# Haaz Sleiman

Haaz Sleiman (/ˈhɑːz ˈsleɪmən/; Arabic: هاز سليمان; born July 1, 1976) is a Lebanese actor. He most notably played the role of Tarek in the 2007 film The Visitor for which he was nominated for the Independent Spirit Award for Best Supporting Male and the role of Jesus in the American TV mini-series Killing Jesus, in addition to a number of American TV series.

## Early life

Sleiman was born in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and raised in Beirut, Lebanon. He immigrated to the United States when he was twenty-one years old.

## Career

In 2006, Sleiman portrayed an American soldier in Iraq on the NBC series ER and, that same year, had a recurring role as an Arab billionaire in the CBS series Company Town. He portrayed the terrorist suspect Heydar in three 2007 episodes of the FOX series 24 and appeared on both NCIS and Veronica Mars in 2007.
He co-starred as Tarek, an undocumented Syrian immigrant in the critically acclaimed 2007 independent film The Visitor, a drama directed by Tom McCarthy. The film was nominated for a Screen Actors Guild Award and an Academy Award. Sleiman also had small roles in the 2006 film American Dreamz and the 2007 film AmericanEast.
Sleiman played nurse Mohammed "Mo-Mo" De La Cruz in the first season of the Showtime dark comedy series Nurse Jackie, which premiered in June 2009.
In 2011, Sleiman played the role of Omar, a Palestinian activist, in the Channel 4 mini-series The Promise.
Sleiman also played the role of Kasim Tariq in the CW Network TV show Nikita; he appeared in two episodes.
Sleiman played Dr Rabia, a Syrian doctor in Channel 4's The State.
In 2013, Sleiman started as the titular character in the short lived Off-Broadway musical Venice.

## Personal life

In an interview with the Christian Broadcasting Network, Sleiman said that he is Muslim, Christian, and Jewish. On August 22, 2017, he came out as gay via a Facebook video.

## Filmography
### Film

| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
| 2004 | The Ski Trip | Tyson | |
| 2006 | American Dreamz | Mujeheddin Captain | |
| 2006 | The Fourth Estate | | Short film |
| 2007 | The Visitor | Tarek | |
| 2007 | Futbaal: The Price of Dreams | Ace | |
| 2008 | AmericanEast | Slick Ali | |
| 2011 | Dorfman in Love | Cookie | |
| 2012 | Highland Park | Ali Rasheed | Video on demand |
| 2015 | Those People | Tim | |
| 2015 | Ideal | Photographer | Short film |
| 2016 | Offer and Compromise | Scott | |
| 2019 | Love & Debt | Scott | |
| 2019 | 3022 | Thomas Dahan | |
| 2020 | Breaking Fast | Mo | |
| 2021 | Eternals | Ben | |
| 2022 | Moving On | Gun Shop Salesman | |

### Television

| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
| 2006 | Company Town | Abby Faisal | Unsold television pilot |
| 2006 | ER | Hodgkins | Episode: "The Gallant Hero and the Tragic Victor" |
| 2007 | 24 | Heydar | 3 episodes (season 6) |
| 2007 | NCIS | Abdul Wahid | Episode: "Grace Period" |
| 2007 | Veronica Mars | Nasir Ben-Hafald | Episode: "Un-American Graffiti" |
| 2009 | Nurse Jackie | Mohammed "Mo-Mo" de la Cruz | Main role (season 1; 12 episodes) |
| 2010, 2011 | Nikita | Kasim Tariq | 2 episodes |
| 2011 | The Promise | Omar Habash | Miniseries |
| 2011 | CSI: Miami | Marcel Largos | Episode: "Mayday" |
| 2011 | Ricochet | Robert Savich | Television film |
| 2011 | Meet Jane | Agent Joseph Omari | Television film |
| 2012 | Beauty & the Beast | Detective Wolansky | Episode: "All In" |
| 2012, 2015 | Covert Affairs | Khalid Ansari | 3 episodes (season 3), 1 episode (season 5) |
| 2013 | Blue Bloods | Teri Damiri | Episode: "Drawing Dead" |
| 2013 | The Good Wife | Zayeed Shaheed | Episode: "Whack-a-Mole" |
| 2014 | Person of Interest | Omar Risha | Episode: "Allegiance" |
| 2014 | Reckless | Tariq Al Zahrani | Episode: "Fifty-One Percent" |
| 2015 | Allegiance | Scott Tolliver | 2 episodes |
| 2015 | Killing Jesus | Jesus of Nazareth | Television film |
| 2015 | The Player | Farid | Episode: "Pilot" |
| 2016 | Of Kings and Prophets | Jonathan | Main cast |
| 2017 | The State | Dr. Rabia | Minisiries (3 episodes) |
| 2018 | Tommy in La La Land | Himself | Documentary (3 episodes) |
| 2018 | Jack Ryan | Ali bin Suleiman | Recurring role; 6 episodes |
| 2020 | Little America | Rafiq | Episode "The Son" |

### Video game

| Year | Title | Voice role | Notes |
| 2007 | Assassin's Creed | Malik al-Sayf | |
| 2011 | Assassin's Creed: Revelations | Suleiman I | |
| 2012 | Diablo III | | Additional voices |
| 2014 | Diablo III: Reaper of Souls | | Additional voices |
| 2024 | Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 | | Additional voices |

## Awards and nominations

| Year | Association | Category | Project | Result |
| 2008 | Boston Society of Film Critics Awards | Best Ensemble Cast | The Visitor | Runner-up |
| 2008 | Independent Spirit Awards | Best Supporting Actor | The Visitor | Nominated |
| 2008 | Gotham Awards | Best Ensemble Cast | The Visitor | Nominated |
| 2008 | Online Film & Television Association Awards | Best Breakthrough Performance – Male | The Visitor | Nominated |