The story
Thirty years of work before the part.
01
Beginnings
Born in Manhattan, July 1, 1974. His father from Cairo, of Syro-Lebanese descent. His mother raised on a farm outside Galway. Baptized Orthodox. Later received into the Catholic Church.
02
School of Visual Arts
Film degree. Drumming for a friend's rock band on the side. The band recorded an album and lined up a tour, then the label went bankrupt. He moved to Los Angeles to try the other side of the camera.
03
Ten years of small parts
Location scouting on Spider-Man, National Treasure, I Am Legend. Small roles on The Good Wife, As the World Turns, Castle. Voice work for Celebrity Deathmatch. Government assistance to cover the gap.
04
May 2018
Twenty dollars in his wallet. Thirty in the bank. Rent due. Three weeks since the last gig. He walked outside, surrendered the career out loud, and went to breakfast on what was left. Came home to royalty checks from shows he had not been paid for in years.
05
The Chosen
He had already shot the 2017 pilot. Two months after that breakfast, the full series came together. Seven seasons in, the show is the largest crowd-funded entertainment project ever made and one of the most watched series in the world.
200M+
viewers of The Chosen worldwide
50K
in the room, National Eucharistic Congress 2024
Two
papal audiences
1M
Unbound's millionth child
