Zeeko Zaki, who was born in Egypt but grew up in West Chester, had a unique opportunity to reshape public opinion on his race. He got that platform, thanks to his role on FBI, a popular show on CBS, writes Gaone Pule for AmoMama.com.

Through his role as Omar Adom Zidan, the Unionville High School graduate hopes to change “the narrative for Arab-Americans and to help create a platform and a voice.”

He continued: “I have a lot of Arab-American actor friends, and everyone is sick and tired of playing terrorists and crying mothers.”

Before getting his breakout role on FBI, he appeared in recurring roles in Six, 24: Legacy, and Valor.

Zaki’s role on FBI was originally written for a Latino detective. But his agent slipped him the script for the show and told him to tape himself. Soon, he was invited to the office of the show’s creator.

“They were very interested in me being just me,” he said. “I came in so dark … and they were like, ‘Nah … stop. We want America to have a beer with this guy. Bring a little fun into it.’”

Zaki speaks fluent Arabic and visits Egypt frequently.

Read more about Zeeko Zaki at AmoMama.com.

Zeeko Zaki talks about the CBS series FBI in a preview interview from two years ago.