Fares Fares - The Swedish Oscar candidate
It could have gone very wrong at the very beginning. Lebanese-Swedish actor Fares Fares was born in Beirut at the end of April 1973. Just two years later, a devastating civil war broke out in the city that was otherwise referred to as the Paris of the Middle East.
His family survived, but immigrated to Sweden in the mid-1980s, where they settled among other family members who had found shelter here.
Fares Fares and his younger brother Josef stayed far away from integration centers. "I learned Swedish in just three months," he told Swedish Kings Magazine. "First it was about the language. Then the culture, which was very different. But I quickly adopted Sweden. I had decided that Sweden was going to be my country. Today, I feel like my whole person is Swedish."
Fares Fares had a dream of becoming an architect. But his interest in theater took over - and his grades started to drop. Already by the age of 19, he decided that theater would be his livelihood. He went to school at the Mölnlycke Theater School in Gothenburg. For the next six years, he also acted in the theater group Tamauer in Värnamo.
It turned out to be a wise choice, although it was the movie industry that really delivered his breakthrough. It happened in the movie Jalla! Jalla! (2000). A movie that was also his younger brother's debut film as a director.
Since then, he has gone on to star in a number of popular films such as the action comedy Snabba Cash (2003), Snabba Cash (2010) and Zero Dark Thirty (2012). Most recently, he has had success in TV series such as Chernobyl (2019) and the film adaptations of Jussi Adler-Olsen's crime novels, where Fares Fares played the role of Detective Carl Mørck's assistant, Assad.
Charismatic exterior
Fares has a unique look and a charismatic presence - both on stage and on screen. His style is intense and he has an ability to convey emotion in a profound way that rarely fails to capture the audience's attention with its charisma and authenticity.
He is also recognized for his talent to master different accents and languages, which has allowed him to play both national and international roles.
Despite his success, he is known to be a relatively private person who prefers to avoid the spotlight. He simply focuses on his work in front of the camera. Although, now he's slowly starting to make a name for himself behind the lens. Most recently in the eco-thriller Partisan (2020), where he co-directed with Swedish director Amir Chamdin.
Last winter, Fares Fares starred in Boy From Heaven (2022), about a young fisherman who receives a scholarship to an Islamist university in Cairo. It’s a movie about intrigue - and not least shows a brutal power struggle between Egypt's political and religious elite.
The film was Sweden's official candidate for an Oscar statuette. Which it didn't get. But as Fares Fares has said: "Personally, I'm living my dream life. So, an Oscar award will probably arrive in time."