Haaz Sleiman | |
---|---|
Sleiman in 2008
|
|
Native name | هاز سليمان |
Born |
Beirut, Lebanon |
July 1, 1976
Residence | Los Angeles, California |
Citizenship |
Lebanon United States |
Alma mater | Wayne State University |
Occupation | Actor |
Years active | 2004–Present |
Awards |
|
Haaz Sleiman (in Arabic هاز سليمان) (born July 1, 1976) is a Lebanese-American television and film actor. He most notably played the role of Tarek in the 2007 film The Visitor and the role of Jesus in the American TV mini-series Killing Jesus, in addition to a number of American TV series.
Haaz Sleiman was born and raised in Lebanon. He moved to the United States when he was twenty-one years old, and he developed a love for acting in film, television, and theater.
In 2006, Sleiman portrayed an American soldier in Iraq on the NBC series ER and, that same year, had a recurring role as an Arab billionaire in the CBS series "Company Town". He portrayed the terrorist suspect Heydar in three 2007 episodes of the FOX series 24 and appeared on both NCIS and Veronica Mars in 2007.
He co-starred as Tarek, an undocumented Syrian immigrant in the critically acclaimed 2007 independent film The Visitor, a drama directed by Thomas McCarthy. The film was nominated for a Screen Actors Guild Award and an Academy Award. Sleiman also had small roles in the 2006 film American Dreamz and the 2007 film AmericanEast.