Haaz Sleiman

Haaz Sleiman
هاز سليمان
Sleiman in 2008
Born (1976-07-01) July 1, 1976 (age 48)
United Arab Emirates
Alma materWayne State University
OccupationActor
Years active2004–present

Haaz Sleiman (/ˈhɑːz ˈsleɪmən/; Arabic: هاز سليمان; born July 1, 1976) is a Lebanese actor.[1] He most notably played the role of Tarek in the 2007 film The Visitor for which he was nominated for the Independent Spirit Award for Best Supporting Male and the role of Jesus in the American TV mini-series Killing Jesus, in addition to a number of American TV series.

Early life

Sleiman was born in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and raised in Beirut, Lebanon.[2] He immigrated to the United States when he was twenty-one years old.[3]

Career

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.[4][5] He portrayed the terrorist suspect Heydar in three 2007 episodes of the FOX series 24[5] and appeared on both NCIS and Veronica Mars in 2007.[4]

He co-starred as Tarek, an undocumented Syrian immigrant in the critically acclaimed 2007 independent film The Visitor, a drama directed by Tom McCarthy. The film was nominated for a Screen Actors Guild Award and an Academy Award.[1][4] Sleiman also had small roles in the 2006 film American Dreamz and the 2007 film AmericanEast.[4][5]

Sleiman played nurse Mohammed "Mo-Mo" De La Cruz in the first season of the Showtime dark comedy series Nurse Jackie, which premiered in June 2009.[4][6][7][8]

In 2011, Sleiman played the role of Omar, a Palestinian activist, in the Channel 4 mini-series The Promise.

Sleiman also played the role of Kasim Tariq in the CW Network TV show Nikita; he appeared in two episodes.

Sleiman played Dr Rabia, a Syrian doctor in Channel 4's The State.

In 2013, Sleiman started as the titular character in the short lived Off-Broadway musical Venice.[9]

Personal life

In an interview with the Christian Broadcasting Network, Sleiman said that he is Muslim, Christian, and Jewish.[10] On August 22, 2017, he came out as gay via a Facebook video.[2][11]

Filmography

Film

Year Title Role Notes
2004 The Ski Trip Tyson
2006 American Dreamz Mujeheddin Captain
The Fourth Estate Short film
2007 The Visitor Tarek
Futbaal: The Price of Dreams Ace
2008 AmericanEast Slick Ali
2011 Dorfman in Love Cookie
2012 Highland Park Ali Rasheed Video on demand
2015 Those People Tim
Ideal Photographer Short film
2016 Offer and Compromise Scott
2019 Love & Debt Scott
2019 3022 Thomas Dahan
2020 Breaking Fast Mo
2021 Eternals Ben
2022 Moving On Gun Shop Salesman

Television

Year Title Role Notes
2006 Company Town Abby Faisal Unsold television pilot
ER Hodgkins Episode: "The Gallant Hero and the Tragic Victor"
2007 24 Heydar 3 episodes (season 6)
NCIS Abdul Wahid Episode: "Grace Period"
Veronica Mars Nasir Ben-Hafald Episode: "Un-American Graffiti"
2009 Nurse Jackie Mohammed "Mo-Mo" de la Cruz Main role (season 1; 12 episodes)
2010, 2011 Nikita Kasim Tariq 2 episodes
2011 The Promise Omar Habash Miniseries
CSI: Miami Marcel Largos Episode: "Mayday"
Ricochet Robert Savich Television film
Meet Jane Agent Joseph Omari Television film
2012 Beauty & the Beast Detective Wolansky Episode: "All In"
2012, 2015 Covert Affairs Khalid Ansari 3 episodes (season 3), 1 episode (season 5)
2013 Blue Bloods Teri Damiri Episode: "Drawing Dead"
The Good Wife Zayeed Shaheed Episode: "Whack-a-Mole"
2014 Person of Interest Omar Risha Episode: "Allegiance"
Reckless Tariq Al Zahrani Episode: "Fifty-One Percent"
2015 Allegiance Scott Tolliver 2 episodes
Killing Jesus Jesus of Nazareth Television film
2015 The Player Farid Episode: "Pilot"
2016 Of Kings and Prophets Jonathan Main cast
2017 The State Dr. Rabia Minisiries (3 episodes)
2018 Tommy in La La Land Himself Documentary (3 episodes)
Jack Ryan Ali bin Suleiman Recurring role; 6 episodes
2020 Little America Rafiq Episode "The Son"

Video game

Year Title Voice role Notes
2007 Assassin's Creed Malik al-Sayf
2011 Assassin's Creed: Revelations Suleiman I
2012 Diablo III Additional voices
2014 Diablo III: Reaper of Souls Additional voices
2024 Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 Additional voices

Awards and nominations

Year Association Category Project Result Ref.
2008 Boston Society of Film Critics Awards Best Ensemble Cast The Visitor Runner-up
Independent Spirit Awards Best Supporting Actor Nominated
Gotham Awards Best Ensemble Cast Nominated
Online Film & Television Association Awards Best Breakthrough Performance – Male Nominated

References

  1. ^ a b Durling, Roger (May 1, 2008). "A Chat with Haaz Sleiman, Star of Tom McCarthy's The Visitor". Santa Barbara Independent. Independent.com. Archived from the original on September 8, 2018. Retrieved February 5, 2009.
  2. ^ a b "Nurse Jackie Star Haaz Sleiman Comes Out As Gay In New Facebook Video". instinctmagazine.com. Archived from the original on 2017-08-27. Retrieved 2017-08-26.
  3. ^ "Killing Jesus Star Haaz Sleiman Talks the Crucifixion and 11/11 ||". patheos.com. March 25, 2015.
  4. ^ a b c d e "Nurse Jackie Actor Bios: Haaz Sleiman". Sho.com. Archived from the original on February 2, 2013. Retrieved June 16, 2009.
  5. ^ a b c "American East (2007) Cast Biographies: Haaz Sleiman". AmericanEastMovie.com (Internet Archive). Archived from the original on October 16, 2007. Retrieved October 16, 2007.
  6. ^ "Nurse Jackie: Official Site". Sho.com. Archived from the original on June 14, 2010. Retrieved March 3, 2009.
  7. ^ Juergens, Brian (December 23, 2008). "Meet the gays of The United States of Tara and Nurse Jackie". AfterElton.com. Retrieved March 8, 2009.
  8. ^ Ausiello, Michael (December 22, 2009). "Exclusive: 'Nurse Jackie' Drops Mo-Mo!".[permanent dead link‍]
  9. ^ Brantley, Ben (2013-06-13). "'Venice,' by Eric Rosen and Matt Sax, Teems With Action". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2017-10-17.
  10. ^ "Killing Jesus' Haaz Sleiman: "Jesus Belongs to All of Us"". Christian Broadcasting Network. 30 March 2015. Retrieved 2020-10-08.
  11. ^ "Haaz Sleiman". www.facebook.com. Retrieved 2017-08-26.