Faisal Hamza

Faisal Hamza is an Iraqi-Australian actor, writer, director, filmmaker, and engineering dropout. He was born in Jordan and lived in Qatar before migrating to Perth in 2006. Whilst he was meant to be studying, Faisal found joy playing a pyromaniac, a ruthless dictator, and loud, occasionally angry, old men in high-school productions. He then enrolled in Mechanical Engineering at UWA, where he took part in original student productions, ranging from dramas to sketch comedies. There, he also wrote and directed two original full-length plays, most notably BOOM, a dark comedy about a misguided entrepreneur who starts a merchandise store at the foot of an active volcano.

He is also a keen football fan and proud U14 Division C champion, as well as a bedroom DJ and bigtime film fan. He sincerely hopes Tewfik Saleh’s The Dupes (1972) is released on DVD, so he can buy it immediately. As someone who has been described as looking more Irish than Arab, sounding American to Australians and Australian to his family, Faisal hopes to play roles that suit his proven versatility. 

Faisal recently made his television debut as Mahdi in the ABC’s House of Gods. He also wishes to state on behalf of his Mum that he is technically on ‘approved leave’, and can return to his engineering degree whenever he likes.

NIDA Productions