Waleed F. Zuaiter () is an American actor, of Palestinian descent, and producer who has performed in on-stage productions in Washington, D.C.; Berkeley, California; and New York City, as well as several film and television productions. He is the producer and co-star of Omar (2013), which was nominated for an Oscar at the 86th Academy Awards for Best Foreign Language Film.
Early life Waleed Zuaiter, an American with Palestinian ancestry, was born in Sacramento, California, but grew up in Kuwait.
He returned to the United States to earn his degree in philosophy and theatre at George Washington University, in Washington, D.C..
Career Zuaiter began his acting career with several productions in Washington, before relocating to New York City.
On the New York stage, he received critical acclaim for his portrayal of a former Iraqi translator for the U.S. military, in George Packer's Betrayed. He also has starred in David Greig's The American Pilot at the Manhattan Theatre Club, Tony Kushner's Homebody/Kabul, Ilan Hatsor's Masked, Eliam Kraiem's Sixteen Wounded, and Victoria Brittain and Gillian Slovo's Guantanamo: Honor Bound to Defend Freedom. He performed alongside Meryl Streep and Kevin Kline in Mother Courage at the Public Theater.
Zuaiter has produced the annual New York Arab-American Comedy Festival and has been a member of the Arab-American theater collective NIBRAS.
Zuaiter's film and television productions include the HBO/BBC miniseries House of Saddam, Sex and the City 2, and The Men Who Stare at Goats, in which he played the role of Mahmud Daash. In the 2011 suspense-thriller Elevator, directed by Stig Svendsen, he plays a man trapped in a Wall Street elevator with several people, one of whom has a bomb.
Zuaiter produced and starred in Omar, a thriller written and directed by Hany Abu-Assad (Paradise Now). The film was selected as the Palestinian entry for the Best Foreign Language Film at the 86th Academy Awards, and was nominated for an Academy Award. It also won Best Feature Film at the 2013 Asian Pacific Screen Awards.
He also was featured in an NBC Universal Pilot written by Tom Fontana and Barry Levinson and directed by Spike Lee, starring Bobby Cannavale. Alongside Bobby Cannavale, Waleed's son, Laith Zuaiter, was featured in the pilot. Waleed Zuaiter starred in London Has Fallen as Kamran Barkawi, Aamir Barkawi's son and henchman and second in command of a terrorist strike.
He starred as the recurring character Samir Abboud in the Netflix adaptation of the novel Altered Carbon. Zuaiter starred in Billionaire Boys Club as The Persian, Hedayat Eslaminia and Izzy’s Father. In 2019, Waleed Zuaiter starred in Netflix limited series The Spy, as the Syrian Colonel Amin al-Hafiz."The Spy" at Rotten Tomatoes.
In 2020, he played the role of a former Iraqi police officer collaborating with US forces while trying to find his missing daughter in the series Baghdad Central.Ellen E. Jones, "Baghdad Central review – more than just a Middle East Morse" . The Guardian, 3 February 2020. The role earned him a leading actor nomination in the 2021 British Academy Television Awards.
In 2021, he starred as Hassan Asfour, senior Palestine Liberation Organization negotiator, in the HBO film Oslo about the negotiations that led to the Oslo I Accord."Oslo (2021)" at Rotten Tomatoes
In 2022 Zuaiter starred as Koba, a Georgian assassin and crime boss, in the second season of Gangs of London, a London crime drama series airing on Sky Atlantic in the UK and Germany, and on AMC in the US.
Filmography
Film +YearTitleRoleNotes2000Eat Me!Barry2003JusticeSaeed2004Jihad!Salaam2007The VisitorOmar2009Veronika Decides to DieLecturer2009The Men Who Stare at GoatsMahmud Daash2010Sex and the City 2Shahib2011ElevatorMohammed2012The UnitedWaleed Zaki2013OmarAgent RamiAlso producer2015ParisienneL'oncle Simon2016The Free WorldKhalil2016London Has FallenKamran Barkawi2016Jimmy Vestvood: Amerikan HeroMalek2016NamourNabil201620th Century WomenCharlie2018Here and NowSami2018Billionaire Boys ClubThe Persian / Izzy's Dad2018The AngelGamal Abdel Nasser2018Saint JudyOmar2019WilliamDr. Julian Reed2021AmiraSaidAlien BoyFaroukPost-production
Television YearTitleRoleNotes2002, 2008Rani Khan / KhalidRani Khan / Khalid2 episodes2007The UnitMan with Red EnvelopeEpisode: "M.P.s"2007M.O.N.Y.Achmil DurraniTelevision film2008House of SaddamAdnan HamdaniEpisode #1.12009Lie to MeDeputy Ambassador RafidEpisode: "The Best Policy"2010NCIS: Los AngelesThierry / SheikEpisode: "Black Widow"2010Blue BloodsAdam HassanEpisode: "What You See"2011HomelandAfsal HamidEpisode: "Blind Spot"2011The Good WifeDanny MarwatEpisode: "Executive Order 13224"2011Lost and FoundRajTelevision film2012Political AnimalsAmbassador SerkanEpisode: "Second Time Around"2012Common LawAram ParisianEpisode: "Hot for Teacher"2013–2014RevolutionMartin Shaw4 episodes2014LegendsFaris NaderEpisode: "Iconoclast"2014The BlacklistDr. Daniel RiveraEpisode: "The Scimitar (No. 22)"2015House of CardsKaseem MahmoudEpisode: "Chapter 30"2015Masters of SexMohammad aka Shah of IranEpisode: "Three's a Crowd"2016Madam SecretaryPrime Minister Khoosat2 episodes2016Good BehaviorChase Rochefort2017Chicago JusticeAmir NasiriEpisode: "See Something"2017Prison BreakMohammad El Tunis2 episodes2018Altered CarbonSamir Abboud6 episodes2018ColonyVincent4 episodes2019The SpyColonel Amin al-Hafiz5 episodes2020Baghdad CentralMuhsin Kadr al-Khafaji6 episodes2020RamyYassirEpisode: "Uncle Naseem"2021OsloHassan AsfourTelevision film2022Gangs of LondonKoba6 episodes2025The GirlfriendHoward Sanderson6 episodes 2026 High Value Target: The Hunt for Saddam Saddam Hussein 2 episodes
References
External links
Arab American News
Profile of Waleed Zuaiter at the Institute for Middle East Understanding New York Times review of the play Abandoned Article about Waleed Zuaiter in TalkMoviesWorld.com