Osamah Sami

Osamah Sami was born in Qom, Iran, to Iraqi parents. He was cast in several roles on stage in his hometown as a child . After immigrating to Australia, he began working with a local theatre group and starred in many productions from then on. The play Trial of Saddam, where he played Saddam Hussein, was written by his father. In 2005 he was part of a theatre group that was prevented from entering the United States to perform the play. He has since gone on to work regularly in film, theatre, and television. He has been cast in several leading roles. In 2009 he played opposite Claudia Karvan in the telemovie Saved, directed by Tony Ayres. He also played the lead role in the award-winning Dee McLachlan comedy feature, 10 Terrorists. His guest roles include TV shows including East West 101, Rush, Sea Patrol, City Homicide, Jack Irish, and a regular role in the TV series Kick. His theatre appearances include Belvoir St. Theatre Company, Melbourne Theatre Company, Queensland Theatre Company, Malthouse Theatre Company, and La Mama. Sami starred opposite Zar Amir Ebrahimi in the 2023 film Shayda. Shayda 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. Sami co-created and co-wrote a television drama series called House of Gods, which aired on ABC TV and ABC iview from 25 February 2024. 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.