University in Cairo, and has performed in theatre from 1992 through 2002. He originally just moonlighted as an actor, and relied on his day job as a stock trader, before finally dedicating himself to a career as an actor. Waked joined the 2011 Egypt anti-government protests and he also joined June 2013 Egyptian protests against Mohamed Morsi.

Career

Waked’s first ever major role was in Ashab wallah business (2002) (Are we friends or just a business), for which reviewers offered 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.

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 .

Filmography

Films

Television

• “Lahazat Harega” “Critical Moments, Season One” (32+ episodes, 2007)
• House of Saddam (3 episodes, 2008)
• The Shooting of Thomas Hurndall (2008)
• “Lahazat Harega” “Critical Moments, Season Two” (32+ episodes, 2010)
• Abwab el khoof (2011)
• Awlaad Al-Shaware’a
• Spiral (season 4) (2012)
• Flight of the Storks (2013)
• Marco Polo (TV series) (2014)

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 & 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

• ^