Hiam Abbass also Hiyam Abbas, is a Palestinian actress and film director. Abbass was born in Nazareth, Israel, to a Muslim Arab family. She was raised in the village of Deir Hanna. Since the late 1980s, she has lived in Paris and holds French citizenship. During the filming of the Steven Spielberg film Munich (2005), Abbass lived in a hotel with the Palestinian Arab and Israeli actors for three months. During that time, they had many discussions that "helped both sides grow closer". In an interview in 2006, Abbass said, "I still remember how difficult it was for the Arab actors to manhandle the Israeli actors in the first scene where the Israeli national team is taken hostage".
Abbass is known for her roles in Haifa (1996), Red Satin (2002), The Syrian Bride (2004), Paradise Now (2005), Free Zone (2005), Dawn of the World (2008), The Visitor (2008), Lemon Tree (2008), Every Day is a Holiday (2009), and Amreeka (2009).
In 2017 she played Freysa, the head of the replicant freedom movement, in Blade Runner 2049.
Abbass has also acted in four TV shows: The Promise (2011), The State (2017), Succession (2018-present), and Ramy (2019-present).
