Fares Fares

• Name — Fares Fares • Born — 29 April 1973 • Birthplace — Beirut, Lebanon • Occupation — * Actor • director • producer • Years Active — 2000–present • Spouse — Clara Hallencreutz[1][2] (m. married) • Relatives — Josef Fares (brother) Roy Fares (cousin)

Fares was born on 29 April 1973 in Beirut, Lebanon to a family of Assyrian origin. His younger brother is director Josef Fares, and he has four sisters. In 1987, when Fares was 14 years old, his family moved to Sweden, residing in Örebro.[5] They moved to escape the Lebanese Civil War and chose Sweden because they had relatives who had already lived there.[6] Fares says he learned Swedish within three months of living in Sweden. From the age of 15, Fares acted in a local theater group in Örebro. When he was 19, he attended drama school in Mölnlycke near Gothenburg, Sweden. He spent six years working in the Theatre Tamauer.

• Illustration — Fares at the Stockholm City Theatre, 2009 In 2014, Fares portrayed Fauzi Nadal in the TV show Tyrant on the FX Network.[15] Tyrant was renewed for a second season, which began airing in the summer of 2015,[16] and a third season in summer 2016. From 2018 to 2019, Fares appeared in the two HBO series Westworld and Chernobyl. He portrayed the Forsaken Ishamael in The Wheel of Time in 2021, 2023 and 2025. In 2024, he appeared in the recurring role of Ruggiero in Netflix's The Decameron.

• 1996: Samuel Beckett's I väntan på Godot (Waiting for Godot) at Teater Tamauer, Sweden • 2000: Dom, directed by Jasenko Selimovic, with Torkel Petersson, at the Gothenburg City Theatre (Göteborgs Stadsteater), Gothenburg, Sweden • 2000: Natten före skogarna at Teater Tamauer, Sweden • 2001: Tillbaka till öknen at the Royal Dramatic Theatre, Stockholm, Sweden • 2002: Köket at the Gothenburg City Theatre, Gothenburg, Sweden • 2003: Brott, hemtjänst, straffpengar, pensionärsmord at Backstage, Sweden • 2003: Den arabiska natten at Backstage, Sweden

• 2004: Fares and his brother Josef voice acted in the Swedish dub of Shark Tale[17] • Fares appears in two music videos for Lykke Li; 2011 single, "I Follow Rivers", directed by Tarik Saleh and 2014 album teaser, "I Never Learn"[18] • Appeared in Daniel Lemma's music video "If I Used To Love You" with Torkel Petersson • 2011: TV commercial for Tanqueray "Tonight We Tanqueray" — the bartender • 2012: Short film, sponsored by Maiyet called Sleepwalking In the Rift, directed by Cary Fukunaga[19] • 2018: Voice acted in the video game A Way Out — Leo Caruso • 2021: Additional voices for It Takes Two • 2022: TV commercial for Volvo "The Parents" — the father • 2025: Additional voices for Split Fiction

Fares has stated that he spends time in Stockholm[21] and Los Angeles.

• Year — Title — Role — Director — Network — Notes • 2007 — Leende guldbruna ögon — Roshan — Emiliano Goessens, Anna Hylander — SVT1 • 2008 — Maria Wern – Främmande fågel — Jonathan Sauma — Erik Leijonborg — TV4 • 2014–2016 — Tyrant — Fauzi Nadal — Gideon Raff — FX — Main role; 19 episodes • 2018 — Westworld — Antoine Costa — Various directors — HBO — Recurring role; season 2 • Deep State — Gabriel — Robert Connolly — FOX — Guest appearance; Episode "Old Habits" • 2019 — Chernobyl — Bacho — Johan Renck — HBO — Miniseries; Episode "The Happiness of All Mankind" • 2020 — Partisan — Johnny — Amir Chamdin — Viaplay — Main role; season 1, 5 episodes • 2021–2025 — The Wheel of Time — Ishamael / Ba'alzamon — Various directors — Amazon Prime Video — Main role; 10 episodes • 2024 — The Decameron — Ruggiero — Andrew DeYoung, Anya Adams — Netflix — Miniseries; recurring role, 2 episodes • 2025 — We Come In Peace — Elias Charbel — Jens Jonsson, Mani Maserrat — TV4 — Miniseries; main role • 2026 — Bytet — Carl — Kasper Barfoed — Netflix — Miniseries; main role

• Year — Title — Role — Director — Notes • 2018 — A Way Out — Leo Caruso (voice) — Josef Fares — Main role, also motion capture • 2021 — It Takes Two — Leo Caruso (voice) — Josef Fares — Cameo appearance • 2025 — Split Fiction — Leo Caruso (voice) — Josef Fares — Cameo appearance

Fares Fares is recorded as having received Guldbagge Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role, Robert Award for Best Actor in a Supporting Role and Svend Award. Recognition and collections. Fares received Guldbagge Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role, Robert Award for Best Actor in a Supporting Role, Svend Award and Litteris et Artibus.

Fares has played major parts in films directed by his brother, Josef Fares. He debuted in Jalla! Jalla! (2000) and Kopps (2003). He starred in Bang Bang Orangutang (2005) and Kill Your Darlings (2006). In 2010, Fares starred in the Swedish crime thriller Easy Money with Joel Kinnaman. The film was critically acclaimed and was picked up for American distribution by Harvey Weinstein. In 2012, Fares made his Hollywood debut in the Denzel Washington movie Safe House.[7] He played American CIA officer Hakim in Zero Dark Thirty (2012).[8][9] Fares had a role in Child 44 (2014) with Tom Hardy and Gary Oldman.[10] Fares played Senator Vaspar in the Star Wars franchise movie Rogue One: A Star Wars Story (2016). For The Keeper of Lost Causes (2013), which was set in Denmark, Fares learned to speak Danish in two months. This film was the first of ten features based on Jussi Adler-Olsen's Department Q novels.[11] Fares and Nikolaj Lie Kaas appeared in the first four of these films, produced by Zentropa. Their roles were later recast when the film rights were sold to Nordisk Film. Fares is partially known for his long-standing collaborative relationship with director Tarik Saleh, most famously starring in his Cairo trilogy, consisting of The Nile Hilton Incident (2017), Boy from Heaven (2022), and Eagles of the Republic (2025).[12] Each film examines and criticizes the political corruption within Egypt at different levels during different periods, with Fares' characters at the center of pivotal events or circumstances. He has also had minor roles in the director's other films The Contractor (2022) and Metropia (2009),[13] as well as various music videos he's directed for Lykke Li. In 2020, Fares made his producing debut with the miniseries Partisan. A few years later, in 2023, he made his directorial debut with A Day and a Half, a Netflix original film which was loosely inspired by a real story.[14]

• Year — Title — Role — Director — Notes • 2000 — Before the Storm — Hostage taker — Reza Parsa • Jalla! Jalla! — Roro — Josef Fares • 2001 — Days Like This — Michel — Mikael Håfström • 2002 — Mofars Big Bang — Doctor — Gunnar A. Hellström • 2003 — Kopps — Jacob — Josef Fares • 2004 — I'm Your Man — Omar — Sarah Gyllenstierna — Short film • Day and Night — Kristian — Simon Staho • Chlorox, Ammonium and Coffee — Jesus — Mona J. Hoel • Fakiren fra Bilbao — Frank Flambert — Peter Flinth • 2005 — Zozo — The Chicken (voice) — Josef Fares • Bang Bang Orangutang — Patrik — Simon Staho • 2006 — Kill Your Darlings — Omar — Björne Larson • 7 miljonärer — Kristoffer El-Zeid — Michael Hjorth • 2008 — For a Moment, Freedom — Manu — Arash T. Riahi • The Fur — Richardt — Björne Larson — Short film • 2009 — Metropia — Firaz Sanoman (voice) — Tarik Saleh • 2010 — Easy Money — Mahmoud — Daniel Espinosa • 2012 — Sleepwalking in the Rift — Cary Joji Fukunaga — Short film • Safe House — Vargas — Daniel Espinosa • Easy Money II: Hard to Kill — Mahmoud — Babak Najafi • Zero Dark Thirty — Hakim — Kathryn Bigelow • 2013 — The Keeper of Lost Causes — Assad — Mikkel Nørgaard • 2014 — The Absent One — Assad — Mikkel Nørgaard • 2015 — Child 44 — Alexei Andreyev — Daniel Espinosa • 2016 — The Commune — Allon — Thomas Vinterberg • A Conspiracy of Faith — Assad — Hans Petter Moland • Rogue One: A Star Wars Story — Vasp Vaspar — Gareth Edwards • 2017 — The Nile Hilton Incident — Noredin Mustafa — Tarik Saleh • 2018 — The Purity of Vengeance — Assad — Christoffer Boe • 2022 — The Contractor — Salim — Tarik Saleh • Boy from Heaven — Ibrahim — Tarik Saleh • 2023 — A Day and a Half — Lukas Malki — Fares Fares • 2025 — Eagles of the Republic — George Fahmy — Tarik Saleh • 2026 — Adult Supervision — Bobo — Alex Schulman