
Acting
Oct 20, 1962
Damascus, Syria
Jay Abdo
Acting
Biography
A Syrian actor who excelled in music and acting. After obtaining a diploma in civil engineering from the University of Cluj-Napoca in Romania in 1986, he decided to complete his studies in art and obtained a diploma in theatrical acting from the Higher Institute of Dramatic Arts in Damascus in 1991. He began his career in his homeland, and he then continued his work in Hollywood, where he became known as Jay. He's known for Explosion (2013), A Very Hard Birth (2011) and Attendance of the Absence Procession (2022).
Feature Films (20)

After being released from prison, Billy Skinner returns to his low-income neighbourhood feeling like a fish out of water; the area has changed dramatically, and what was once a predominantly white neighbourhood is now mostly occupied by refugee families.
Skeet

A Syrian doctor and her daughter flee Aleppo, setting off a chain of events that binds five strangers together. A smuggler, a soldier, a poet, and a coast guard captain collide in a crisis that tests their courage, their choices, and their humanity.
I Was a Stranger

Once a successful Syrian actor, Jihad Abdo is now struggling as a refugee while trying to reinvent his life and rebuild his career.
Jihad in Hollywood

Once a successful Syrian actor, Jihad Abdo is now struggling as a refugee while trying to reinvent his life and rebuild his career.
Jihad in Hollywood

A chronicle of Gertrude Bell's life, a traveler, writer, archaeologist, explorer, cartographer, and political attaché for the British Empire in the Near and Middle East at the dawn of the twentieth century. Her knowledge of the tribal leaders is used by the British to establish the Kingdoms of Iraq, Jordan and Saudi Arabia.
Queen of the Desert

Jonas and Silvia are enjoying a wonderful sailing holiday in the Mediterranean sea. But while sailing through the night, far away from land, they discover an overloaded refugee boat, close to sinking. They are shocked, but too afraid to help. So they call the coast guards but lose the boat out of sight into the darkness of the night. In the early morning they find themselves drifting through an ocean of dead bodies. The refugee boat has sunk. Jonas and Silvia manage to pull a few survivors out of the cold water: Syrians. This rescue marks the beginning of a dramatic conflict between the hopes and dreams of the refugees, and the fears and ideals of the holiday sailors.
Bon Voyage

Pensioner Roli comes to Fareed's assistance when the Syrian refugee is faced with the burial of his Muslim wife. Together they stumble into a bewildering forest of Swiss bureaucracy to which Roli finds beautifully simple answer.
Facing Mecca

The bond between a disabled Muslim father and his son is tested when love is pitted against religion.
Ablution

Alan Clay, a struggling American businessman, travels to Saudi Arabia to sell a new technology to the King, only to be challenged by endless Middle Eastern bureaucracy, a perpetually absent monarch, and a suspicious growth on his back.
A Hologram for the King

Tucker and Hamid are going to be grandfathers for the first time, but only if they can come together long enough to save their first-born grandchild.
1st Born

A Syrian doctor attempts to escape her war-ravaged homeland with her young daughter.
Refugee

A former basketball all-star, who has lost his wife and family foundation in a struggle with addiction, attempts to regain his soul and salvation by becoming the coach of a disparate ethnically mixed high school basketball team at his alma mater.
The Way Back
Television & Series (16)

To prevent Iran from going nuclear, intelligence officer John Tavner must forgo all safety nets and assume a perilous "non-official cover" -- that of a mid-level employee at a Midwestern industrial piping firm.
Patriot

Military drama following the professional and personal lives of the most elite unit of Navy SEALs as they train, plan and execute the most dangerous, high stakes missions our country can ask of them.
SEAL Team

Criminal Minds: Beyond Borders is a drama about the specialized International Division of the FBI tasked with solving crimes and coming to the rescue of Americans who find themselves in danger while abroad.
Criminal Minds: Beyond Borders

“In the Shade of Jasmine” is a cultural and artistic Ramadan program broadcast by Al Araby 2 from Damascus. It brings together a group of intellectuals and artists to discuss social and cultural issues, with a focus on the role of creativity in rebuilding cultural identity. The program hosts prominent figures and allows young people to express their aspirations.
In the Shade of Jasmine

Mufid the monster, the naughty teenager, did not find anyone who knew how to deal with him properly, so he did not discover anyone around him and develop the good qualities that Mufid was distinguished for. The society in which he lived, starting from the harsh father at home, to the ignorant and arrogant teacher at school, to the mukhtar who punished him for cutting off the tail of Abboud's donkey... All of these were the cause of Mufid's loss and his premature end. As a result of this treatment, Mufeed could not bear to stay even for a single minute in the farm, so he ran away and decided never to return to this farm that caused him pain and persecuted him.







