5 Middle Eastern actresses starring in hit American series

Alia Shawkat is an American actress and producer with roots stretching from Iraq to Ireland.  

She's amassed many awards for her roles in American series, such as the Golden Derby Award for Arrested Development and the Gracie Allen Award for Search Party. 

The rising star has recently earned an 'outstanding performance' review for her role in Paint It Black (2016). 

Born in the UK to Iranian parents,  Afsaneh Dehrouyeh is an actress, writer, and the producer of two movies, Only Human and Silent Burden.

She is currently part of a U.S. political drama series, Tyrant, as well as Islamophobia-challenging British movie, Freesia.

She has been described by The Edge as an actress "on the verge of big things."

Yasmine Al Massri was born in Lebanon to Palestinian and Egyptian refugee parents during the country's civil war. 

She made her debut in Lebanese director Nadine Labaki's movie, Caramel (2007,) which earned her a Best Performance by an Actress in the Asia Pacific Screen Awards nomination.  

She's well known for her role as Muslim FBI twin agents, Nimah and Raina Amin, in popular TV series, Quantico.

Egyptian actress Basma Hassan is well known among cinema lovers in the Arab world and is now going international thanks to her role as Sophia in Tyrant.  

She's made appearances in many Egyptian movies such as Sheikh Jackson, Messages from the Sea, and Morgan Ahmed Morgan to name a few. 

Iranian actress Nazanin Boniadi  is better known for her role as CIA analyst Fara Sherazi in the crime and mystery series, Homeland. 

She's also appeared in the popular sitcom How I Met Your Mother and TV series Scandal. 

Bonaidi will star as Claire in the upcoming Sci-Fi thriller, Counterpart (2018).