Amira El Sayed

Amira El Sayed is an Austrian actress and author based in Vienna, Austria.

Amira El Sayed was born on the 3 June 1991 in Innsbruck, Austria. She is the only child of Erika El Sayed, an Austrian language and history teacher and Adel El Sayed, a university teacher and political scientist from Egypt. Amira was raised bilingual and is a native speaker of both Arabic and German. She spent her early years living in Alexandria, Egypt before she moved back to Innsbruck with her parents.

At the age of 16 Amira moved to Vienna where she later studied acting at the renowned Max Reinhardt Seminar. Amongst others she was taught by Klaus Maria Brandauer. She left University in the first year to play a part in Paul Schrader’s The Cleopatra Club, a theatre play directed by Rupert Henning, where she was discovered by her first agent.

Her first international film was 2016's A Hologram for the King, starring Tom Hanks and directed by Tom Tykwer. In 2017, she went on to appear in the Swiss television series Wilder (SRF) and the Norddeutscher Rundfunk film Der Richter (director Markus Imboden). Her most recent work involves roles in Ransom in 2018, Deutschland 86 in 2018, Riviera (TV series) in 2019, Hanna (TV series) in 2021 and the HBO MAX Spy/Master in 2023

Amira El Sayed is also the author of the book, titled Klang der Freiheit (The Sound of Freedom) which was published in 2013 by the Austrian publishing house Letter P. She currently lives in Vienna, Austria.

Filmography

Year Title Role 2013 2013 Die Verbotene Frau Daima 2013 Paul Kemp – Alles kein Problem Frauke 2013 Paul Kemp – Alles kein Problem Frauke 2014 Schleierhaft (short) Mother 2015 Vier Frauen und ein Todesfall Nasreen Naguib 2015 Brittany Mystery Lilou Breval 2015 Großstadtrevier 2016 Hotel Rock’n’Roll Glory 2016 A Hologram for the King Maha 2016 Vienna Crime Squad Leyla Allawi 2017 2017 Der Richter 2017 Wilder Amina Al-Baroudi 2018 Das Institut – Oase des Scheiterns 2018 Ransom Sofia Cardenas 2018 Deutschland 86 Samira 2019 Riviera (TV series) Salma 2021 Hanna (TV series) Anne 2022 Spy/Master (HBO) Safiya (main cast)

Publications Klang der Freiheit, Letter P, Vienna 2013, ISBN 978-3-9503168-4-1