Sayed Badreya Is a Man of the People
Although his latest role sees the Egyptian actor playing Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein, his career has always been about representing his people
By Mallory Potosky
URL: http://www.moviemaker.com/acting/article/sayed_badreya_w_oliver_stone_saddam_hussein_20081014/
There’s so much more to Sayed Badreya than what appears on the surface. Born in Port Said, Egypt, the actor took a rather circuitous route to his current position in Hollywood as the go-to man for terrorist and doctor roles. It was while he was serving the country’s required military service that the future actor heard he was accepted to college in the United States. “So the deal was, ‘Okay, let me go to America for five years to study,’ because this was my dream.” He spent his first few years at the University of Massachusetts in Boston before studying film production at New York University. “The problem is, everyone in the class was using me as an actor. So I became really good at it,” Badreya says.

Five years turned into a few decades and by 2008 Badreya had carved himself a niche in the American movie landscape as Hezbollah Head Gunman (The Insider), Terrorist (in his own T for Terrorist) and Assisting Surgeon (Stuck on You). Now, Badreya is preparing for reaction to his role as Saddam Hussein in Oliver Stone’s anticipated drama W.