Biography

Fahim Fazli is a multifaceted talent, renowned for his contributions as an actor, author, and combat interpreter for the U.S. Marines. Born in Kabul, Afghanistan, Fazli saw his personal journey span continents as it reflected a life shaped by resilience and artistic passion. His acting credits include appearances in notable films such as Superman,Iron Man, Argo, American Sniper, and 12 Strong, as weathered and distinguished looking man the first Afghan born American actor in Hollywood, showcasing his versatility and depth as a performer. Beyond the silver screen, Fazli is also celebrated for his memoir, FAHIM SPEAKS: A Warrior-Actor's Odyssey from Afghanistan to Hollywood and Back, which offers a poignant narrative of his experiences bridging cultures and navigating the cultural complexities of international conflict. His critically acclaimed biography won a Gold Medal from the Military Writers Society of America. With his compelling blend of artistry, advocacy, and optimism, Fazli continues to inspire audiences worldwide, embodying the power of storytelling to transcend borders and remind people everywhere of our shared humanity. ---------------------------------------------------------------- "Afghanistan is a complicated place,' says Fahim Fazli, and he knows. Born in that enigmatic nation when it was at peace, coming of age as it became a land of terror, and even helping Hollywood recreate the years of war against the USSR, he has a story told in the languages of his origin yet understood by the ears of the Western World. As both history and memoir, when Fahim Fazli speaks we are fascinated." -Tom Hanks, Actor, Writer, Director --------------------------------------------------------------- "Imagine a boy named Fahim Fazli, born in the calm before the storm in Kabul, Afghanistan-a land filled with tradition, color, and complexity. His early childhood was full of joy, kite flying, and family rituals. But soon, the skies darkened with helicopters and the echo of Soviet gunfire. His world shifted from innocence to oppression. Fahim's mother, a strong midwife serving the family of a powerful Afghan president, fled first-escaping threats of assassination. Fahim, his younger brother, and their father stayed behind, watching as their home transformed into a police state under Soviet rule. His mother's absence haunted him. He was branded a traitor's son. His slingshot and fierce will became tools of resistance against foreign tanks. Eventually, his father made a choice: flee or lose everything. Their escape in 1983 was harrowing-through enemy checkpoints, mountains, and shadows of death. A cousin in the secret police almost recognized Fahim on the bus that was supposed to deliver them to freedom. By sheer luck or divine grace, he didn't. Fahim Fazli was just 16. In Pakistan's refugee camps, Fahim battled the trauma of exile, separation from family, and the struggle of starting over. But America opened its doors. There, he became a, flipped burgers, sold shoes, and pumped gas finally-against all odds-a Hollywood actor. Still, fame wasn't enough. Driven by love for both his homelands, Fahim put on a Marine Corps uniform and returned to war-torn Afghanistan-not as a fighter, but as a bridge between worlds, serving as an interpreter in the deadliest regions. In those dusty valleys, he earned trust, carried pain, and helped save lives. The Taliban hated him for his influence. The Marines respected him for his courage. His journey came full circle when he stood where he once fled, now translating for peace in the language of war. In 2024, Fahim reflects: "That little Ukrainian boy crying near the border-I was him." His story is not just about escaping tyranny or chasing dreams. It's about breaking cycles of violence, healing the wounds of separation, and honoring a mother's sacrifice and a father's flawed bravery. "Fahim Speaks" isn't just a memoir. It's a powerful anthem for refugees, warriors, artists, and anyone who's ever lost a home but found a voice. by: This is Chronicles of Spirit. Follow for more stories of those who fled the fire-and still walked back in to carry others out."

- IMDb mini biography by: Manager

Afghan born Hollywood actor goes to war: Story of 'warrior-actor' Fahim Fazli

Actor and author Fahim Fazli visited ASU this week to speak to students, offer advice and show them no matter where they come from or what problems life throws at them, dreams can be achieved, which he writes about in his book "Fahim Speaks." Fazli has starred in more than 50 films, working with the likes of Tom Hanks, Julia Roberts, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Bill Murray, Louis C.K. and Robert Downey Jr., but before his acting career, a struggle to get to America began in his childhood home. Child in a warzone In the 1970s, communists took over Afghanistan and reshaped Fazli's life. "In 1979, the communists came to my country and took over Afghanistan in 24 hours," he said. "I was 12 years old, and I didn't know about communism until after the first six months, they killed a million of us." The Soviet Union's invasion had an immediate impact on Fazli's family because his mother worked as a midwife in the Afghan government. "My mom, her name is Fahima, came home from work, and I saw tears in her eyes and she said, 'Fahim, we are leaving but you are not. Your dad wants to hold you and your brother,'" Fazli said. "I asked her what was wrong, and she said the communists will kill us if we don't leave in 24 hours. My dad was stubborn, and he said my brother and I were staying." This was the last time Fazli would see his mother and sisters for four long years. "We went into the house, and I looked at my dad and asked why we didn't go," Fazli said. "He said, 'Shut up and sit down.' He did it because he believed we would beat the Russians in a month or two, but it took us 10 years." After Fazli's mother left, he had to return to school the next day but lost interest in his studies in the seventh grade. "I skipped school, and I saw the tanks passing by everywhere, so I made a flier, a propaganda flier was given to us by the CIA who was helping us defeat the communists," Fazli said. "I would get up at two o'clockin the morning, hiding from my dad and run through the city handing out fliers to put the fears onto the Russians." After spreading fliers given to him by operatives working for the CIA, Fazli and his friends tried to find other ways to defeat the communists. "I would play double agent and go to their base to trade American T-shirts or Kent cigarettes for guns," he said. "They were so into American logos because they had never seen them before. I would trade them and then sell the guns to the freedom fighters who were connected to Pakistan and they were connected to CIA." With the money from the gun sales, Fazli and his friends would buy kites and playing "double agent" made him want to one day become an actor, but before this dream as a child could come true a longer struggle was about to take place. "One day, my principal called my dad and told him they had to send me to a communist camp in Siberia and my dad made a decision that it wouldn't be a good idea for his son to go to Siberia to get brainwashed by the communists," Fazli said. Coming to America One morning, soon after the phone call from the principal, Fazli's father woke him up at 5 a.m. and told him they were leaving. "Me and my brother got in a jingle truck with my dad driving toward Pakistan and halfway there we stopped at a checkpoint and my cousin was there, a communist, so I put my head down and he eventually let us go through," Fazli said. "We then walked seven days and seven nights through the mountains hiding from the helicopters flying over. We finally arrived in Pakistan to a refugee camp." Arriving at the refugee camp and meeting the Marines was the first step in a four-year journey to find his mother, Fazli said. "I told the Marine translating for us I wanted to find my mother and the Marine said come back in four days," he said. "So we came back and the Marines were smiling at us. They said we found your mother after four years of not seeing each other and no letters. She was living in Charlottesville, Virginia." Fazli got on the phone and called his mother in Virginia but the response from the other end of the line was not one of welcoming or excitement, but one of confusion. "My mom got on the phone and she asked who it was and 'I said this is Fahim,'" he said. "She said, 'What are you talking about? My son is dead. The communists killed him.' I said, 'It's me, Mom, my voice has changed. I've become a man.' After long struggling to convince her, she believed me." Fazli's aunt, who was in the U.S., had told his mother he and his brothers were dead and that his father had married another woman. This made Fazli's mother deal with the grief and begin to move on with her life. After two years in the refugee camp, Fazli and his family were allowed to come to the U.S. and received their green cards and passports at the airport upon arrival at Washington Dulles airport American Life Arriving in the U.S. provided more challenges for Fazli, but his dream to become an actor was still in his heart. "I always ask myself six questions," he said. "Who am I? Who do I want to be? Where do I want to be? What is my dream? What is my passion and what is my hobby?" These questions led Fazli to try to sign up for the Marines but after receiving a five-page test, which he failed, he had to change direction which led to him pursuing his dream of becoming an actor. "After failing the test, I asked myself the questions again and went to work as an actor but couldn't get my (Screen Actors Guild) card because I couldn't get a speaking part," he said. In 2006, Fazli began working as a technical advisor coaching Tom Hanks, Julia Roberts and Philip Seymour Hoffman. Soon after, Fazli began getting parts in other movies and television shows as an actor, voice-over artist and consultant but the parts were typecasts as a terrorist for the most part. "As a terrorist, the reason I do that, I know those guys hijacked the religion, and I want to introduce them in the movie how evil they are," Fazli said. "You saw me get emotional; I have a heart and love my mom and stuff, and I don't mind if I get typed as a terrorists for the rest of my life, and I will always want to show how they hijacked the religion. The religions aren't bad. These people hijacked the religion and are the boogeyman." Working in film and television has led to an illustrious career allowing Fazli to work along side such people as Bradley Cooper and Clint Eastwood in "American Sniper," Ben Affleck in "Argo," Tom Hanks in "Charlie Wilson's War," Louis C.K. in "Louie" and Bill Murray in the upcoming film "Rock the Kasbah." After working on films with award winning actors, Fazli's focus shifted back to his home country and he decided he wanted to do something to help. Back to War In 2009, Fazli decided he wanted to pursue his dream of being a Marine and took a test to become a translator for the Department of Defense. This time he passed and was shipped of to Afghanistan where he helped Marines and locals communicate. "Both America and Afghanistan have given me so much," Fazli said. "Afghanistan is my birth country and America is my adopted country, and I wanted to pay my dues for this passport." After arriving in Afghanistan , Fazli began working with local tribes and Marines to open up communication and ease tensions in the area, which had an impact on ASU professor Mark von Hagen. "What I really liked best was the story he told of how he had to explain to the Afghans that the Marines weren't Russians," he said. "He didn't do that by words but by pulling out a cross to show them they weren't communists and he did that instinctively and translated that so fast." Fazli said multiple lives were saved due to his ability to talk and translate between the tribal leaders and Marines and he is proud that no one, either Marine or civilian, were killed during his time in the region. ASU student and retired Cpl. John Luebke said Fazli's ability to stop conflicts and bring people together made him a role model amongst his peers. "We all looked up to him," he said. "I had just turned 20 years old and it was my first deployment and had no idea what war was going to be like until I was in it. We had to learn to respect their customs, so if we didn't have that guidance from Fahim, it would have been a lot different." Retired Lt. Col. Michael Moffett, co-author of "Fahim Speaks," said his time with Fazli in Afghanistan began a lifelong friendship and he is proud to have helped Fazli achieve his dream. "I think I helped him to have an opportunity to chase a dream, writing a book, and I think I helped him realize that dream," he said. "My dream has also been to write a book and make a difference so I think we both helped each other realize dreams that otherwise wouldn't have happened." The next 50 years Fazli's message to students at ASU this week has been seek out your dreams and go for them and if he can come to America and make his dreams come true then anyone can. "I want to send a good message as an Afghan-American," he said. "If I can do it, they can do it. My advice to Americans is to not take advantage of this great country. I grew up in a war zone twice. Two empires fought in Afghanistan, Russian and American, and I want Americans to appreciate every second of their lives in this country. Don't look at the past, think about the future. A ninth-grade-educated Afghan became an actor, became an author; you can do it, too.

- IMDb mini biography by: Joey Hancock