Ashraf Barhom

Ashraf Barhom — Biography

Ashraf Barhom is a Palestinian-Israeli actor who has made his mark in the cinema of his own region as well as in Hollywood and international television. Wide audiences first knew him as Colonel Faris Al-Ghazi in The Kingdom and then as Jamal in the series Tyrant; today he also appears in international series such as House of David.

He grew up in an Arab Christian family in the village of Tarshiha in Galilee and studied theatre at the University of Haifa. His first screen role came in 2001 in Elia Suleiman's Divine Intervention, which won the Jury Prize at Cannes. He became visible in regional cinema with The Syrian Bride (2004) and Paradise Now (2005), and his lead performance in In the Ninth Month (2003) earned a nomination for Israel's equivalent of the Oscar. Paradise Now, with its Oscar nomination and Golden Globe win, was a turning point. In 2007 The Kingdom, opposite Jamie Foxx, brought him international recognition, followed by Lebanon, Agora (the monk Ammonius), Clash of the Titans (the hunter Ozal), Coriolanus and 300: Rise of an Empire. A third phase is television: he played Jamal in Tyrant, then appeared in Farha (2021) and House of David.

He was named best actor at the Malmö Arab Film Festival.