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Keanu Charles Reeves, whose first name means "cool breeze over the mountains" in Hawaiian, was born September 2, 1964 in Beirut, Lebanon. He is the son of Patric Reeves, a showgirl and costume designer, and Samuel Nowlin Reeves, a geologist. Keanu's father was born in Hawaii, of British, Portuguese, Native Hawaiian, and Chinese ancestry, and Keanu's mother is originally from Essex England. After his parents' marriage dissolved, Keanu moved with his mother and younger sister, Kim Reeves, to New York City, then Toronto. Stepfather #1 was Paul Aaron, a stage and film director - he and Patricia divorced within a year, after which she went on to marry (and divorce) rock promoter Robert Miller. Reeves never reconnected with his biological father. In high school, Reeves was lukewarm toward academics but took a keen interest in ice hockey (as team goalie, he earned the nickname "The Wall") and drama. He eventually dropped out of school to pursue an acting career.
After a few stage gigs and a handful of made-for-TV movies, he scored a supporting role in the Rob Lowe hockey flick Youngblood (1986), which was filmed in Canada. Shortly after the production wrapped, Reeves packed his bags and headed for Hollywood. Reeves popped up on critics' radar with his performance in the dark adolescent drama, River's Edge (1986), and landed a supporting role in the Oscar-nominated Dangerous Liaisons (1988) with director Stephen Frears.
His first popular success was the role of totally rad dude Ted "Theodore" Logan in Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure (1989). The wacky time-travel movie became something of a cultural phenomenon, and audiences would forever confuse Reeves's real-life persona with that of his doofy on-screen counterpart. He then joined the casts of Ron Howard's comedy, Parenthood (1989) and Lawrence Kasdan's I Love You to Death (1990).
Over the next few years, Reeves tried to shake the Ted stigma with a series of highbrow projects. He played a slumming rich boy opposite River Phoenix's narcoleptic male hustler in My Own Private Idaho (1991), an unlucky lawyer who stumbles into the vampire's lair in Bram Stoker's Dracula (1992), and Shakespearean party-pooper Don John in Much Ado About Nothing (1993).
In 1994, the understated actor became a big-budget action star with the release of Speed (1994). Its success heralded an era of five years in which Reeves would alternate between small films, like Feeling Minnesota (1996) and The Last Time I Committed Suicide (1997), and big films like A Walk in the Clouds (1995) and The Devil's Advocate (1997). (There were a couple misfires, too: Johnny Mnemonic (1995) and Chain Reaction (1996).) After all this, Reeves did the unthinkable and passed on the Speed sequel, but he struck box-office gold again a few years later with the Wachowski siblings' cyberadventure, The Matrix (1999).
Now a bonafide box-office star, Keanu would appear in a string of smaller films -- among them The Replacements (2000), The Watcher (2000), The Gift (2000), Sweet November (2001), and Hardball (2001) - before The Matrix Reloaded (2003) and The Matrix Revolutions (2003) were both released in 2003.
Since the end of The Matrix trilogy, Keanu has divided his time between mainstream and indie fare, landing hits with Something's Gotta Give (2003), The Lake House (2006), and Street Kings (2008). He's kept Matrix fans satiated with films such as Constantine (2005), A Scanner Darkly (2006), and The Day the Earth Stood Still (2008). And he's waded back into art-house territory with Ellie Parker (2005), Thumbsucker (2005), The Private Lives of Pippa Lee (2009), and Henry's Crime (2010).
Most recently, as post-production on the samurai epic 47 Ronin (2013) waged on, Keanu appeared in front of the camera in Side by Side (2012), a documentary on celluloid and digital filmmaking, which he also produced. He also directed another Asian-influenced project, Man of Tai Chi (2013).
In 2014, Keanu played the title role in the action revenge film John Wick (2014), which became popular with critics and audiences alike. He reprised the role in John Wick: Chapter 2 (2017), taking the now-iconic character to a better opening weekend and even more enthusiastic reviews than the first go-around.- Actor
- Producer
- Writer
Began his acting career in Sweden 2000 with the movie "Jalla! Jalla!". He has been acting in both comedies as well as action movies. He has been acting in theater as well as some TV productions.
In 2012, Mr. Fares started his Hollywood career co-starring with Denzel Washington in the movie "Safe house".- Producer
- Writer
- Director
Dave grew up in Mt. Lebanon, a suburb southwest of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. He was in the marching band, and was the starting goaltender for half of his senior year on the hockey team. He graduated from high school in 1992 and Edinboro University of Pennsylvania in 1996, where he played club hockey.
He served on animation staff on The Oblongs (2001) and Star Wars: The Clone Wars (2008) before working his way up to director on episodes of Avatar: The Last Airbender (2005). His work there stood out to Lucasfilm Animation when he was hired to oversee direction on Star Wars: The Clone Wars (2008). Due to his love for the franchise, he thought the initial phone call for the job was a practical joke. He worked alongside George Lucas on creating the series, which was canceled after six seasons when the Walt Disney Company acquired the studio. He was kept on staff to create Star Wars: Rebels (2014), which continued the character arc of fan favorite Ahsoka Tano, originally introduced in Star Wars: The Clone Wars (2008). In 2017, he became the executive producer of all animated Star Wars series, including Star Wars: Forces of Destiny (2017).- Nick Emad Tarabay is a Lebanese-American actor. He is best known for portraying Ashur on the Starz TV series Spartacus. Tarabay was born in Beirut, Lebanon to a large family. His mother and father still reside in Lebanon as does his younger brother and a large extended family of cousins, uncles and aunts. He moved to New York after high school. As a clothing salesman, he worked for Hugo Boss and Gucci, while studying acting at the T. Schreiber Studio and appearing in Off-Off-Broadway plays. He moved to Los Angeles in 2004, where he studied under Larry Moss and appeared in their studio's staging of John Patrick Shanley's Danny and the Deep Blue Sea.
- Actor
- Writer
- Director
Howard Hesseman was a leading counter-culture figure since the late 1960s. He was a member of the improv group, "The Committee", for a decade in the 1960s/1970s. A character actor for many years on different television shows since the 1960s, he took small parts in The Andy Griffith Show (1960), Dragnet 1967 (1967), Soap (1977), and Sanford and Son (1972). The role that brought him to prominence was Howard Johnson in the cult classic Billy Jack (1971).
He was a frequent guest star on The Bob Newhart Show (1972) but would become best-known for his role on the classic series WKRP in Cincinnati (1978), as anti-disco hipster DJ "Dr. Johnny Fever". Also in the 1970s, he appeared in The Sunshine Boys (1975), Tunnel Vision (1976), Silent Movie (1976) and The Big Bus (1976). After the cancellation of WKRP in Cincinnati (1978), he went on to star as the husband of Ann Romano in One Day at a Time (1975). After that series was cancelled, Hesseman starred in This Is Spinal Tap (1984), Doctor Detroit (1983), Police Academy 2: Their First Assignment (1985), Clue (1985), and Flight of the Navigator (1986).
He then starred as history teacher Charlie Moore in Head of the Class (1986). He left that show in 1990 and appeared in a steady stream of television guest roles. In 1987, he appeared in Amazon Women on the Moon (1987). In 1991, he starred in Rubin and Ed (1991). Afterward, he appeared in other films, including Gridlock'd (1997) (with Tupac Shakur). His work in later years concentrated mostly on television, where he took mostly small guest roles, in such shows as That '70s Show (1998), Touched by an Angel (1994), The Practice (1997), and Crossing Jordan (2001).- Actor
- Composer
- Soundtrack
Michael Malarkey was born on 21 June 1983 in Beirut, Lebanon. He is an actor and composer, known for Project Blue Book (2019), The Oath (2018) and The Vampire Diaries (2009). He has been married to Nadine Lewington since 6 June 2009. They have two children.- Born in Beirut, Lebanon, his family moved to Madrid, Spain, when he was three years old. His father was Armenian and his mother is Spanish (from Navarra). He became a boxer and was twice Spanish Heavyweight Champion. After quitting boxing he started a new career as stand-up comedian and writer (he has published four books, the last of them entitled Resiliente.
- Razane Jammal is a British Lebanese actress who is fluent in English, French, and Arabic and has had enormous success both at home and abroad, playing a variety of roles throughout her career and acting in several dialects.
In the Arab world, Razane is best known for her role in Marwan Hamed's KIRA & El GIN and was awarded "Best Actress in a Supporting Role" by the 49th Cairo Film Society.
She took the audiences by storm in portraying Sara in the Shahid original drama AL THAMAN, which had the highest viewership in the Arab world at the time of its release, and a guest appearance on Menna Shalaby's Ramadan 2023 drama TAGHYER GAW.
Razane also is the sole Arab star to have joined the DC comics universe in Netflix's hit adaptation of THE SANDMAN- a widely successful adaptation based on one of the best-selling DC comic novels of the same name, which featured on Netflix's top 10 English series and is one of the most popular TV shows according to IMDb.
Her other projects include A WALK AMONG THE TOMBSTONES (2014) alongside actor Liam Neeson with THE QUEEN'S GAMBIT's director Scott Franks; the American series Berlin Station (2016) with Rhys Ifans, Richard Jenkins, and Michelle Forbes; Channel 4's mini-series CHIMERICA (2019) with actor Alessandro Nivola; and Eric and Quentin's French comedy BAD BUZZ (2016).
Shifting gears to her activities outside of her acting career, Razane is Dior's ambassador for women's collections in the Middle East and attended Cartier's Panthère de Cartier Show in Dubai alongside a group of high-profile celebrities.
Finally, the international actress was featured in two advertisements in the Ramadan 2023 season - the first for Memaar Al-Morshedy's project ZAHRA on the North Coast alongside Mahmoud El-Esseily, and the second is an ad for Zain, which broke around 10m views in its first week.
Most recently, Vanity Fair named Razane one of the six most influential women in the Middle East during a gala dinner hosted by the Red Sea International Film Festival at the 76th Cannes Film Festival.
In addition to her acting career, Razane has dedicated herself to humanitarian work, and she has recently been appointed as the ambassador for the Children's Cancer Center (CCC) in Lebanon for 2023/2024. Her role as an ambassador for CCC showcases her commitment to supporting and raising awareness for children battling cancer in Lebanon. - Actress
- Director
- Writer
Delphine was born in Beirut on the 10th April 1932 into an intellectual Protestant family. Her Alsatian father, Henri Seyrig, was the director of the Archaeological Institute and later France's cultural attaché in New York during World War Two. Her Swiss mother, Hermine De Saussure, was an adept of Rousseau's theories, a female sailing pioneer and the niece of the universally acclaimed linguist and semiologist, Ferdinand De Saussure. Delphine also had a brother, Francis Seyrig, who would go on to become a successful composer. At the end of the war, the family relocated to Paris, although Delphine's adolescence was to be spent between her country, Greece and New York. Never a good student, she decided to quit school at age 17 to pursue a stage career. Her father gave her his approval on the condition that she would have done this with seriousness and dedication. Delphine took courses of Dramatic Arts with some illustrious teachers such as Roger Blin, Pierre Bertin and Tania Balachova. Some of her fellow students included Jean-Louis Trintignant, Michael Lonsdale, Laurent Terzieff, Bernard Fresson, Stéphane Audran, Daniel Emilfork and Antoine Vitez. Her stage debut came in 1952 in a production of Louis Ducreux's musical "L'Amour en Papier", followed by roles in "Le Jardin du Roi" (Pierre Devaux) and in Jean Giraudoux's "Tessa, la nymphe au Coeur fidèle". Stage legend Jean Dasté was the first director to offer her a couple of parts that would truly showcase her talents: Ariel in Shakespeare's "The Tempest" and Chérubin in Beaumarchais' "The Marriage of Figaro". He also had her take the title role in a production of Giraudoux's "Ondine" from Odile Versois, who had gone to England to shoot an Ealing movie. Delphine's performance was greeted with enormous critical approval. The young actress stayed in Europe for a couple years more, starring in a production of Oscar Wilde's "An Ideal Husband" in Paris, making two guest appearances in Sherlock Holmes (1954) (which was entirely shot in France) and trying to enter the TNP (People's National Theatre). She actually wasn't admitted because the poetic, melodious voice that would become her signature mark was deemed too strange. In 1956, Delphine decided to sail for America along with her husband Jack Youngerman (a painter she had married in Paris) and son Duncan.
Delphine tried to enter the Actor's studio, but, just like in the case of many of Hollywood's finest actors, she failed the admittance test. She would still spend three years as an observer (also attending Lee Strasberg's classes) and this minor mishap didn't prevent her from going on with her stage career anyway, as she did theatre work in Connecticut and appeared in an off-Broadway production of Pirandello's "Henry IV" opposite Burgess Meredith and Alida Valli. Legend wants that the show was such a flop that the producer burned down the set designs. One year later, a single meeting would change the young actress' life forever. Delphine was starring in a production of Henrik Ibsen's "An Enemy of the People" when one very day she was approached by a very enthusiast spectator. It was the great director Alain Resnais, fresh of the huge personal triumph he had scored with his masterwork, Hiroshima Mon Amour (1959). Resnais was now trying to do a movie about the pulp magazine character Harry Dickson (an American version of Sherlock Holmes) and thought that Delphine could have played the role of the detective's nemesis, Georgette Cuvelier/The Spider. The project would never see the light of the day, but this meeting would soon lead to the genesis of an immortal cinematic partnership. Delphine's first feature film was also done the same year: it was the manifesto of the Beat Generation, the innovative Pull My Daisy (1959). The 30 minutes film was written and narrated by Jack Kerouac and featured an almost entirely non-professional cast including poets Allen Ginsberg, Gregory Corso and Peter Orlovsky along with painter Larry Rivers. Delphine played Rivers' wife in this well-done and interesting curio, an appropriate starting point to a very intriguing and alternative career. In 1960 she landed the role of Cara Williams and Harry Morgan's French neighbour in a new sitcom, Pete and Gladys (1960). Although she left the show after only three episodes, it is interesting to see her interact with the likes of Williams, Morgan and Cesar Romero, since they seem to belong to such different worlds. This was going to be the end of Delphine's journey in the States, although she would keep very fond memories of this period, stating in 1969 that she didn't consider herself "particularly French, but American in equal measure". In 1961 she would take her native France by storm.
Resnais had now been approached by writer Alain Robbe-Grillet- one of the main creators of the "Nouveau Roman" genre- to direct a movie based upon his script "L'anneé dernière". Having been awed by the recent Vertigo (1958), Robbe-Grillet was nourishing the hope that Kim Novak could have possibly played the mysterious female protagonist of the upcoming adaptation of his novel. Luckily, Resnais had different plans. Delphine was back in France for a holiday when the director offered her the role of the enigmatic lady nicknamed A. in his latest movie, Last Year at Marienbad (1961). Delphine accepted and finally took her rightful place in film history. The plot of the movie is apparently simple: in a baroque-looking castle, X. (Giorgio Albertazzi) tries to convince the reclusive A. that they had an affair the previous year. The movie has been interpreted in many different ways: a ghost story, a sci-fi story, an example of meta-theatre, a retelling of the myth of Orpheus and Eurydice, a retelling of Pygmalion and the Statue and plenty more. Resnais proved to be very partial to Delphine and didn't want her to just stand there like a motionless mannequin like the entire supporting cast did. As X. begins to instill or awake some feelings and memories into A., Delphine subtly hints at a change happening inside the character, managing to alternatively project an image of innocence and desire in a brilliant way. With her stunning, sphinx-like beauty being particularly highlighted by raven-black hair (Resnais wanted her to look like Louise Brooks in Pandora's Box (1929)) and her warm, seductive voice completing the magical charm of the character, Delphine made A. her most iconic-looking creation and got immediately welcomed to the club of the greatest actresses of France. The movie itself received the Golden Lion at Venice Film Festival and remains Resnais' masterpiece, not to mention possibly the greatest son of the French New Wave. The gothic organ music provided by Delphine's brother Francis also played an important role in the success of "Marienbad".
Like he had done a couple years before with Emmanuelle Riva, Resnais had made another invaluable gift to French cinema and one would have expected to see Delphine immediately racking a dozen film projects after "Marienbad", but for the time being she preferred to return to her first love, the theatre. She always wished to avoid the perils of celebrity and started a very turbulent relationship with reporters. She made this statement on the subject: "There is nothing to say about an actor or an actress. You just need to go and see them, that's all". She also hated the fact that, after "Marienbad", many journalists had paraphrased many of her statements in order to get meatier articles or entirely made up stories about her. Her next film project came in 1963 when she was reunited with Resnais for the superb Muriel (1963). Wearing some makeup that made her look plainer and older, Delphine gave a first sample of her chameleon-like abilities and one of her most spectacular performances ever as Hélène Aughain, an apparently absent-minded, but actually very tragic antique shop dealer who tries to reshape her squalid present in order to get even with a past made of shame and humiliation. Providing her character with a clumsy walk and an odd behavior that looks amusing on the surface, she delegated her subtlest facial expressions to hint at Hélène's grief and sense of dissatisfaction, creating a very pathetic and moving figure in the process. This incredible achievement was awarded with a Volpi cup at Venice Film Festival. Delphine felt very proud for herself and for Resnais. "Muriel" turned out to be one of the director's most divisive works, with some people considering it his finest film and others dismissing it as a product below his standard. The movie's American reception was unfortunately disastrous: having been released in New York disguised as an "even more mysterious sequel" to Marienbad, it stayed in theaters for five days only. The same year, Delphine did a TV movie called Le troisième concerto (1963) which marked her first collaboration with Marcel Cravenne. Her performance as a pianist who's seemingly losing her mind scored big with both critics and audience and made her much more popular with the French public than two rather inaccessible movies such as "Marienbad" and "Muriel" could ever do. Delphine never considered herself a star though, stating that "a star is like a racing horse a producer can place money on" and that she wasn't anything like that. In the following years she kept doing remarkable stage work. 1964 saw her first collaboration with Samuel Beckett: she invited the great author at her place in Place Des Vosges where she rehearsed for the role of the Lover in the first French production of "Play" along with Michael Lonsdale as the Husband and Eléonore Hirt as the Wife. The three of them would then bring the show to the stage and star in a film version in 1966. Delphine would team up with Beckett on other occasions in the future and even more frequently with Lonsdale, her co-star in several films and stage productions. For two consecutive times she won the "Prix Du Syndicat de la Critique" (the most ancient and illustrious award given by French theatre critics) for Best Actress: in 1967 (1966/1967 season) for her performances in "Next Time I'll Sing to You" and "To Find Oneself" and in 1969 (1968/1969 season) for her work in L'Aide-mémoire. In 1966 she did a cameo in the surreal, Monty Pythonesque Who Are You, Polly Maggoo? (1966), which was written and directed by William Klein (her friend of about 20 years) and starred Sami Frey, who would be her partner for her entire life after her separation from Youngerman. In 1967, she had a few exquisitely acted scenes (all shot in one day and a half) with Dirk Bogarde in Joseph Losey's excellent Accident (1967). Her appearance as Bogarde's old flame seemed to echo and pay homage to "Marienbad", from the almost illusory touch of the whole sequence to the suggestive use of music by the great John Dankworth. Delphine totally enjoyed to work with Losey, although their relationship would drastically change by the time of their next adventure together. The same year would also see the release of the spellbinding The Music (1967), her first filmed collaboration with Marguerite Duras. The author had always worshiped Delphine for her exceptional screen presence and for possessing the aura of a classic goddess of the Golden Age of Hollywood. She said about her: "When Delphine Seyrig moves into the camera's field, there's a flicker of Garbo and Clara Bow and we look to see if Cary Grant is at her side". She also loved her sexy voice, stating that she always sounded like "she had just sucked a sweet fruit and her mouth was still moist" and would go on to call her "the greatest actress in France and possibly in the entire world". "La Musica" isn't the most remembered Seyrig-Duras collaboration, but nevertheless occupies a special place in history as the beginning of a beautiful friendship between two artists that would become strictly associated with each other for eternity. Delphine's performance won her the "Étoile de Cristal" (the top film award given in France by the "Académie Française" between 1955 and 1975 and later replaced by the César). The actress later made a glorious Hedda Gabler for French television, although she never much enjoyed to do work for this kind of medium. She often complained about the poverty of means and little professionalism of French TV and declined on several occasions the possibility to play the role of Mme De Mortsauf in an adaptation of Balzac's "Le lys dans la vallée". In 1968 she found one of her most famous and celebrated roles in François Truffaut's latest installment of the Antoine Doinel saga, Stolen Kisses (1968), which overall qualifies as one of her most "traditional" career choices. Delphine's new divine creature was Fabienne Tabard, the breathtakingly beautiful wife of an obnoxious shoe store owner (Michael Lonsdale) and the latest object of Antoine's attention. It is very interesting that, in the movie, Antoine reads a copy of "Le lys dans la vallée" and compares Fabienne to the novel's heroine. At one point, Delphine had almost agreed to appear in the TV production on the condition that Jean-Pierre Léaud would have played the leading male role. She later inquired with Truffaut if he knew about this by the time he had written the script, but he swore that it was just a coincidence. In 1969 she declined the leading female role in The Swimming Pool (1969) because she didn't see anything interesting about it; this despite strong soliciting from her close friend Jean Rochefort (whom she nicknamed "Mon petit Jeannot"). At the time, it was considered almost inconceivable to decline the chance of appearing in an Alain Delon movie, but Delphine really valued the power of saying "no" and the part went to Romy Schneider instead. It consequently came of great surprise when, the same year, she accepted the role of Marie-Madeleine in William Klein's rather dated, but somewhat charming Mr. Freedom (1968), where she played most of her scenes semi-naked. But Delphine, as usual, had her valid reasons to appear in this strong satire of American Imperialism. Klein's comic strip adaptation isn't without its enjoyable moments (like a scene where the Americans use a map to indicate the Latin dictatorships as the civilized, democratic world), but goes on for too long and suffers every time Delphine disappears from the screen. Still, it remains a must for Seyrig fans, as you'd never expect to see the most intellectual of actresses having a martial arts fight with the gigantic John Abbey and giving a performance of pure comic genius in the tradition of Kay Kendall. The same year she also had a cameo as the Prostitute in Luis Buñuel's masterful The Milky Way (1969). Delphine read the entire script, but eventually regretted that she hadn't watched Alain Cuny playing his scene, because, in that case, she would have played her own very differently and brought the movie to full circle, something she thought she hadn't done. She promised Buñuel to do better on the next occasion they would have worked together.
In 1970, Delphine eventually agreed to appear in Le lys dans la vallée (1970) under the direction of Marcel Cravenne, although the male protagonist wasn't played by Léaud, but by Richard Leduc. It turned out to be one of the best ever adaptations of a French classic and her performance was titanic. She then played the Lilac Fairy in Jacques Demy's lovely musical Donkey Skin (1970), which starred a young Catherine Deneuve in the title role, but boosted a superlative supporting cast including Jacques Perrin, Micheline Presle, Sacha Pitoëff and Jean Marais (who sort of provided a link with Jean Cocteau's Beauty and the Beast (1946)). Despite all this profusion of talent, Delphine effortlessly stole the movie with her sassy smile, impeccable comedic timing and multi-colored wardrobe. Although she would go on to sing on future occasions, Demy preferred to have her musical number dubbed by Christiane Legrand. The following year, she won a new multitude of male admirers when she arguably played the sexiest and most memorable female vampire in film history in the underrated psychological horror Daughters of Darkness (1971). The choice of a niche actress like Delphine to play the lesbian, Dietrichesque Countess Bathory is considered one of the main factors that sets Harry Kümel's movie apart from the coeval products made by the likes of Jesús Franco or Jean Rollin. To see another horror movie highlighted by the presence of an unforgettable female vampire in Seyrig style, one will have to wait for the similar casting of the splendid Nina Hoss in the auteur effort We Are the Night (2010). Cravenne's Tartuffe (1971) was a delicious "Jeu à Deux" between Delphine and the immense Michel Bouquet. In 1972, Delphine would add another immortal title to her filmography, as she was cast in Luis Buñuel's surrealist masterpiece, The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie (1972). As the adulterous Simone Thévenot, always wearing a sanctimoniously polite smile, she managed to give the star turn in a flawless cast: Fernando Rey made his Rafael Acosta deliciously nasty behind his cover of unflappability, Paul Frankeur was hilariously obtuse as M.Thévenot, Jean-Pierre Cassel suitably ambiguous as M.Sénéchal, Julien Bertheau looked charmingly sinister as Mons.Dufour, Bulle Ogier got to show her formidable gifts for physical comedy as Florence and the role of Alice Sénéchal, a woman who gets annoyed at not getting coffee while a man has just confessed to have murdered his father, proved for once the perfect fit for the coldest and least emotional of actresses, Stéphane Audran. The movie won the Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film. The next year, Delphine appeared in a couple of star-studded productions: she gave a brief, but memorably moving performance in Fred Zinnemann's The Day of the Jackal (1973) as a French woman who makes the fatal mistake of falling for Edward Fox's ruthless killer. People's memories of the movie are often associated with her scenes. She also appeared in Losey's disappointing A Doll's House (1973) opposite a badly miscast Jane Fonda as Nora. The two actresses didn't get along with the director as they both thought his vision of the story to be deeply misogynist. Many key dialogues were unskillfully butchered for the adaptation, diminishing the depth of the characters and the end result was consequently cold, although the movie has its redeeming features. The brilliant David Warner arguably remains the definitive screen Torvald and Delphine is typically impeccable in the fine role of Kristine, although one can't help but think that an accomplished Ibsenian actress like her should have played Nora in the first place. Although Losey wasn't in speaking terms with her any longer by the time the shooting ended, Delphine befriended Jane as they shared a lot of ideals and causes. Delphine Seyrig was of course a vocal feminist, although she didn't consider herself a militant: she actually believed that women should have already known their rights by then and that she didn't have to cause any consciousness raising in them. She would go on to work with more and more female directors shortly after, considering also that she had now begun to love cinema as much as theatre. In 1974 she appeared in a stage production of "La Cheuvachée sur le lac de Constance" because she dearly desired to act opposite the wonderful Jeanne Moreau, but from that moment on, most of her energies were saved for film work. She also grew more and more radical in picking up her projects: Le journal d'un suicidé (1972), Dites-le avec des fleurs (1974) and Der letzte Schrei (1975) certainly qualify as some of her oddest features, not to mention the most difficult to watch. Le cri du coeur (1974), although flawed by an inept performance by Stéphane Audran, was slightly more interesting: the director capitalized on Delphine's Marienbad image once again, casting her as a mysterious woman the crippled young protagonist gets sexually obsessed with. She made another relatively "ordinary" pick by playing villainous in Don Siegel's remarkable spy thriller The Black Windmill (1974) alongside stellar performers like Michael Caine, Donald Pleasence, John Vernon and Janet Suzman.
The following year, Delphine had two first rate roles in Le jardin qui bascule (1975) and in Liliane de Kermadec's Aloïse (1975) (where her younger self was played, quite fittingly, by an already prodigious Isabelle Huppert). But 1975 wasn't over for Delphine as the thespian would round off the year with two of her most amazing achievements. The Seyrig/Duras team did finally spring into action again with the memorable India Song (1975), another movie which lived and died entirely on Delphine's intense face. Laure Adler wrote these pertinent words in her biography of Duras: "In India Song we see nothing of Calcutta, all we see is a woman dancing in the drawing room of the French embassy and that is enough, for Delphine fills the screen". Coming next was what many people consider the actress' most monumental personal achievement: Jeanne Dielman, 23, quai du commerce, 1080 Bruxelles (1975). It has become a common saying that, when you have a great interest in an actor, you could watch him/her reading the phone book. Seyrig fans can experiment it almost literally in Chantal Akerman's three hour minimalist masterpiece, which meticulously follows the daily routine of widowed housewife Jeanne. Akerman chose Delphine "because she brought with her all the roles of mythical woman that she played until now. The woman in Marienbad, The woman in India Song". The movie can be considered a filmed example of "Nouveau Roman": every moment of Jeanne's day is presented almost real-time -from the act of peeling potatoes or washing dishes- and every gesture has a precise meaning, like Jeanne's incapacity of putting her life together being expressed by her inability of making a decent coffee or put buttons back on a shirt. The movie is also of course a feminist declaration: Jeanne regularly resorts to prostitution to make a living, which (according to Akerman) symbolizes that, even after the death of her husband, she's still dependant of him and always needs to have a male figure enter her life in his place. Her declaration of independence is expressed at the end of the movie through the murder of one of her clients. Delphine's approach to the role was as natural as possible and she completely disappeared into it, giving a hypnotic performance that keeps the viewer glued to his chair and prevents him to feel the sense of boredom every actress short of extraordinary would have induced. It's considered one of the greatest examples of acting ever recorded by a camera and possibly the definitive testament to Delphine's abilities. By now she was being referred as France's greatest actress with the same frequency Michel Piccoli was called the greatest actor. 1976 saw the the Césars replacing the "Étoiles de Cristal" and Delphine was nominated for "India Song", but she lost to Romy Schneider for her work in That Most Important Thing: Love (1975) by Andrzej Zulawski. The same year also saw her getting behind the camera as she directed Scum Manifesto (1976), a short where she read the Valerie Solanas text by the same name. She also starred in Duras' new version of "India Song", Her Venetian Name in Deserted Calcutta (1976) (where the setting was changed to the desert) and headlined the cast of Mario Monicelli's Caro Michele (1976). In 1977 she traveled to the UK to shoot an episode of BBC Play of the Month (1965). She stated her great admiration for British TV as opposed to French TV, congratulating BBC for its higher production values and for its major respect for the material it used to produce. Thinking retrospectively about the whole thing, these sentiments seem rather misplaced, since BBC erased tons of programs from existence in order to make room in the storage and for other reasons, but fortunately "The Ambassadors" wasn't part of the slaughter. Like Henry James's story, the cast featured some veritable cultural ambassadors as three different nations offered one of their most talented thespians ever: Paul Scofield represented England, Lee Remick represented United States and Delphine represented France as Madame De Vionnet. Baxter, Vera Baxter (1977) marked her final and most forgettable film collaboration with Duras. In Faces of Love (1977), she played the drug-addicted ex-wife of a director (a typically outstanding Jean-Louis Trintignant) who summons her along with two other actresses to shoot a film version of "The Three Sisters". She was again nominated for a César, but the sentimentality factor played in favor of Simone Signoret's performance in Moshé Mizrahi's award-friendly Madame Rosa (1977), which won the Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film two months later. Mizrahi later cast both actresses in his subsequent feature, I Sent a Letter to My Love (1980), also starring Jean Rochefort. This bittersweet feature proved much better than the director's previous work: Signoret and Rochefort gave great performances, but, once again, Delphine was best in show as a naive, hare-brained woman so much different from her usual characters and gave another confirmation of her phenomenal range. She was nominated for another César in the supporting actress category, but lost to Nathalie Baye for Every Man for Himself (1980). It's ironic that, despite being considered the nation's top actress by so many people, Delphine never won a César. One theory is that she had alienated many voters (particularly the older ones) by often dismissing 50's French cinema and regularly comparing French actors unfavorably to American ones, just like many New Wave authors (Jean-Luc Godard, Claude Chabrol, Éric Rohmer, Jacques Rivette) had done back in the days when they worked as critics for the "Cahiérs Du Cinema" and none of them ever won a César either (or at least not a competitive one). This along with having made many enemies because of her vocally feminist attitude of course. She once stated herself that many people in France probably disliked her because she was always saying what she thought.
In the 80's, Delphine appeared in three stage plays that were later filmed: La Bête dans la Jungle (a Duras adaptation of the Henry James novel), "Letters Home" (about the poet Sylvia Plath) and "Sarah et le cri de la langouste" (where she played the legendary Sarah Bernhardt). She scored a particular success with the latter and won the "Prix Du Syndicat de la Critique" for a record third time, more than any other actress (Michel Bouquet is her male counterpart with three Best Actor wins). In 1981, she directed a feminist documentary, Sois belle et tais-toi! (1981), where she interviewed many actresses, including her friend Jane Fonda, about their role (sometimes purely decorative) in the male-dominated film industry. In 1982 she co-founded the Simone De Beauvoir audiovisual centre along with Carole Roussopoulos and Ioana Wieder. A final collaboration with Chantal Akerman, the innovative musical Golden Eighties (1986), allowed her to do what she couldn't do in "Peau d'âne" and give a very moving rendition of a beautiful song. Avant-garde German director Ulrike Ottinger provided Delphine with some unforgettable and appropriately weird roles in three of her features: multiple characters in Freak Orlando (1981), the only female incarnation of Dr.Mabuse in Dorian Gray in the Mirror of the Yellow Press (1984) (opposite Veruschka von Lehndorff, playing the title role 'en travesti') and Lady Windermere in Joan of Arc of Mongolia (1989). She gave a final, stunning TV performance in Une saison de feuilles (1989) as an actress suffering from Alzheimer's disease and won a 7 d'or (a French Emmy) for it. Her mature turn as a woman who's reaching the end of the line looks particularly poignant now, as it has the bitter taste of a tear-eyed farewell. A woman of extraordinary courage, Delphine had been secretly battling lung cancer (she had always been a chain smoker) for a few years, but, because of her supreme professionalism, she had never neglected a work commitment because of that. Only her closest friends knew. It became evident that there was no hope left when, in September 1990, she had do withdraw her participation from a production of Peter Shaffer's "Lettice and Lovage" with Jean-Louis Barrault and Madeleine Renaud's theatre company. One month later she tragically lost her battle with cancer and died in hospital, leaving an unbridgeable void in the acting world and in the lives of many. Tributes flew in torrents, with Jean-Claude Brialy hosting a particularly touching memorial where Jeanne Moreau read some very heartfelt phrases come from the pen of Marguerite Duras to honour the memory of her muse. In the decade following Delphine's death, many of her features unfortunately didn't prove to have much staying power -being so unique and destined to a very selected and elitist audience- and plenty of people began to forget about the actress. Delphine's good friend, director Jacqueline Veuve, thought this unacceptable and she saw to do something about it, shooting a documentary called Delphine Seyrig, portrait d'une comète (2000), which premiered at Locarno film festival. This partially helped to renew the actress' cult and to expand it to several other followers. Similar retrospectives at the Modern Art Museum in New York and at the La Rochelle Film Festival hopefully served the same purpose as well. One can also hope that the French Academy (Académie des arts et techniques du cinéma) would start to make amends for past sins by awarding Delphine a posthumous César: since the immortal Jean Gabin received one in 1987, who could possibly make a likelier pair with him?- Actress
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Nadine Labaki was born on 18 February 1974 in Beirut, Lebanon. She is an actress and director, known for Where Do We Go Now? (2011), Capernaum (2018) and Caramel (2007). She has been married to Khaled Mouzanar since October 2007.- Irene White was born in Beirut, Lebanon. Irene is an actor, known for Superstore (2015), The 15:17 to Paris (2018) and Modern Family (2009).
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Lee Majdoub was born in Tripoli, Lebanon. He is an actor and writer, known for Sonic the Hedgehog 3 (2024), Assassin's Creed Mirage (2023) and Sonic the Hedgehog 2 (2022).- Amal Clooney was born on 3 February 1978 in Beirut, Lebanon. She has been married to George Clooney since 27 September 2014. They have two children.
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Piter has appeared in Broadway productions such as "Disgraced" with Josh Radnor & Gretchen Mol. He played in the Broadway production of "Cyrano" alongside Kevin Kline, Jennifer Garner and Chris Sarandon. He appeared on The Tonight Show with Conan O'Brien, The Colbert Report and pops up in the very first episode of The Chappelle Show. He continues to act and pop on on peoples television screens. For eight years, Marek regularly contributed his voice to "The Late Show with David Letterman". Marek grew up on Long Island, NY and shuttles between NY and LA. Piter approves this message. Enjoy yourselves!- Actor
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Kida Khodr Ramadan was born on 8 October 1976 in Beirut, Lebanon. He is an actor and producer, known for Man from Beirut (2019), Kanun (2018) and 4 Blocks (2017).- Actress
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Yasmine Al Massri is an international actress, contemporary artist and dancer. Born in Lebanon, from a Palestinian father and an Egyptian mother. At age 20, she moved to Paris to study, and graduated from the prestigious L'Ecole des Beaux Arts de Paris in Multimedia and live performances.
Her artistic interdisciplinary career began in dancing, when in 2000 she joined the Thouraya Baghdadi's Dance company in Paris. Inspired by great choreographers, she explored classical and innovative ways of performing Arab repertoire and opened herself to world folklore, Flamenco, Salsa and African dance. Shortly afterwards she created her own personal style of performance and directed herself in numerous performance videos that have been seen in performance arts festivals around the world.
Al Massri's first big break as an actress was in the award-winning Lebanese film "Caramel" written and directed by Nadine Labaki. At the 2007 Cannes Film Festival it generated tremendous critical acclaim and went on to be the most successful Arab film to date. It also got Al Massri a best actress award with the film's ensemble of actresses at the Abu Dhabi International Film Festival, and later a nomination at the Asia Pacific Screen Award 2007.
In 2008, director Najwa al Najjar cast Yasmine in the lead role of her award winning film "Pomegranates and Myrrh" alongside Hiam Abbass. The film opened at the Sundance Film Festival in 2009 and Yasmine went on to win the Youssef Chahine Best Actress award for her performance at the Rabat International Film Festival.
In 2010 Yasmine starred in Julian Schnabel's internationally acclaimed film," Miral", alongside Vanessa Redgrave, Hiam Abbas, Frieda Pinto and Willem Dafoe. Her latest movie "The Last Friday", won the best film award at the Dubai International Film Festival 2011.
More recently, Yasmine was seen as a series regular opposite John Malkovich in the NBC series Crossbones and also as a series regular in the ABC series Quantico.
In 2015, Variety included her on their list of breakout performances, which also included the likes of Rami Malek, Aziz Ansari, Titus Burgess, Taraji P. Henson, Ben Mendelsohn and more.- Actress
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A daughter of Aerosmith lead singer Steven Tyler, Mia Tyler is a paternal sister of Liv Tyler, Chelsea Tallarico, and Taj Tallarico are again from a different mother but same father. Like her sister Liv, she started out as a model and eventually became an actress.- Time Winters was born in Lebanon, Oregon, USA. He is an actor, known for Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain (2015), Angry Video Game Nerd: The Movie (2014) and Sneakers (1992). He has been married to Tracy Winters since 5 January 2002.
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Peter Macdissi is an actor and producer who can be seen in the comedy-drama film "Uncle Frank," written and directed by Alan Ball. Macdissi produced and co-stars alongside Paul Bettany and Sophia Lillis. He portrays 'Wally' who joins a road trip with his partner 'Frank' (Bettany) and his niece 'Beth' (Lillis) from Manhattan to South Carolina to attend a funeral. The film had its world premiere at the Sundance Film Festival and can currently be streamed on Amazon Prime Video.
In 2017, Macdissi executive produced The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks, the shockingly true story of an African-American woman who becomes an unwitting pioneer for medical breakthroughs in the early 1950s. The film was written and directed by George C. Wolfe and is based on the award-winning book by author Rebecca Skloot. Fellow producers included Oprah Winfrey and Alan Ball.
Macdissi's extensive collaboration with Alan Ball consists of a vast array of film and television projects including the prolific HBO series Six Feet Under which garnered 44 Emmy Award nominations and 9 wins, 8 Golden Globe nominations, and achieved a total of 46 award wins. Macdissi won the Screen Actors Guild award for best ensemble acting for a drama television series, in addition to critical and commercial praise. Variety included him as one of their featured players for his performance as 'Olivier,' the temperamental teacher of budding artist 'Claire' (Lauren Ambrose). He also served as an executive producer of the Cinemax series Banshee, which ran for four seasons. Macdissi portrayed 'Dr. Farid Shokrani' in the 2018 series Here and Now on HBO which he also executive produced. The series starred Holly Hunter and Tim Robbins.
Macdissi appeared in many films and television series including The Losers with Jeffery Dean Morgan, Zoe Saldana, Chris Evans, and Idris Elba and Burning Palms alongside Rosemund Pike and Dylan McDermott. He also starred with Aaron Eckhart, Toni Collette, and Maria Bello in Towelhead as the domineering father, 'Rifat Maroun.' The film was based on the breakout 2005 novel by Alicia Erian, and made its world premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival.
Additional credits include writer/director Matthew Bright's film, Tiptoes, alongside Gary Oldman, Matthew McConaughey, and Kate Beckinsale. His other roles include Three Kings, from director David O. Russell which starred George Clooney, Mark Wahlberg and Bad Company, from director Joel Schumacher which starred Anthony Hopkins and Chris Rock. Jag, X-files and many other shows.
Macdissi was born in Beirut, Lebanon to a Lebanese father and an Armenian mother and his upbringing was influenced by both cultures. He grew up during the civil war and discovered an innate talent for performing when he would put on shows to distract the rest of his family from the gunfire and bombing taking place outside. At twelve years old, James Dean's mesmerizing performance in Rebel Without a Cause inspired Macdissi to dream about the possibility of an acting career in Hollywood. Despite living through the war and its horrors, his determination to pursue an acting career never wavered. He was accepted to the theater branch of the Institut De Beaux Arts, but the ongoing war kept shutting classes down so he left Lebanon to spend three years in Sweden where he learned Swedish and Swedish literature and embarked on a brief dancing career before being accepted to the Lee Strasberg Institute. He booked his first job three weeks after settling in Los Angeles.
Macdissi's fascination with people and cultures led him to travel extensively in Europe, South and Central America, North Africa and the Middle East. He speaks English, French, Arabic, Armenian, Swedish, and Spanish.
An avid equestrian and animal lover, Macdissi resides in Los Angeles.- Nicolas Mouawad is a Lebanese film and TV actor, working in the United States and the Arab world. He is known for His Only Son (2023), Teleat Rohi (Drop Dead Diva) (2019), and Saabe' Gaar (2017). Nicolas has starred in some of the most-watched and critically-acclaimed drama series in Egypt, Lebanon and the UAE, including Hagar Gohanam: Black Widows (2017), Wannous (2016), and Abriaa Wa Laken: Innocent... However (2015).
Nicolas Mouawad started his career in television as a host on the daily live show, "Rotana Cafe" (2003-2009). He also hosted programs on MTV Lebanon. His debut acting role was in Marwan Najjar's television drama, Helm Athar (2006). He then starred in numerous TV movies as well as Lebanese and Pan-Arab series, such as "Zero 4" and Ruby (2012) for which he won the Murex d'Or for Best Actor in 2013. The same year, he also won the Best Lead Actor Award at the London International Film Festival for his starring role in the feature film, Takaseem El Hob (2012). He was one of the featured stars in the Pan-Arab version of "Dancing with the Stars" (2013). In 2016, he landed his first role in Egypt, starring in Wannous (2016), one of the most-watched series of 2016. Critics hailed his performance and fluency in the Egyptian dialect, which lead to more roles in Egyptian drama. Because of the success he earned in Saabe' Gaar (2017), he landed the starring role n the Arabic-language version of "Drop Dead Diva" that aired on OSN. In 2019, he starred in his first English-speaking role in the American feature film, His Only Son (2023).
Nicolas Mouawad was born in Beirut, Lebanon. In 2002, he graduated with a major in Acting & Directing from the Lebanese University, School of Fine Arts & Architecture. The following year, he completed his civil engineering degree from the School of Engineering. - Actress
- Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Darina Al Joundi was born on 25 February 1968 in Beirut, Lebanon. She is an actress and assistant director, known for Our River...Our Sky (2021), Athena (2022) and Smile, General (2023).- James Philbrook was born on 22 October 1924 in Lebanon, Pennsylvania, USA. He was an actor, known for Rescue 8 (1958), Sound of Horror (1966) and The Investigators (1961). He was married to Iris Hogan and Frances Faythe Cassling. He died on 24 October 1982 in Los Angeles, California, USA.
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Mika was born on 18 August 1983 in Beirut, Lebanon. He is an actor and composer, known for Kick-Ass (2010), Monte Carlo (2011) and Spy (2015).- Actor
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Jade Hassouné was born on 18 February 1991 in Lebanon. He is an actor and producer, known for Brick Mansions (2014), Erased (2012) and Shadowhunters (2016).- Producer
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British citizen, Anthony Waller, was born in October 1959 in Beirut, Lebanon to English parents. He grew up both in the Middle East and England. As an 11 year-old, Anthony started experimenting with Super-8 film. While still in his early teens, three of his animated films were finalists in two international film competitions sponsored and televised by the BBC.
In 1978, Waller was admitted to the UK's National Film School as the youngest ever student, where he studied until 1981. Director John Schlesinger awarded him the Shakespeare Scholarship 1981 with which he spent a year on attachment at Munich's HFF (Film and Television School) in Germany.
In November 1981, Waller won 1st prize in the fiction category for his graduation short film, When the Rain Stops (1981), at the first International Festival of Film Schools in Munich.
Waller stayed on in Germany for 8 years, initially working for German television as a vision mixer and editor. He subsequently directed and edited over 200 commercials, music videos and movie trailers, and co-founded the commercial production company, Cobblestone Pictures, in Hamburg in 1992.
Waller also began composing music professionally in 1984 with a Christmas Carol he wrote for the German football team, FC Bayern. Since then, he has composed some of the jingles for the commercials he directed, including MB Games, Bahlsen, Baileys and notably Old Spice, the song of which was also sung by him and released as a Maxi CD by Intercord in 1993.
Waller's first feature film was the thriller, Mute Witness (1995), filmed entirely in Moscow in 1993, and financed privately by himself and his co-producing partners. Filming was complicated by its coincidence with Russia's October revolution, a diphtheria outbreak, -23 degree temperatures, local mafia extortion and last minute cast changes. Despite these initial difficulties, Mute Witness (1995) was sold to Columbia TriStar as a completed movie, and was distributed worldwide in all major territories, and invited to 23 festivals, including the Cannes Film Festival, Courmayeur (Audience Award), Gerardmer (Audience and Grand Jury Award), Moscow (Audience Award), Birmingham (Grand Jury Award) Sundance, Toronto and Tokyo. It included a cameo performance by Sir Alec Guinness, shot 8 years earlier in 1985.
In 1995, Waller co-founded the Amsterdam-based, Cometstone Pictures. In 1996, Cometstone's first production was An American Werewolf in Paris (1997), which Waller directed, co-wrote and executive produced. With a budget of $22 million, the movie was an entirely European co-production, sold to Hollywood Pictures in a negative pick-up deal for a Buena Vista release on Christmas Day 1997. Further projects Waller has directed are the psychological thriller, The Guilty (2000), and the supernatural thriller, 9 Miles Down (2009). as well as the dramatized Documentary "The Singularity is Near" with Ray Kurzweil, and the 16pt TV series, "Trader" (alias Oil for Blood) and most recently, "The Piper" with Elizabeth Hurley.- Director
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Josef Fares, born September 19, 1977 in Beirut, Lebanon, is a director, writer and actor. His family moved to Sweden in 1987 and settled in Örebro. Josef Fares was a very productive filmmaker in his teens. He diligently sent his works to all the world's festivals for short films. Encouraged by the essence of Bruce Lee, inspired by directors like John Woo, Sergio Leone and Luc Besson. In 1998 he was admitted to the three-year film directing training at the Dramatic Institute in Stockholm. Still in school, Josef Fares made his feature film debut with "Jalla! Jalla!" (2000). The film became an enormous commercial and artistic success. "Jalla! Jalla!" portrayed complex multi-ethnic love problems. Two years later he was ready for his second feature film project. "Kopps" was equally successful and established Josef Fares as one of the distinguished directors of Swedish film. His elder brother Fares Fares and his father Jan Fares has starred in his films. He has been nominated and awarded a number of honorable prices, like the Nordic Council Film Prize 2006. Josef Fares has up till now directed five feature films and a large number of shorts. Currently he is working on the development and direction of video games.- Producer
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- Additional Crew
Christopher Newman was born in Tripoli, Lebanon. Christopher is a producer and assistant director, known for Game of Thrones (2011), Band of Brothers (2001) and The Remains of the Day (1993).- Actress
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Arsinée Khanjian was born on 6 September 1958 in Beirut, Lebanon. She is an actress and producer, known for Ararat (2002), Exotica (1994) and The Captive (2014). She is married to Atom Egoyan. They have one child.- Cinematographer
- Camera and Electrical Department
- Actor
Peter Deming was born in Beirut, Lebanon. He is a cinematographer and actor, known for Mulholland Drive (2001), The Menu (2022) and The Continental (2023).- Producer
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- Actor
At 18 years old, Mario Kassar made his first film. Shortly thereafter, he moved to Los Angeles in the mid 1970s to begin his career as filmmakers. Kassar quickly became known as a creative producer in the L.A. motion pictures industry; also noted as one of the inventors of the foreign market and co-pro financing.
Kassar's early efforts as an independent filmmaker began with small scale release films such as "The Amateur" and "Victory" while starting Carolco International, his own independent theatrical motion picture distribution company in 1976. Kassar began releasing a slew of independent features and first hit with the release of the Rambo franchise First Blood (1982) starring Syllvester Stallone, which was a major motion picture in 1982. Stallone was rumored to have signed a 10 picture deal with Carolco allowing the sequel "First Blood: Rambo II".
Total Recall (1990) and The "Terminator" franchise are the most memorable pictures Kassar was associated with. Both stories starred Arnold Schwarzenegger, and were produced through Carolco (excluding Part One of Terminator which was financed by Orion).
Other Carolco productions included the under-water thriller "DeepStar Six", the erotic suspenseful "Basic Instinct", "Cliffhanger" - a Stallone vehicle also a hit in 1993, the success of the Roland Emmerich sci-fi film "Stargate" established a cable series in 1997 entitled Stargate SG-1 (1997) starring Richard Dean Anderson. Worth mentioning is "Chaplin" with Robert Downey Jr. playing the life of legendary actor Charlie Chaplin.
Kassar re-opened a production company in 2002 called C-2 Pictures to produce "Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines," which was one of the most expensive films that year. The 2003 release allowed a window for the franchise to gain new-life.
Kassar is still making pictures, however is very family oriented and enjoys committing his time to his real-life affairs. Kassar will be most remembered for helping to create a successful business model for the international market. With the efforts of other pioneers like Dino De Laurentiis, Kassar paved the way for Hollywood foreign sales and exhibition -- his effort during the 1980s is now the 'industry standard' in today's Studio system.
His films have generated more than $3 billion dollars worldwide.- Composer
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Serj Tankian was born on 21 August 1967 in Beirut, Lebanon. He is a composer and actor, known for Hardcore Henry (2015), Body of Lies (2008) and Godzilla: King of the Monsters (2019). He has been married to Angela Madatyan since 10 June 2012. They have one child.- Director
- Camera and Electrical Department
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Ziad Doueiri (born in 1963) is a Lebanese-born cinematographer, film director and writer. He is best known for his award winning film West Beirut. At the age of 18, during the Lebanese civil war, Ziad leaves Lebanon to study in the US. He now lives in France and works in Europe and the US. Doueiri first gained notice from his work under Quentin Tarantino as camera assistant for movies that include Jackie Brown (film), From Dusk Till Dawn, Pulp Fiction, and Reservoir Dogs. Doueiri worked between Los Angeles and Beirut until not long after September 11, 2011, after which he returned to work from Beirut.- Actress
- Producer
Stephanie Atala is an actor and singer. The French and Lebanese artist is based in Beirut. Fluent in French, English and Arabic she got her first acting role at 4 years old. Years later, she graduated from Académie Libanaise Des Beaux Arts; school of arts (ALBA 2014) with honors. Since then, she has starred in various theater productions, series, short and feature films across the region and abroad. In 2022, Stephanie is starring as "Lina", the protagonist in the feature film "Farah" (psychological thriller) co-directed by Hassiba Freiha and Kenton Oxley. She is also singing the soundtrack of the film ("Try to remember") alongside English star Boy George and the Culture Club. In 2022, she leads in the film "Iman" (drama) where she plays the role of "Iman", a young Arab woman whose actions may mean the difference between life and death. The film is co-directed by Korinna Avraamidou and Kyriacos Tofarides and shot in Cyprus. Her most recent role in a series was in 2021 in "Confessions of a Fashionista" (drama - thriller) where she leads as "Malak" a double faced influencer in the era of social media and lies. As for her most recent on stage appearance, she played a main role in Georges Khabbaz' theater production «Bel Kawalis» (comedy). Stephanie produces and hosts an online weekly show «Kazdoura» (comedy - improvisation) where she enjoys two of her favorite things: Comedy and Food. Joining her passions, Stephanie took part in a short film trilogy: «In circle» (musical) in 2017. She sang, acted and danced starring as «Nadine» in the film directed by Rachel Meg and shot in Los Angeles.- Producer
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Jalal Merhi is recognized worldwide as a premiere action-film producer / director after successfully delivering over 20 films worldwide within a decade, and numerous short film projects. Born in Brazil from to Lebanese parents, Jalal emigrated to Canada to study and eventually built an extension of his family jewelry business, keeping his sport of competitive martial arts on the side, also keeping his eye on his true love: filmmaking. He sold his share in a building in downtown Toronto and his jewelry business and, with some additional investment from his diamond dealers, created the film production company Film One.
From its inception in 1989 Film One has carved its niche in the lucrative action genres. Merhi's commitment to high production values is evident on the screen but his commercial savvy and organizational skills are what make him one of Canada's most prolific and successful producers. He started his martial arts training with Tae Kwon Do, became a 2nd dan in Shotokan then master in Choy Lay Fut and hung gar. He entered over 150 tournament with a great deal of success. It was then he was approached by a producer for a movie role. Although that particular film project never got off the ground, Jalal got to know many other people with influence and his career was born. He has since worked with such martial-arts legends as Bolo Yeung, Cynthia Rothrock and Billy Blanks. He has grown to be a martial arts choreographer and director.- Nathalie Issa was born on 17 December 1998 in Lebanon. She is an actress, known for The Swimmers (2022), My Favorite Fabric (2018) and Sea Salt (2023).
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Nour El-Refai was born on 14 November 1987 in Lebanon. She is an actress and writer, known for Frostbitten (2006), Skitsamma (2021) and Jordskott (2015).- Nadine Nassib Njeim is Lebanese-Tunissian actress (Lebanese father and Tunissian mother) and a Formar Miss Lebanon from 2004 to 2005, started her career when she was only 16 years old. she managed to land the voice-acting role of the Arabic version of Lara Croft in the 2013 video game Tomb Raider. Nadine has been married to Hadi Asmar since 2012. known for her rules in Nos Youm (2016), What If: Aka Laow (2014) and Cello (2015)..
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Gabriel Yared stopped his law studies at the age of 20 to work as a professional music composer. He studied with Henri Dutilleux and Maurice Ohana. He worked as a composer, orchestrator or producer for such singers as Françoise Hardy, Charles Aznavour, Gilbert Bécaud and Mireille Mathieu. He made his film debut in 1980 with the score for Jean-Luc Godard's Every Man for Himself (1980). He has since scored a huge list of movies for such major directors as Jean-Jacques Beineix, Robert Altman and Jean-Jacques Annaud. He won an Academy Award for Anthony Minghella's The English Patient (1996) score and has been nominated for two others (Cold Mountain (2003) and The Talented Mr. Ripley (1999)). He also composes ballets for Carolyn Carlson and Roland Petit. He is the founder and director of the Pléiade Academy, which welcomes and supports talented young composers in the production and promotion of their works. This biography has been made with the help of Gabriel Yared's official website.- Producer
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Elie Samaha was born on 10 May 1955 in Beirut, Lebanon. He is a producer and actor, known for Battlefield Earth (2000), The Boondock Saints (1999) and The Art of War (2000). He was previously married to Tia Carrere.- Phil Simms was born on 3 November 1955 in Lebanon, Kentucky, USA. He is an actor, known for Criminal Minds (2005), As the World Turns (1956) and How I Met Your Mother (2005). He has been married to Diana Fronfield since 23 February 1980. They have three children.
- Rita Hayek is graduate of the National Institute of Fine Arts of the Lebanese University. She also attended the Stella Adler Studio of Acting in Los Angeles California. She made her screen debut in 2006. In 2011, At the Byblos International Festival, she made her stage debut in Don Quixote, directed by the Rahbani Brothers. Followed by the play "Ka3eb 3ale", an adaptation of "Spike Heels" by Theresa Rebeck directed by Jacques Maroun and produced by The Actors Workshop Beirut. Then came Venus an adaptation of David Yves' Broadway play "Venus in Fur". Venus opened March 2015 at the Monot Theatre in Beirut and played through April 2016. Venus performed in Paris at the Theatre Adyar Avenue Rapp. Rita resumed filming her first Feature "The Insult" in August 2016 with the director Ziad Doueiry (West Beirut-Baron Noir) and the movie premiered at the Venice Film Festival and was nominated for Best Foreign Language Film at the Oscars in 2018. Her second feature was "Beirut Hold'em" by Michel Kammoun, Followed by "La Regola d'Oro" by Italian director Alessandro Lunardelli and the Cypriot movie "IMAN" by Corinna Avraamadou and Kyriacos Tofarides, which premiered at the Thessaloniki Film Festival. Rita recently won Best Actress for IMAN at the London Greek International Film Festival. Rita has also won best actress for her role in Matthieu Haag's short movies "Un parfum de Liban" in 2012 and "l'Heritage" in 2019. She just resumed filming her first French movie: "Les Barbares" by Julie Delpy alongside Sandrine Kiberlain and Mathieu Demy.
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Iván Noel was born in 1968 in Beirut, Lebanon. He was a director and writer, known for Ellos Volvieron (2015), Vuelve (2013) and Primary! (2010). He died on 19 July 2021 in Alta Gracia, Argentina.- Director
- Writer
- Producer
Alek Keshishian was born on 30 July 1964 in Beirut, Lebanon. He is a director and writer, known for Selena Gomez: My Mind & Me (2022), Madonna: Truth or Dare (1991) and Selena Gomez: Hands to Myself (2015).- Actress
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Cynthia (16-02-1996) is a trilingual Lebanese actress/writer/producer popular in the Middle East, Egypt and France and fluent in English, Arabic and French. She obtained a Filmmaking degree at the Saint Joseph University of Audiovisual Studies USJ. Born to a medical family of art lovers, Cynthia's acting career started at the tender age of Eleven, when she landed her first role in the hit Lebanese sitcom Abdo and Abdo (2003). Cynthia fully dedicated her early twenties to her studies and to building her career. Cynthia's name is now associated with major titles in the Middle East such as: "Ruby" (2011-2012) "Jouzour" (2012-2013)),Cargo ( 2016) Harb Ahlya (2021), 8Days (2021), Bimbo ( 2022), to name a few.
She had also built an exquisite career in Television ( 2009-2018) hosting and producing major productions for MBC and MTV studios. However, in 2018, she decided to focus solely on cinema.
She has three international projects in post production (2024) -Dahab: lead alongside James Franco produced by MBC studios -Paper Empire: alongside Cuba Gooding, Robert Davi, Denis Richards, Kelsey Grammer. -Sicilian Holiday with Oscar Winning producer Adam Lipzieg.- Actress
- Soundtrack
Antonella Lualdi was born on 6 July 1931 in Beirut, French Mandate for Syria and the Lebanon [now Lebanon]. She was an actress, known for Andrea Chenier (1955), Cordier and Son: Judge and Cop (1992) and The Big Night (1959). She was married to Franco Interlenghi. She died on 10 August 2023 in Rome, Lazio, Italy.- Actress
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Carmen Bsaibes was born on 9 October 1989 in Lebanon. She is an actress and director, known for Bride of Beirut (2019), Eugenie Nights (2018) and Morine (2018).- Actor
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Lebanese International Actor. An award winning actor and producer. Since the age of 7 he always dreamed of becoming an Actor. At age 16 while war was going on he fled and came to the USA. First he landed in New York 1983, from there he flew to California. where his dream to become an Actor Started. Has been cast in some of the most monumental films of our generation - his credits include Ghost, Bad Influence, True Romance and The Siege among many others. He has also worked with a virtual who's who of talented directors, including Tony Scott, Ed Zwick, Curtis Hanson, Sam Raimi and Jerry Zucker. He has also starred in recurring roles on television's top-rated shows such as 24 and The Shield. Most recently, Faraj appeared as a Guest Starring Role on the Hit TV show S.W.A.T. and Seal Team. His latest lead Roles in the feature "I Am Fear". The most Notable film that brought him Global attention: Green Zone (Matt Damon) Directed by (Paul Greengrass) in which he was submitted for the 42nd Image Award for Best Supporting Actor. In 2012, Said reached another milestone when his production company, Cedar Films LLC, produced the short film The American Failure, which premiered at the 2013 Cannes Film Festival. The film marked Said's Producing, writing and directorial debut and would go on to win several awards, including 3 Best Picture, 4 Best Actor, and 2 Best Director at various film festivals across the United States.- Sirine trained at The Royal Academy Of Dramatic Art . Most recent film and television credits include the leading role of Maggie in the feature film The Black Forest (nominated for the Michael Powell Award for Best British Feature Film at the Edinburgh International Festival) and semi-regular character Patricia Ghraoui in Holby City.
- Sharon Wyatt was born on 13 February 1953 in Lebanon, Tennessee, USA. She is an actress, known for Commando (1985), General Hospital (1963) and The Mating Habits of the Earthbound Human (1999).
- Actor
- Producer
- Casting Department
Born in Beirut, Lebanon he was blessed with an old fashioned family. Even the tragic effects of a civil war, at the age of 13, never halted his determination to start a successful career that included education as an architect and draftsman. Fulfilling the wishes of his mother, he never met with his own plans for the future. As the only son, at the age of 14, he had a deep sense of national pride and the love of country. Eventually, having personally saved the lives of over thirty people, before reaching the age of 21, his desire for more brought Gino to the United States. First he joined his sister in Ohio, his staying there lasted two years only Finally he found his way to Los Angeles with $50 dollars in his pocket and a desire to pursue an acting career.
Hitting the ground running, working as a valet for a nice Hotel near LAX, Gino was soon discovered by an Italian-Lebanese crowd that brought him financial success leading to the accumulation of wealth, becoming a millionaire. A glamorous lifestyle, while living the high life in Hermosa Beach, Manhattan Beach And Redondo Beach ultimately within two years, Gino's innate generosity and naiveté led to complete financial devastation which took him back to Cleveland, Ohio where he found solace with his sister and his mother, who was now also in residence. Two years in Ohio to recover, was all the time it took for Gino to realize that he needed more. Going to LA did not fulfill that purpose, but a visit to a cousin joey in Boston led him to the opportunity of modeling around New-berry St, more modeling opportunities and a job at a seafood restaurant in glouster City which unfortunately still left him wanting more.
On the advice of a friend, Gino left for the booming city of Miami in 1992 and his first experience in the film industry, when a great casting director as Ellen Jacoby approached him to appear a few movies. The first being the "Bodyguard" starring Whitney Houston and Kevin Costner and the second "Only the Strong," directed by Sheldon Lettich. The two non speaking roles only whetted Gino's appetite for more, which the casting director recognized as well creating his first big break with an introduction to James Cameron which led to a role in the film "True Lies" with Arnold Schwarzenegger and Jamie Lee Curtis. Even James Cameron, recognized Gino's life experience and potential by making him an advisor beyond being cast as a " bread van terrorist 2" which launched a film career leading to international roles in a French film, an independent British film Command Approved" directed by Graham Moore filmed in the Bahamas. A chance meeting with another cast member, Ronald Lang opened the path for Gino's next opportunity.
After the film was finished, a return to Miami brought an unexpected knock on the door. Ron Lang recounting Gino's aggression and menacing performance at the time of their first meeting, led to discussion of a script, " All About The Benjamin's" later coming to fruition through Ice Cube's production as "bad guy" role Tommy Flanagan which led to a reunion with another casting director Ed Arenas, who called him in on " Bad Boys 2, where after gaining Michael Bay's respect, he was booked with Jordi Molla. Despite continuing film success in Miami, Gino felt the lure of LA again, selling his apartment and on the advisement of an agent, Shae Jacobson, was led to the Abrams Artist Group on Sunset Blvd. Successful placements followed, but never feeling on his destined path for success, Gino's own initiative and resources led to roles on the hit TV show"24" with Kiefer Sutherland in its fourth season and "NCIS LA" with Chris O'Donnell and LL Cool J.
Leaving no media opportunity untested, video games and voiceover projects with Barbara Harris continued to expand Gino's horizon. Opportunity reinvented itself with a role in "Spartan" working with renowned writer /Director/ Producer David Mamet , Fifty Cents "Bullet Proof" and finally in meeting with Director Peter Berg for a role in "The Kingdom" as member of special forces. Positive vibes continued to flow in early 2009, with the unexpected Early 2012 began with the wrap of a pilot waiting to be picked up entitled "Revan" with Steven Bauer and James Russo. A good friend and mentor Robert Miano led to the role of Ahmed, a Taliban fighter in "Being American" directed by Fatmir Doga, where again, Gino was enlisted as an Arabic advisor on the film with respect his real life military experiences as a passionate dedicated soldier.
Gino flew to Miami in August to take on the challenge as a menacing Middle Eastern arms dealer Rashad, in the internationally recognized television show "Burn Notice" episode titled "Down & Out" playing alongside accomplished actor "Alon Aboutboul"