Osamah Sami

Osamah Sami was born in Qom, Iran. His father, Dr Jaafar al-Bakiry, a Shiite cleric from Iraq, had been a political prisoner under Saddam Hussein and met his Kurdish wife, Sami's mother, in an Iranian refugee camp.^[1][2][3] His father had evaded execution for protesting against Hussein, by escaping prison and swimming over the border to Iran.^[3]

Sami was cast in several roles on stage in his hometown as a child.^[1][2] Then as a teenager, he studied Arts at Kanoon Pavaresh Fekri, Iran's leading arts development institute, before appearing in two Iranian feature films.^[4][5]

When Sami was twelve, the family then emigrated to Melbourne, Australia in 1995,^[6] settling in the suburb of Fawkner. Sami was the oldest of seven children.^[3]

Sami's father had hoped his son would become a doctor, but his grades didn't get him into medicine. So he pretended to get a perfect score in year 12 and lied about winning a place in medicine at the University of Melbourne. He attended classes for a year, without being detected by his parents or the school. His father eventually took him on a pilgrimage back to Iran to try and straighten him out.^[7][8]

While 'attending' university, Sami also met and fell in love with a legitimate medical student, which also proved problematic, as his family was in the process of organising his arranged marriage.^[8] Sami held several jobs including working as a waiter, forklift driver and librarian but ultimately decided acting was the only thing he wanted to do.^[3] He went on to further his earlier acting studies at The Australian Film and Television Academy (TAFTA).^[5]

After immigrating to Australia, Sami began working with a local theatre group and starred in their productions. His father wrote a musical-comedy called Trial of Saddam, in which Sami played the role of Saddam Hussein. After proving a hit amongst the Iraqi community in Australia, it was subsequently due to play sold-out shows in Detroit in the US in 2005. But, as this was shortly after the London and Madrid train bombings, the theatre group was prevented from entering the United States to perform the play.^[1][2][9][6]

In addition to theatre, Sami also went on to work in film and television. In 2007, he had a regular role as Sharif Doumani in 13-part SBS romantic drama series Kick,^[10] and in the late 2000's he made guest appearances in largely typecast roles in series including City Homicide, Rush, Sea Patrol and East West 101 before landing his breakthrough role^[11][3] opposite Claudia Karvan in the telemovie Saved, directed by Tony Ayres.^[12]

Sami co-created the 2015 comedy web series, Two Refugees and a Blonde, together with Shahin Shafaei and Rain Fuller. He also played one of the three lead roles. Sami stated: "This series aims to remove the sombre stigma synonymous with refugees and to replace it with a dose of laughter...". It launched during Refugee Week in Melbourne and was screened at Amnesty Refugee Network’s Festival of Hope on World Refugee Day, while premiering online via YouTube.^[13]

Sami's critically acclaimed memoir Good Muslim Boy was published by Hardie Grant in 2015.^[14] In 2016, it became the winner of the New South Wales Premier's Literary Award,^[15] and was commended at the Victorian Premier's Literary Awards.^[16] He also adapted his book for the stage, with productions by Melbourne's Malthouse Theatre and Queensland Theatre.^[5][17]

Sami was nominated for a 2016 Green Room Award for Best Male Performer in a Lead Role for a Melbourne Theatre Company production of I Call My Brothers.^[18][5] He also played the lead role of American-born Palestinian doctor, Rami, in a production of Tales of a City by the Sea in Sydney and Melbourne.^[19][17]

Sami co-wrote and starred as the titular character in 2016 feature romantic comedy film Ali's Wedding,^[5] which was also based on his memoir.^[9] The film was acquired by Netflix. His work earned him a 2017 Australian Academy Award (AACTA Award) for Best Original Screenplay as well as a nomination for Best Lead Actor. It was also nominated for Best Film.^[20] This was mirrored at the 2017 Film Critics Circle of Australia Awards, where it won Best Film, and earned Sami a win for Best Screenplay and a nomination for Best Male Lead.^[21] His script also received a 2016 Australian Writers' Guild Award in the Best Original Feature Film category.^[22] Further wins included Audience Award for Best Feature Film at the 2017 Sydney Film Festival^[23] and The Age Critics Prize at Melbourne International Film Festival.^[24] The film was also awarded the $100,000 CinefestOz film prize in 2017.^[25]

Sami appeared in the 2020 historical drama film The Furnace,^[11] opposite David Wenham. The film premiered at the 2020 Venice Film Festival drawing positive international reviews.^[26] In 2022, he played the role of Salim Bayati in six-part mystery drama miniseries Savage River, alongside Katherine Langford, Jacqueline McKenzie and Nadine Garner.^[27]

Sami next starred opposite Zar Amir Ebrahimi in the Shayda. The film was the winner of the Audience Award for Best Film after premiering as the 2023 opening night film at Sundance. It was also selected as the opening night film at Melbourne International Film Festival, and went on to win the 2023 CinefestOz $100,000 film prize.^[28] That same year, Sami was a co-writer on psychological thriller series The Clearing, which featured an all-star cast including Teresa Palmer, Miranda Otto, Guy Pearce, Xavier Samuel, Claudia Karvan and Gary Sweet.^[29] Also in 2023, Sami co-wrote and starred in drama film Tennessine, which screened at both CinefestOZ and the Sydney Film Festival.^[30]

Sami then co-created, co-wrote and appeared in the 2024 television drama miniseries called House of Gods, which aired on ABC TV^[31][32] and ABC iview from 25 February 2024.^[33] The drama centres around an imam and his family as well as the Australian Arab / Iraqi community he leads, with Sami using his own real-life experiences to tell the story of the community of which he is a part.^[31]

Sami is also an stand-up comedian, and writes a poetry blog, with themes ranging from love and family to social justice and war.^[11]

Sami is father to two daughters.^[9] He speaks Arabic, Farsi and English.^[6]

Sami's father died at the age of 50, while the pair were on holidays overseas in Tehran.^[8]