# Zeeko Zaki (زيكو زكي)
**Zeeko Zaki** (زيكو زكي; born 1990) is an Egyptian-born American actor, known for playing FBI Special Agent Omar Adom "OA" Zidan on the CBS police procedural *FBI* since 2018, his first role as a series regular.[1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm4976368/) • [2](https://www.tvinsider.com/people/zeeko-zaki/) Born Zakareya Zaki in Alexandria, Egypt, he immigrated to the United States as an infant and was raised in Pennsylvania.[2](https://www.tvinsider.com/people/zeeko-zaki/) • [3](https://www.actingbiz.com/celebrities/zeeko-zaki/)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Born | 1990, Alexandria, Egypt; birth name Zakareya Zaki[1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm4976368/) • [2](https://www.tvinsider.com/people/zeeko-zaki/) |
| Signature role | Special Agent Omar Adom "OA" Zidan on *FBI* (CBS, 2018– ), 157 episodes through 2026[1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm4976368/) |
| Casting story | The role was originally written as a Latino character and was retooled as an Arab-American Muslim after Zaki's audition[4](https://time.com/5423372/zeeko-zaki-fbi/) |
| Earlier roles | Akmal Barayev in *Six* (2017, 8 episodes); Hamid in *24: Legacy* (2017, 7 episodes); Gus in *Stuck in Love.* (2012)[1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm4976368/) |
| Physical and language profile | 6 feet 5 inches tall; fluent in English and Egyptian Arabic[3](https://www.actingbiz.com/celebrities/zeeko-zaki/) • [5](https://www.harpersbazaararabia.com/culture/zeeko-zaki-on-middle-eastern-representation-in-hollywood) |
| Education | Business at Temple University, then Cape Fear Community College in Wilmington, North Carolina[2](https://www.tvinsider.com/people/zeeko-zaki/) |
## Early life and education
Zaki was born in Alexandria, Egypt, and moved to the United States as an infant with his parents, Sherif and Iman.[3](https://www.actingbiz.com/celebrities/zeeko-zaki/) • [6](https://elcinema.com/person/2134725/) He spent summers in Egypt during his childhood and speaks fluent Arabic.[3](https://www.actingbiz.com/celebrities/zeeko-zaki/) • [7](https://www.townandcountrymag.com/leisure/arts-and-culture/a23362351/zeeko-zaki-interview-new-dick-wolf-drama-fbi/) In a 2018 essay in *Time*, he recalled being in a sixth-grade social studies class in Unionville, Pennsylvania, on September 11, 2001, and being removed from campus with his cousins that day; he wrote that the attacks shaped the kinds of roles he would later be expected to play as an Arab-American actor.[4](https://time.com/5423372/zeeko-zaki-fbi/)
His interest in acting began in high school, after seeing a production of *Seussical* and noticing how much the performers enjoyed themselves and how the audience appreciated them; he then took a role in his school's production of *Beauty and the Beast* and continued performing.[2](https://www.tvinsider.com/people/zeeko-zaki/) After high school he left acting to study business at [Temple University](https://www.edgepedia.org/temple-university) in Philadelphia, but after transferring to Cape Fear Community College in [Wilmington, North Carolina](https://www.edgepedia.org/wilmington-north-carolina), he returned to performing and auditioned for a school drama. Casting director [Jackie Burch](https://www.edgepedia.org/jackie-burch) saw one performance, and after auditioning for acting coach Susan Walters, Zaki decided to pursue acting full time.[2](https://www.tvinsider.com/people/zeeko-zaki/) In his own account, he did a play in Wilmington where an agent and a casting director were in the audience, and a few days later he signed with the agent he still works with.[8](https://www.televisionacademy.com/features/news/online-originals/no-small-parts)
## Early career
Zaki built his résumé through small parts, a strategy he has described as taking every job and continuing to work while risking typecasting.[8](https://www.televisionacademy.com/features/news/online-originals/no-small-parts) He made his feature debut in the 2012 comedy *Stuck in Love.*, playing Gus alongside [Greg Kinnear](https://www.edgepedia.org/greg-kinnear) and [Jennifer Connelly](https://www.edgepedia.org/jennifer-connelly), and then worked in bit and supporting roles on series including *Homeland* and *Under the Dome* and in films such as *The Divergent Series: Allegiant* (2016).[1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm4976368/) • [2](https://www.tvinsider.com/people/zeeko-zaki/)
In 2017 he played the jihadist Akmal Barayev in eight episodes of the [History Channel](https://www.edgepedia.org/history-channel) series *Six*, a role he has described as his breakout, and appeared as Hamid in seven episodes of Fox's *24: Legacy* and as Sergeant Matt Darzi in five episodes of [The CW](https://www.edgepedia.org/the-cw)'s *Valor*, playing military figures on both sides of the war on terror.[1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm4976368/) • [2](https://www.tvinsider.com/people/zeeko-zaki/) His other credits from this period include *The Night Shift*, *NCIS: Los Angeles*, *Satisfaction*, *Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Road Chip*, and *[Escape Plan 2: Hades](https://www.edgepedia.org/escape-plan-2-hades)* (2018).[1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm4976368/) He has said that his résumé leaned "toward the terrorist side of things" before *FBI*.[9](https://www.tvinsider.com/717791/fbi-show-oa-zeeko-zaki-muslim/) He also changed his physical profile over this period, shedding about a hundred pounds over eight years, which he said widened the roles available to him.[10](https://www.assignmentx.com/2018/fbi-actor-zeeko-zaki-interview/)
## FBI and the making of OA Zidan
Zaki's path to *FBI* began with an unsolicited audition tape. His manager received a pilot script in which the character called only "OA" was not written as Arab-American or Muslim and carried no racial or ethnic description; the producers were looking for a Latino actor but had not restricted submissions to Latino performers. Zaki taped himself and sent it in, learning only at the call-back stage that his tape had been unsolicited.[4](https://time.com/5423372/zeeko-zaki-fbi/) At the follow-up audition, creator [Dick Wolf](https://www.edgepedia.org/dick-wolf) and the show's full creative team workshopped the material with him for almost an hour, and learned about his background as an Egyptian-born immigrant who spoke the country's dialect and had spent childhood summers in the Middle East.[4](https://time.com/5423372/zeeko-zaki-fbi/)
By the screen test, the character had been rewritten: OA was no longer Latino, the initials now stood for Omar Adom, and the dialogue included lines of [Egyptian Arabic](https://www.edgepedia.org/egyptian-arabic) and references to a grandfather in Egypt.[4](https://time.com/5423372/zeeko-zaki-fbi/) Zaki said he was the only Arab actor at the audition and that the production "switched up the script and took a chance on me"; Wolf said the role was retooled for him because "he owned it in the auditions," noting that the real FBI employs Muslim agents who speak Arabic.[11](https://www.tvline.com/2198974/fbi-star-audition-made-creator-dick-wolf-change-character-zeeko-zaki/) • [12](https://www.tvinsider.com/731659/fbi-season-1-dick-wolf-missy-peregrym-zeeko-zaki/)
*FBI* premiered on CBS in 2018, with Zaki co-leading alongside [Missy Peregrym](https://www.edgepedia.org/missy-peregrym) as agent Maggie Bell.[13](https://globalnews.ca/news/4478788/zeeko-zaki-fbi-interview/) The character is a former [Drug Enforcement Administration](https://www.edgepedia.org/drug-enforcement-administration) undercover operator who joins the [Federal Bureau of Investigation](https://www.edgepedia.org/federal-bureau-of-investigation).[2](https://www.tvinsider.com/people/zeeko-zaki/) Zaki prepared by watching documentaries, including Wolf's *Inside the FBI: New York*, and by meeting with real FBI agents.[14](https://www.wingmanmagazine.com/zeeko-zaki/) The series has continued with Zaki in the role, reaching its ninth season, and he has reprised OA in the spin-offs *FBI: Most Wanted* and *FBI: International*.[15](https://www.paramountpressexpress.com/cbs-entertainment/shows/fbi/talent/?view=zeeko-zaki) • [1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm4976368/) His other work during the run includes voicing Ra the Sun God in the animated *Night at the Museum: Kahmunrah Rises Again* (2022).[1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm4976368/)
## Representation on television
His casting has been called a landmark for Arab and Muslim visibility on American television: according to one trade profile, no Egyptian-born actor had previously fronted a major US television series, and he is likely the first Arab-American Muslim to portray an Arab-American Muslim hero on a network crime procedural.[16](https://images.tvbizz.net/magazine/TVBIZZMagazine-MIPCOM-Oct2023-web.pdf) Zaki himself has framed the role in those terms, saying in 2019 that he could "not believe" he was one of the first protagonist Arab Muslims on American television.[17](https://www.cbsnews.com/texas/news/zeeko-zaki-cbs-fbi-dick-wolf-interview/)
In his *Time* essay he described the constraint he had faced as a six-foot-five Arab-American actor, auditioning for more terrorist roles than he could recall, and argued that protagonists had been written primarily as white, straight, cisgender men; he called for more diverse writers and for productions to leave a protagonist's profile open at the start of development.[4](https://time.com/5423372/zeeko-zaki-fbi/) CBS's press materials note that his own background was worked into the character, and that he advocates for changing the narrative of Arab and Muslim representation in television through the role.[15](https://www.paramountpressexpress.com/cbs-entertainment/shows/fbi/talent/?view=zeeko-zaki)
## References
1. [Zeeko Zaki, IMDb](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm4976368/)
2. [Zeeko Zaki, TV Insider](https://www.tvinsider.com/people/zeeko-zaki/)
3. [Zeeko Zaki biography, ActingBiz](https://www.actingbiz.com/celebrities/zeeko-zaki/)
4. [I'm a Muslim American and I Play the Hero in a TV Show, Time (October 16, 2018)](https://time.com/5423372/zeeko-zaki-fbi/)
5. [Zeeko Zaki On Middle Eastern Representation In Hollywood, Harper's Bazaar Arabia (October 30, 2018)](https://www.harpersbazaararabia.com/culture/zeeko-zaki-on-middle-eastern-representation-in-hollywood)
6. [زيكو زكي, ElCinema](https://elcinema.com/person/2134725/)
7. [Actor Zeeko Zaki Is Ready to Change the Narrative of Arab Men on the Small Screen, Town & Country (September 25, 2018)](https://www.townandcountrymag.com/leisure/arts-and-culture/a23362351/zeeko-zaki-interview-new-dick-wolf-drama-fbi/)
8. [No Small Parts, Television Academy (January 17, 2019)](https://www.televisionacademy.com/features/news/online-originals/no-small-parts)
9. ['FBI' Star Zeeko Zaki on the Importance of Playing an Arab-American Protagonist, TV Insider (October 2, 2018)](https://www.tvinsider.com/717791/fbi-show-oa-zeeko-zaki-muslim/)
10. [FBI: Actor Zeeko Zaki talks Season One of the CBS Series, Assignment X (2018)](https://www.assignmentx.com/2018/fbi-actor-zeeko-zaki-interview/)
11. [The FBI Audition That Made Series Creator Dick Wolf Change The Character To Fit The Actor, TVLine (June 27, 2026)](https://www.tvline.com/2198974/fbi-star-audition-made-creator-dick-wolf-change-character-zeeko-zaki/)
12. ['FBI's Dick Wolf on Casting Missy Peregrym & Zeeko Zaki, TV Insider (November 21, 2018)](https://www.tvinsider.com/731659/fbi-season-1-dick-wolf-missy-peregrym-zeeko-zaki/)
13. [Zeeko Zaki on co-leading explosive new TV series 'FBI', Global News (2018)](https://globalnews.ca/news/4478788/zeeko-zaki-fbi-interview/)
14. ["FBI" Star ZEEKO ZAKI Gives Us A New Hero Worthy Of Looking Up To, Wingman Magazine (November 19, 2018)](https://www.wingmanmagazine.com/zeeko-zaki/)
15. [FBI Talent: Zeeko Zaki, Paramount Press Express](https://www.paramountpressexpress.com/cbs-entertainment/shows/fbi/talent/?view=zeeko-zaki)
16. [TVBIZZ Magazine, MIPCOM October 2023](https://images.tvbizz.net/magazine/TVBIZZMagazine-MIPCOM-Oct2023-web.pdf)
17. ['I Can't Believe I Get To Be One Of The First Protagonist Arab Muslims', CBS Texas (September 16, 2019)](https://www.cbsnews.com/texas/news/zeeko-zaki-cbs-fbi-dick-wolf-interview/)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Screen and stage › Film and television › Screen people and creators › Screen actors of the Anglosphere and Europe › American actors: 2000s onward › Surnames X to Z*
*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Sep 17, 2026; Sep 18, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Sep 18, 2026; Oct 12, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*
*Copyright 2026 EdgeChat AI, a subsidiary of Biostate AI.*
License: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license