Film 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. He played American CIA officer Hakim in
Zero Dark Thirty (2012). Fares had a role in
Child 44 (2014) with
Tom Hardy and
Gary Oldman. 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. 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. 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), 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.
Television , 2009 In 2014, Fares portrayed Fauzi Nadal in the TV show
Tyrant on the
FX Network.
Tyrant was renewed for a second season, which began airing in the summer of 2015, 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.
Theater • 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
Other work • 2004: Fares and his brother
Josef voice acted in the Swedish dub of
Shark Tale • 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" • 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 • 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 == Personal life ==