Hamza Haq

Named one of Canada’s Rising Stars by The Hollywood Reporter in 2017, Hamza Haq stars as Bashir ‘Bash’ Hamed in the acclaimed CTV/NBC medical drama Transplant, for which he has been recognized with three consecutive Canadian Screen Awards for Best Lead Actor in a Drama Series in 2021, 2022 and 2023. The series centres around an ER doctor who fled his native Syria to come to Canada where he must overcome numerous obstacles to resume a career in the high stakes world of emergency medicine.

In 2018, Hamza appeared alongside William Shatner and Russell Peters as twins Amal and Gopal in the CTV mini-series Indian Detective, and earned critical acclaim as Raza Ali in the CBC drama This Life, for which he earned a 2018 Canadian Screen Award Nomination for Best Guest Performance. He will appear in the upcoming Saudi Arabian series Ruining Eid (working title) for Netflix.

Additional television credits include Quantico, Designated Survivor, The Bold Type, Being Human and Best Laid Plans. He hosted two seasons of the International Emmy Award nominated children’s series Look Kool and plays Jassie the CBC Gem digital original drama The 410.

On the big screen, Hamza appeared opposite Margaret Qualley in the My Salinger Year, which opened the 70th Berlin International Film Festival in February 2020, and played a supporting role in the French Canadian feature Viking which premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival in 2022. He will appear next in the in the Canadian independent feature films With Love and a Major Organ which screened at SXSW in 2023, and will have its Canadian premiere at Montreal’s Fantasia Film Festival in Montreal in July, as well as Queen of My Dreams set to be released later this year.

Additional film credits include Bon Cop, Bad Cop 2 with Colm Feore, The Death and Life of John F. Donovan directed by Xavier Dolan and Darren Aronofsky’s Mother!

Hamza is a 2020 recipient of RBC’s top 25 Canadian Immigrants Award and recently partnered with the Canada Media Fund’s Made | Nous campaign as ambassador to celebrate Islamic History Month. He spoke at the 2021 TEDxTORONTO Fall digital event series ‘Uncharted’ using his public platform to speak on issues important to him, including refugees’ rights, racial injustice, and combating stereotypes; and was honoured as Playback’s Breakout Star of the Year.

Raised in Ottawa, Hamza is youngest of four siblings born in Saudi Arabia to Pakistani parents and has called Canada home since the age of nine. He holds a Bachelor of Arts in Film Studies with a minor in Law from Carleton University.