Oscar-nominated filmmaker Waleed Zuaiter has been nominated for Best Leading Actor at the 2021 BAFTA TV Awards.
Zuaiter, a Palestinian-American, was nominated for Baghdad Central, a production of Euston Films and the UK’s Channel 4.
The actor was previously nominated for an Oscar for producing the 2013 film Omar, nominated for Best Foreign Language Film, the category which is now called Best International Feature Film. The film was directed by Hany Abu Assad.
Also nominated in the same category were John Boyega for Small Axe, Josh O’Connor for The Crown, Paapa Essiedu for I May Destroy You, Paul Mescal for Normal People, and Shaun Parkes for Small Axe.
Baghdad Central is a crime thriller set in 2003 Iraq that debuted last year, adapted from the 2014 novel by Elliott Colla.
The show follows Zuaiter as a former policeman named Muhsin al-Khafaji who attempts to find is missing daughter as he is mistakenly arrested and tortured by United States troops before being recruited by a former British policeman to once again become an officer of the law in the US-occupied wartime Iraq’s ‘Green Zone’.
The series was written by Stephen Butchard and directed by Alice Troughton, and produced by Kate Harwood.Also featured in the cast are Leem Lubany as his missing daughter Sawsan, July Namir as Mrouj, Tawfeek Barhom and Cory Stoll from House of Cards.
Zuaiter, who was born in California, grew up in Kuwait before returning to the United States for university. He has played Iraqis numerous times, first as a former Iraqi translator to the US Military on the New York stage in George Packer’s Betrayed. He also produced the HBO/BBC miniseries House of Saddam. He also has appeared in Netflix’s Altered Carbon and The Spy.
The BAFTA TV Awards ceremony is set for June 6, 2021.
Esquire now has a newsletter – sign up to get it sent straight to your inbox.
Want up-to-the-minute entertainment news and features? Just hit 'Like' on our Esquire Facebook page and 'Follow' on our @esquiremiddleeast Instagram and Twitter account.
