Born in Scotland and raised in England as the son of Egyptian parents, actor Khalid Abdalla drew from his own familial lineage to tackle Middle Eastern roles in Hollywood productions, but made a conscious and aggressive attempt to cut against the grain of associated onscreen stereotypes. He later expressed an understandable reluctance to take his first part when it was offered to him -- that of Ziad Jarrah, the Lebanese hijacker responsible for the takeover of United Flight 93 on September 11th -- in Paul Greengrass' docudrama United 93, but a tête-à-tête with maverick director Greengrass (who had no interest in perpetuating stereotypes or prejudices, but instead sought to capture the human side of each character presented) immediately changed Abdalla's opinion. Indeed, the actor received widespread critical kudos for his work in that acclaimed production. He followed it up with the lead in an equally promising film -- director Marc Forster's much-anticipated Khaled Hosseini adaptation The Kite Runner (2007), about a life-changing friendship that blossoms between two Afghani young men.