Tawfeek Barhom

Tawfeek Barhom (birthname: Tawfeek Barhom) is a highly regarded Palestinian-Israeli actor who has worked with an international range of filmmakers, launching with an impressive debut in a co-starring role in director Eran Riklis’ drama, A Borrowed Identity (2014), based on Sayed Kashua’s debut 2002 novel, Dancing Arabs, and co-starring Danielle Kitsis, Michael Moshonov, Yael Abecassis, and Ali Suliman, and which premiered at the Telluride film festival. Barhom co-starred in the ensemble of Christoforos Papakaliatis’s multi-story Greek drama, Worlds Apart (2015), with J.K. Simmons, Papakaliatis, Andrea Osvart, and Minas Hatzisavvas, which ranked as the top-grossing film at the Greek box office in 2015.

Barhom starred in Hany Abu-Assad’s acclaimed Palestinian drama, The Idol (2015), the first dramatic feature to be shot in Gaza in decades and co-starring Nadine Labaki and Ashraf Barhom, and which premiered at the Toronto Film Festival. Barhom was cast as part of the ensemble of Erez Tadmor’s Israeli drama, Wounded Land (2015), co-starring Roy Assaf, Dvir Benedek, Moshe Ashkenazi, Keren Berger, and Sharon Tal, and was nominated for Best Film at the Ophir Awards in 2015.

Tawfeek Barhom played Jesus’ followed James in the U.S./U.K./Australia co-production, Mary Magdalene (2018), starring Rooney Mara in the title role, Joaquin Phoenix, Chiwetel Ejiofor, and Tahar Rahim under Garth Davis’ direction and released in the U.S. by IFC Films, and which grossed $12 million globally. Barhom switched to a much darker, contemporary role as a terrorist in Paramount Pictures’ thriller, The Rhythm Section (2020), starring Blake Lively, Jude Law, and Sterling K. Brown under Reed Moreno’s direction, and proving a box-office disappointment with a poor $6 million return against a $50 million budget.

Barhom co-starred in Swedish filmmaker Tarik Saleh’s Arabic-language, Swedish-French-Finnish co-production, Boy From Heaven (2022), with Fares Fares, Mohammad Bakri, Makram Khoury, and Mehdi Dehbi, and premiered in the official selection of the Cannes film festival (where it won best screenplay for Saleh) and was Sweden’s official entry to the Oscar’s best international film longlist. Barhom then co-starred in his biggest role to date in his first Hollywood movie, 20^th Century Studios’ horror prequel, The First Omen (2024), co-written and directed by Arkasha Stevenson, with Nell Tiger Free, Sonia Braga, Ralph Ineson, and Bill Nighy.

Tawfeek Barhom played his second Apostle character in a feature film as John in filmmaker Terrence Malick’s long-in-the-making Jesus movie, The Way of the Wind (date to be announced), with Barhom joining a massive cast including Géza Röhrig (as Jesus), Matthias Schoenaerts, Mark Rylance, Ben Kingsley, Franz Rogowski, Joseph Fiennes, Philip Arditti, Ali Suliman, and Leila Hatami in a film co-produced with funds from the U.S., U.K., Germany, and Turkey. Barhom co-starred with Adam Bessa in Les Fantômes (date to be announced), French writer-director Jonathan Millet’s Syrian war drama set in Strasbourg, France.