# Hiam Abbass

Hiam Abbass (Arabic: هيام عباس; Hebrew: היאם עבאס; born 30 November 1960), also spelled Hiyam Abbas, is an Israeli Arab actress and film director with Israeli and French citizenship. She is known for her roles in films such as The Syrian Bride (2004), Paradise Now (2005), Free Zone (2005), Munich (2005), The Visitor (2007), Lemon Tree (2008), Insyriated (2017), and Blade Runner 2049 (2017). She gained prominence for her role as Marcia Roy in the HBO drama series Succession (2018–2023). She has also acted in the Channel 4 series The Promise (2011), the Lifetime miniseries The Red Tent (2014), the Hulu comedy series Ramy (2019–present), and the Hulu drama series The Old Man (2022).

## Early and personal life

Abbass was born on 30 November 1960 to a family of Israeli Arabs in Nazareth, Israel, and was raised in the nearby village of Deir Hanna. Since the late 1980s, she has lived in Paris, France, and holds French citizenship.
During the filming of the Steven Spielberg film Munich (2005), Abbass lived in a hotel with Israeli and Palestinian actors for three months. During that time, they had many discussions that "helped both sides grow closer." In an interview in 2006, Abbass said, "I still remember how difficult it was for the Arab actors to manhandle the Israeli actors in the first scene where the Israeli national team is taken hostage."

## Film career

Abbass is known for her roles in Red Satin (2002), Haifa (1996), Paradise Now (2005), The Syrian Bride (2004), Free Zone (2005), Dawn of the World (2008), The Visitor (2008), Lemon Tree (2008), Every Day Is a Holiday (2009), and Amreeka (2009). She appeared in Spielberg's film Munich, depicting the response to the Munich massacre, and also served as a dialect and acting consultant.
She directed two short films, Le Pain (2001), and La Danse éternelle (2004). She portrays humanitarian Hind al-Husseini in Julian Schnabel's film Miral (2010), based on the life of Husseini and her orphanage.
In 2002, she appeared in Satin Rouge by Raja Amari, a film about the self-discovery of a middle aged Tunisian widow. She also a similar role in The Syrian Bride, about a Druze woman eager to break down barriers.
Abbass appeared in the French films Le sac de farine and Le temps de la balle.
In 2008, she played the mother of an illegal Syrian immigrant in Tom McCarthy's movie The Visitor, and the mother of an Iraqi soldier in Abbas Fahdel's film Dawn of the World.
In the same year she could be seen in Pomegranates and Myrrh as Umm Habib, the owner of a beleaguered café.
Also in 2008, she played the principal role in Israeli director Eran Riklis's film Lemon Tree (Etz Limon in Hebrew). For this role, she won Best Performance by an Actress at the 2008 Asia Pacific Screen Awards. In Jim Jarmusch's 2009 film The Limits of Control, in the role of Driver, she recites in Classical Arabic one of the film's leitmotif-phrases, "He who thinks he is bigger than the rest must go to the cemetery. There he will see what life really is."
Abbass also appears in A Bottle in the Gaza Sea (2011), a French-Israeli film produced by Thierry Binisti. It is based upon the young adult novel Une bouteille dans la mer de Gaza by Valérie Zenatti. She plays the role of Naïm's mother.
In 2012, she was named as a member of the Jury for the Main Competition at the 2012 Cannes Film Festival. She made her directorial feature film debut with The Inheritance in 2012.
In 2017, she played Freysa, the head of the replicant freedom movement, in Blade Runner 2049.
Abbass has also acted in TV shows such as The Promise (2011), The State (2017), Succession (2018–2023), and Ramy (2019–present).
In 2023, Abbass starred in the documentary film Bye Bye Tiberias which follows her decision to pursue her dream of becoming actress, directed by her daughter, Lina Soualem. It premiered at the 80th Venice International Film Festival and screened at the 2023 Toronto International Film Festival in September 2023.

## Filmography
### As actor
#### Film

| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
| 1996 | When the Cat's Away | Woman in the courtyard | |
| 1996 | Haifa | Oum Said | |
| 1998 | Raddem | | Short |
| 1998 | Vivre au paradis | | |
| 1998 | Histoire naturelle | | Short |
| 2000 | Ali, Rabiaa et les autres | Rabiaa | |
| 2001 | Ligne 208 | Khaled's Mother | |
| 2001 | Le pain | | Short |
| 2001 | Le mariage en papier | Aunt Rabiaa | Short |
| 2001 | Tar Angel (L'ange de goudron) | Naïma Kasmi | |
| 2002 | Fais-moi des vacances | Lucien & José's Mother | |
| 2002 | Satin Rouge | Lilia | |
| 2002 | A Loving Father | Salma | |
| 2003 | Noctambules | Lonely Woman | Short |
| 2004 | The Gate of Sun | Um Youness | |
| 2004 | The Syrian Bride | Amal | |
| 2004 | Nadia et Sarra | Nadia | |
| 2005 | Paradise Now | Said's Mother | |
| 2005 | Sur les traces de Mélanie | Madelaine | Short |
| 2005 | Free Zone | Leila | |
| 2005 | Le démon de midi | Rim | |
| 2005 | Munich | Marie Claude Hamshari | Also consultant and dialog coach |
| 2006 | Petites révélations | | |
| 2006 | Azur & Asmar: The Princes' Quest | Jénane's Voice | |
| 2006 | The Nativity Story | Anna | |
| 2007 | Conversations with My Gardener | The gardener's wife | |
| 2007 | Disengagement | Hiam | |
| 2007 | The Visitor | Mouna | |
| 2008 | La fabrique des sentiments | Professor Sterne | |
| 2008 | Lemon Tree | Salma Zidane | |
| 2008 | Un roman policier | Fati | |
| 2008 | Dawn of the World | Mastour's mother | |
| 2008 | Fatoush | The woman | Short |
| 2008 | Kandisha | Mona Bendrissi | |
| 2008 | Al-mor wa al rumman (Pomegranates and Myrrh) | Umm Habib | |
| 2008 | Blanche | The neighbour | Short |
| 2009 | Amreeka | Raghda Halaby | |
| 2009 | Espion(s) | Wafa | |
| 2009 | Human Zoo | Mina | |
| 2009 | The Limits of Control | The Driver | |
| 2009 | Persécution | Marie | |
| 2009 | Chaque jour est une fête | Hala | |
| 2010 | Suite parlée | The Ants | |
| 2010 | Clichés | | Short |
| 2010 | Miral | Hind al-Husseini | |
| 2010 | Le temps de la balle | Hana | Short |
| 2010 | Habibti | Iman | Short |
| 2011 | The Source | Fatima | |
| 2011 | Do Not Forget Me Istanbul | | |
| 2011 | A Bottle in the Gaza Sea | Intessar | |
| 2012 | Le sac de farine | Yasmine | |
| 2012 | Inheritance | Samira | |
| 2013 | Les jeux des nuages et de la pluie | Blanche | |
| 2013 | May in the Summer | Nadine | |
| 2013 | Rock the Casbah | Aicha | |
| 2013 | Samarkande | The Death | Short |
| 2013 | Peace After Marriage | Amani | |
| 2014 | De guerre lasse | Raïssa | |
| 2014 | Nothing Escapes My Eyes | Women | Short |
| 2014 | Exodus: Gods and Kings | Bithiah | |
| 2015 | Dégradé | Eftikhar | |
| 2015 | The Sense of Wonder | Dr. Mélanie Ferenza | |
| 2017 | Blade Runner 2049 | Freysa | |
| 2017 | Insyriated | Oum Yazan | |
| 2020 | Gaza mon amour | Siham | |
| 2022 | Hellraiser | Serena Menaker | |
| 2023 | Insidious: The Red Door | Professor Armagan | |
| 2023 | Bye Bye Tiberias | Herself | Documentary |
| 2025 | No Beast. So Fierce. | Mishal | World prenmiere at the 75th Berlinale on 14 February 2025, to be released in theaters on 8 May 2025. |
| TBA | Palestine 36 | | Post-production |

#### Television

| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
| 1989 | La nuit miraculeuse | | Television movie |
| 1993 | Antoine Rives, juge du terrorisme | Jacqueline Tabet | Episode: "L'affaire JBN" |
| 1994 | 3000 scénarios contre un virus | A client | Episode: "Poisson rouge" |
| 1998 | Venise est une femme | Aïcha's Mother | Television movie |
| 2000 | Mix-cité | | Television movie |
| 2003 | Pierre et Farid | Farid's Mother | Television movie |
| 2008 | Béthune sur Nil | Farah | Television movie |
| 2010 | Histoires de vies | Zineb | Episode: "Des intégrations ordinaires" |
| 2010 | I Am Slave | Laila | Television movie |
| 2011 | The Promise | Old Jawda | 4 episodes |
| 2014 | The Red Tent | Queen Re-Nefer | Miniseries |
| 2016 | The OA | Khatun | Episodes: "Homecoming" and "Away" |
| 2017 | The State | Umm Salamah | 4 episodes |
| 2018–2023 | Succession | Marcia Roy | 23 episodes |
| 2019–present | Ramy | Maysa Hassan | 22 episodes |
| 2022 | Oussekine | Aïcha Oussekine | 4 episodes |
| 2022 | The Old Man | Abbey Chase | 5 episodes |

### As director

| Year | Title | Notes |
| 2001 | Le pain | Short film |
| 2004 | La danse éternelle | Short film; also writer |
| 2012 | Inheritance | Also writer |
| 2013 | Le Donne della Vucciria | Short film; also co-writer |
| 2015 | Jerusalem, I Love You | |

## Awards and nominations

| Year | Association | Category | Project | Result |
| 2004 | Ophir Award | Best Actress | Syrian Bride | Nominated |
| 2005 | Ophir Award | Best Supporting Actress | Free Zone | Nominated |
| 2005 | European Film Award | People's Choice Award | Syrian Bride | Nominated |
| 2008 | European Film Award | Best Actress | Lemon Tree | Nominated |
| 2008 | Boston Society of Film Critics | Best Ensemble | The Visitor | Nominated |
| 2008 | Gotham Awards | Best Ensemble Cast | The Visitor | Nominated |
| 2016 | Lumières Award | Best Actress | Insyriated | Nominated |
| 2023 | Primetime Emmy Award | Outstanding Guest Actress in a Drama Series | Succession | Nominated |