Amr Waked ( ; born ) is an Egyptian 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 an 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) Nona2001 Li li Shiekh Abdel Al Ashab wala business ?(Are we friends or is it just business?) Gihad2003 Men nazret ain (At First Sight) Akram Dail el samakah (The Fish Tail) Ahmed Sahar el layaly (Staying up nights) (Voice) 2004 Ahla al awkat (Best Times) Hisham Khalty Faransa (My aunt France) Yousif Tito Faris Sib wana Aseeb (Lose and I'll lose) Kariem 2005 Kalam fel hob (Talking about love) Hassan Dam el ghazal (The Gazelle's Blood) Atef Syriana Mohammed Sheik Agiza 2008 Genenet al asmak (The Aquarium) Yousif El nady 2009 Ibrahim labyad (Ibrahim the white) Ashry The Traveller Fu'ad Al-Gondorji (The Shoemaker)Saber 2010 Il padre e lo straniero (The father and the stranger) Walid 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 Winter of Discontent Amr 2014 El Ott The cat Lucy Pierre Del Rio Colt 45 Baron 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-Farabi2025 Urchin Eagles of the Republic Dr. Mansour
Television +YearTitleRoleNotes2007-2010Lahazat Harega (Critical Moments) Dr. Ramy2008House Of SaddamHussein Kamal3 episodesThe Shooting of Thomas HurdellMohammad2010Abwab El KhoofAdam YassinEl-GamaahAmrOstrich's FeatherKarem30 episodes2011OdysseusEukaristos2 episodes2012SpiralYannis7 episodes2014Marco PoloYusuf9 episodes2017El HerbayaMokhtarRivieraDelormes10 episodes2019–2022RamyFarouk Hassan28 episodes2021Decoded HimselfHost 2024 The Listeners Omar BBC One mini-series
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 Cinema of Egypt List of Egyptian films of the 2000s
Notes
References
External links
Carlo Coppola, Anche l’attore Amr Waked sulle barricate del Cairo per la libertà, lsdmagazine.com