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Fayssal Bazzi (Arabic: فيصل بزي; born 1982) is an Australian actor. He was nominated for the 2018 AACTA Award for Best Actor in a Supporting Role for his role in The Merger and again in 2020 for Measure for Measure.

Early life

Bazzi was born in Beirut, Lebanon, to a Lebanese father and a Syrian mother. As his mother was a French teacher, Bazzi learned to speak French fluently alongside Arabic. When he was 3 years old, his family moved to Australia after the Lebanese Civil War.

When immigrating to Australia, the Bazzis lost their immigration records. Bazzi was often bullied as a child as he did not initially speak English. His parents transferred him to a Catholic school, and he eventually learned English after a teacher decided to personally teach him. He was inspired to become an actor by that teacher.

Career

Bazzi started his acting career in his early 20s, in the early 2000s. As a child he was a fan of Star Wars and anime, so he was keen to work in the fantasy genre, however in the aftermath of 9/11 he found that he was pigeonholed as an Arab man, in terms of the way the industry viewed him.

His career began in theatre. After securing an agent, Bazzi started attending screen auditions in the early to mid-2000s, but based on the amount of rejection he experienced based on his ethnic background, he realised the theatre culture was more progressive than screen, allowing him a lot more casting scope and creative and cultural input. He continued to audition for screen roles regardless, and started to be cast in guest roles.

While touring Australia with a play called Food, Bazzi secured a part on the film Down Under – a black comedy based on the racial tensions in the wake of the real-life 2005 Cronulla riots. He starred alongside Alexander England, Damon Herriman, Justin Rosniak and Lincoln Younes.

After a decade of guest roles, supporting roles, and short films, Bazzi performed as part of a six month national tour of The Merchant of Venice with Bell Shakespeare, before finishing the tour early to film his first lead role in 2018 drama comedy movie The Merger.

Prior to leaving on a holiday, Bazzi auditioned for the recurring role of Nasir in season 2 of comedy drama series Mr Inbetween, and for a lead role as Ameer, a Syrian refugee in 2020 miniseries Stateless, both of which he secured and started filming on his return. In the latter series, he starred opposite Cate Blanchett, Yvonne Strahovski, Jai Courtney, Dominic West and Asher Keddie, and had to learn to speak Dari, an Afghani language. He was then was offered a part on The Commons, before having to fly to Timor-Leste to finish filming overseas scenes for Stateless.

In 2023, Bazzi was announced and appeared in several television projects including SBS' Erotic Stories, Total Control's final season, and the second season of Australian legal drama The Twelve. He also appeared in Australian/American co-produced horror film Late Night with the Devil. He was then named for legal thriller The Correspondent.

Personal life

Bazzi has been in a relationship with fellow Australian actor Catherine Văn-Davies since 2014.

Filmography

Television

Film/Shorts

Theatre

As actor

As crew

References

1. Groves, Don (24 June 2019), "'The Merger' was a game changer for Fayssal Bazzi", Inside Film
2. Kornits, Dov (30 October 2018), "The AACTA Awards Nominations Are In", Inside Film
3. Convery, Stephanie (1 November 2020), "Aacta awards 2020: Cate Blanchett, Hugo Weaving and Ned Kelly gang vie for honours", The Guardian
4. Kinane, Ruth (22 July 2020). "Fayssal Bazzi on playing refugee Ameer in Netflix's Stateless: 'I knew that it was an important thing to do'". ew.com. Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved 15 March 2024.
5. Veitch, Mara (31 July 2020). "Cate Blanchett and Fayssal Bazzi on the Timely Resonance of "Stateless"". interviewmagazine.com. Interview Magazine. Retrieved 15 March 2024.
6. Feldman, Dana (25 July 2020). "Fayssal Bazzi Says Netflix Drama 'Stateless' Puts A Human Face On Refugees". Forbes. Retrieved 15 March 2024.
7. Gay, Verne (22 July 2020). "Fayssal Bazzi talks Netflix's 'Stateless,' more". newsday.com. Newsday. Retrieved 15 March 2024.
8. https://www.screenaustralia.gov.au/sa/screen-news/2020/05-04-advice-from-isolation-fayssal-bazzi
9. https://www.backstage.com/magazine/article/stateless-netflix-fayssal-bazzi-cate-blanchett-71083/
10. https://www.screenaustralia.gov.au/sa/screen-news/2020/05-04-advice-from-isolation-fayssal-bazzi
11. https://www.backstage.com/magazine/article/stateless-netflix-fayssal-bazzi-cate-blanchett-71083/
12. https://www.screenaustralia.gov.au/sa/screen-news/2020/05-04-advice-from-isolation-fayssal-bazzi
13. https://www.screenaustralia.gov.au/sa/screen-news/2020/05-04-advice-from-isolation-fayssal-bazzi
14. https://www.screenaustralia.gov.au/sa/screen-news/2020/05-04-advice-from-isolation-fayssal-bazzi
15. Knox, David (27 April 2023). "Production begins on Erotic Stories for SBS | TV Tonight". TV Tonight. Retrieved 19 February 2024.
16. Knox, David (31 May 2023). "Total Control filming third and final series | TV Tonight". TV Tonight. Retrieved 19 February 2024.
17. Knox, David (31 August 2023). "Production underway on The Twelve S2 | TV Tonight". TV Tonight. Retrieved 19 February 2024.
18. "The Correspondent: Richard Roxburgh film wraps production | ScreenHub Australia - Film & Television Jobs, News, Reviews & Screen Industry Data". www.screenhub.com.au. 15 March 2024. Retrieved 29 May 2024.
19. Catherine Nikas-Boulos: At home with actor and Hungry Ghosts star Catherine Van-Davies. The Chronicle, 18 August 2020
20. Knox, David (3 October 2019). "Production underway on Stan drama The Commons". tvtonight.com.au. TV Tonight. Retrieved 13 March 2024.
21. Knox, David (15 May 2019). "All-star cast for ABC drama Stateless". tvtonight.com.au. TV Tonight. Retrieved 13 March 2024.
22. Slatter, Sean (19 February 2021). "Uli Latukefu, Pallavi Sharda, Phoenix Raei and Fayssal Bazzi join 'Black Site'". if.com.au. IF Magazine. Retrieved 13 March 2024.
23. https://www.screenaustralia.gov.au/sa/screen-news/2020/05-04-advice-from-isolation-fayssal-bazzi
24. https://www.screenaustralia.gov.au/sa/screen-news/2020/05-04-advice-from-isolation-fayssal-bazzi
25. https://ausstage.edu.au/pages/contributor/403888
26. https://shanahan.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/BAZZI-Fayssal-260722.pdf

External links

• Fayssal Bazzi at IMDb

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• 1982 births
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• 21st-century Australian male actors
• Australian male film actors
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• Australian people of Lebanese descent
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