15 Celebrities Who Have Arab Roots in 2024

15 Celebrities with Arab roots for 2024

• Salma Hayek – Lebanese
• The Hadid Sisters – Palestinian
• Jenna Dewan – Lebanese
• Shakira- Lebanese
• Amal Clooney – Lebanese, Jordanian, Palestinian
• Huda Kattan – Iraqian
• Zoe Saldana – Lebanese
• Paula Abdul – Syrian
• Shannon Elizabeth – Lebanese
• DJ Khaled – Palestinian
• Rami Malek – Egyptian
• Teri Hatcher – Syrian
• Mika – Lebanese
• Wentworth Miller – Lebanese
• Steve Jobs – Syrian

The world of Hollywood and famous celebrities is no stranger to intercultural and interracial individuals. From Asian to Hispanic, African American, and Hawaiian, many of these celebrities even have Arab roots. It might seem like there are not a lot of Arab celebrities to come by, but believe it or not, many major celebrities and icons hail from Arabic descent. They have also set a huge mark and made the Arab nations proud with their achievements and goodwill. So without further adieu, let’s look into a few of them.

The curiosity to know Arabic celebrities who have made their mark in Hollywood is surreal, especially with Arabic roots.

Salma Hayek

 

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Even with starting her entire career in telenovelas and being widely known to be of Mexican American descent, Salma is half-Lebanese. Sami Hayek Domínguez’s father comes from Baabdat, Lebanon, who then settled in Mexico with the family. Salma is widely known for her action-packed Hollywood appearances in movies like Bandidas, After the Sunset, The Hitman’s bodyguard, Grown Ups 1 & 2 and not to forget her show-stopping appearance as “Ajak ” in the Marvel film Eternals. She has also lent her voice to animated hits like Puss In Boots and the Sausage Party. Along with being an actor, she also produced Khalil Gibran’s The Prophet and visited Lebanon for its promotions.

The Hadid Sisters

 

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If beauty struck the earth, it definitely went in the way of the Hadid family. The television personality and supermodel sisters Gigi Hadid and Bella Hadid, widely known as the top American supermodels, have Arab roots in Palestine and Jordan on their father’s side.

Born in California, Gigi has been in the modeling industry since she was a kid, starting with Baby Guess now, she is 1 of the top 10 highest-paid models and has appeared on the Vogue magazine covers over 35 times in just 4 years. Her younger sister Bella was voted model of the year in 2016 and has over 26 appearances on Vogue covers. The sisters are also the face of leading luxury brands like Balmain, Dior, Guess & Maybelline.

Jenna Dewan

 

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Jenna Lee Dewan, the stunning actor and dancer who made her debut in the 2006 Step Up film as Nora Clark. She is of mixed race and has Arab roots through her father, as he is part Lebanese and part Polish. Her early career started off as her being a backup dancer for Janet Jackson. She later worked with Christina Aguilera, Missy Elliot and even Pink.

Shakira

 

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It might come off as a shock to you, but the “Hips Don’t Lie” sensation Shakira, who is also proclaimed as the Queen of Latin  Music, is also part Arab! She is part Colombian and part Lebanese. As a kid, she loved writing poetry and even asked her parents for a typewriter on her 7th birthday to pursue her dream of writing.

When she was four, her dad took her to a middle eastern restaurant where she heard the toe-tapping Doumbek ( a traditional middle eastern drum, often played when belly dancing) and fell in love with the music and started dancing on the table. Now you know where she got her iconic moves from!

Amal Clooney

Amal Clooney is the wife of the famous actor, producer and multiple award-winning actor George Clooney. She is a British and Lebanese barrister born in Lebanon but left with her family to Britain during the Lebanese Civil War. Her father is Lebanese, and her mother is part Palestinian-Jordanian and part Tunisian.

She is the co-president and co-founder of the Clooney Foundation For Justice. She has a top-rank set of clients, including Mohamed Nasheed – President of the Maldives; Julian Assange-Founder of WikiLeaks; and Yulia Tymoshenko – Prime Minister Of Ukraine. Once when asked what her name means, she said, “ My name means “hope” in Arabic, and I was born when there was a war in Lebanon.

Huda Kattan

 

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If you are a makeup fanatic, you might have heard about “Huda Beauty”! Huda Kattan, an Oklahoma-born entrepreneur, beauty blogger, makeup artist and the proud owner of the most sought-after makeup brand, hails from Iraq.

This Arabic celebrity makeup artist started her early career in Dubai as a teacher and then worked at Revlon as a makeup artist. She slowly started a blog, “ Huda Beauty,” dedicated to makeup, where she would share tips and tricks, which then became the name of her makeup line.

Zoe Saldana

Although born to a Puerto Rican mom and a Dominican dad in New Jersey, Zoe Saldana is also part Lebanese. She is a trained dancer and has significant roles in some of the highest-grossed films of all time, like Avengers, Avengers: Infinity War, Avatar and Avatar: The Way Of Water.

Zoe has also appeared in well-known science fiction movies like Star Trek, Guardians of the galaxy and Netflix series like The Adam Project. As of this year, she is the second highest-grossing actress, with her movies crossing over $13 Billion worldwide.

Paula Abdul

 

 

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Celebrity Tv artist, actress, singer, dancer and choreographer Paula Abdul was born in California with Syrian roots. The female Arab celebrity’s father was born in Aleppo, Syria, brought up in Brazil, and later migrated to the states.

Her career started off as a choreographer for the Jacksons, and she made her first debut album, “Forever Your Girl,” which went onto history as the most successful debut album to reach the top 200 in billboards.

Shannon Elizabeth

 

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Remember the teen idol who swept our hearts during the ’90s who swept many hearts with her roles in most-watched films like The American Pie, Love Actually, Scary Movie & Tomcats and Cursed?

You guessed it right! Shannon Elizabeth, born and brought up in Houston, Texas, also falls into this middle eastern celebs category. While her mom is a mixture of German, Irish and English, her dad comes from Lebanon, making her part Lebanese.

DJ Khaled

DJ Khaled is on top of the charts when it comes to “famous Arab celebrities”! Khaled Mohammed Khaled is a record producer, rapper, record executive and an American DJ. He and his actor sibling Alec Ledd were born in New Orleans, Louisiana, to musician parents from Palestine. He had worked with many renowned artists before their breakthroughs, like Mavado, Birdman and Lil Wayne.

After his Radio DJ gig, he collaborated with several artists to create viral music. He founded his very own record label, “We The Best Music Group” which was certified gold, ranked top 200 on the Billboards and earned him a Grammy nomination.

Rami Malek

Rami Malek, who played the role of “Queen” in the bio movie of Freddie Mercury, is a very well-known Arab American Celebrity. His parents are Egyptian Immigrants, and he is the first ever Egyptian actor to win “The Best Actor” in the academy awards.

He was also named one of the world’s top 100 most influential people in Time magazine. From performing plays at local theaters, Malek slowly gained the audience’s praises with his roles in The Little Things, No Time To Die, Night At The Museum Trilogy and The Pacific.

Teri Hatcher

 

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Popularly known for her appearance as Louis Lane on the television series “The Adventures Of Superman”, Teri Hatcher, the American actor, also has Arab roots. Apart from being associated with Welsh, Irish, English and Czech roots, Teri’s mom is also half-Syrian.

Her career started off as Cheerleader for the NFL, and turned into an acting career with her debut in the Tv series “ The Love Boat.” She then made her breakthrough with a comprehensive list of movies like Tomorrow Never Dies, Spy Kids and 2 Days In The Valley.

Mika

 

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Born and raised in Paris, London, the popular songwriter and singer Micheal Holbrok Penniman Jr., aka Mika, hails from Beirut, Lebanon. His 1st debut recording, Dodgy Holiday, earned him the number one predicted breakthrough award at the Sound of 2007 (BBC Poll Of Music).

He then aced the UK Singles Chart, moving to selling additional platinum studio albums and landing on the judging panel at the Italian X Factor and the French Voice.

Wentworth Miller

The British American actor Wentworth Earl Miller, who rose to fame with his role in Prison Break, comes of Lebanese descent. He was nominated for the Golden Globe Award for best actor and debuted as a screenwriter in the thriller film – Stoker. He starred as Captain Cold in the CW series – The Flash.

Steve Jobs

Although not a celebrity, this famous person had to be on this list! Shook right? Steve Jobs, or in other words, the CEO, Co-founder and Chairman of the multi-billion company, Apple, was born in a Syrian Muslim Household.

He was adopted right after he was born by an American couple. Apart from creating the PC revolution and creating a luxe hand gadget line,  he is also a member of The Walt Disney Company Board Of Directors and the CEO, Chairman and Founder of NeXT.

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