A UKRAINIAN ORPHAN AND AN AFGHAN-AMERICAN ACTOR
by Mike Moffett
Young Fahim Fazli and the young Ukrainian
Veteran Hollywood actor
Fahim Fazli knows how to cry in front of a camera, but the tears he recently shed
in front of his television set were real.
Fazli was watching video
of a Ukrainian boy bawling his eyes out as this victim of Russian aggression crossed
the border alone into Poland. The young lad was now a refugee, not knowing if
or when he’d ever return home. The poignancy of the moment struck a chord with
Fazli, as earlier Russian aggression had once turned him into a
refugee. Hence the authentic tears.
Fazli was 12 when the
Soviet Union invaded his native Afghanistan in 1979. His mother was a mid-wife
for Afghan President Haffizullah Amin. After Amin was murdered by the Russians,
Fazli’s mother Fahima was alerted that she was on a Communist hit-list. With no
time to lose, Fahima fled the Afghan capital of Kabul, along with Fazli’s two
sisters, Almara and Mina, and a brother, Suhail. Fahim stayed behind with his
father Jamil and another brother, Hares, hoping to also escape later.
Sadly, it would be years
before Fahim learned of his mother’s fate. In the meantime, he, his dad, and his
brother adapted to the Soviet occupation.
“But we didn’t call them
Soviets,” recalled Fazli. “We just called them Russians.”
Young Fahim engaged the
Russian soldiers and even learned some Russian, all the better to eventually
counter the occupiers. His linguistic gifts would later serve him well.
By 1983 the time came
for Fahim, Jamil and Hares to escape as well. A Russian noose was tightening
around the rest of the Fazli clan, and so Jamil decided to try find out what
happened to the rest of the family—from whom they’d heard nothing for four
years. Dodging Russian patrols and attack helicopters, the three Afghans, aided
by a guide named Abdul, made a harrowing escape east through the Hindu Kush
mountains. Eventually they got to Pakistan where they joined millions of expatriate Afghan refugees.
They shared contact
information with the American Embassy in Islamabad and pleaded with officials
to help them find Fahima and the two sisters and brother. Were they alive or
dead? In Pakistan, India, or some other land?
Soon the truth was discovered.
Fahima, Suhail, Almara, and Mina were alive! They’d made it to America where
they were told that Fahim, Jamil, and Hares were dead. A magical phone call
reunited the family emotionally, if not physically.
A real reunion would
take a couple more years. President Ronald Reagan fought to open doors for
Afghan refugees and in 1985 the Fazli family reconnected for a joyous celebration
in Virginia.
“It all taught me the
most important lesson I would ever learn,” recalled Fahim. “Have faith. Never
give up.”
Eventually the Fazlis
moved to California where Fahim learned English, studied American history, and
became a citizen. He was now positioned to pursue his dream of acting. Against
all odds he eventually earned a membership in the Screen Actors Guild and
embarked on a Hollywood career that would see him involved in over 50 film and
TV projects, while working with Hollywood’s biggest stars.
Have faith. Never give
up.
Fahim was initially
typecast as a bad guy. Movie buffs will recall him roughing up Robert Downey
Jr. in an Afghan cave in the first Ironman movie. Many more rolls
were to follow, to include American Sniper with Bradley Cooper
and the Academy Award winning Argo with Ben Affleck. He’d later
move on to more sympathetic roles, such as Tariq in Rock the Kasbah,
which also included Bill Murray, Bruce Willis, and Kate Hudson.
But it was while
cultural-technical advisor for Charlie Wilson’s War that Fahim’s
life took a dramatic turn. The movie was based on the true-life story of a
Texas congressman who arranged for the secret funding of an Afghan resistance
movement that eventually expelled the Russians from Afghanistan. That project
allowed him to get to know Tom Hanks, Julia Roberts, Phillip Seymour Hoffman, Ned
Beaty, Amy Adams and others. But it was Charlie Wilson himself who encouraged
Fahim to return to his native land to help in a new fight against Taliban
extremists, against whom American forces were engaged in the aftermath of the
9/11 attacks.
And thus it came to pass
that Fazli qualified as a certified interpreter so as to return to Afghanistan
to translate for U.S. forces. At age 43 Fahim put on an American uniform, the
only Screen Actors Guild member to leave Hollywood to go into harm’s way after
9/11, following in the footsteps of Clark Gable, Jimmy Stewart and other
luminaries who’d left Tinseltown to fight for their country in another war,
against similarly evil enemies.
Eschewing a safe job
translating for high-ranking officers and officials in the relative safety of
Kabul, Fazli asked for the most dangerous job in Afghanistan, serving as an
interpreter with the United State Marines in volatile Helmand Province. There
the charismatic actor was quite effective at bringing together Afghans and
Americans. Fahim made people laugh, which was an anathema to the extreme
fundamentalists. So in 2010 the Taliban put a price on his head.
That’s when I met Fahim
at a Marine outpost in Delaram, in northern Helmand Province. On special USMC
assignment as a lieutenant colonel, I’d heard of Fazli’s exploits and met him
at a special event involving the district governor. Fahim and I exchanged cards
and stayed in touch.
That summer Fazli and
his battalion (Third Battalion, Fourth Marine Regiment) returned safely to
America. Remarkably, 3/4 did not lose a single man during its many months in
Afghanistan—thanks in part to Fahim. I eventually caught up to him in
California and we discussed doing a biography that would do justice to his
remarkable journey. Hollywood’s top military actor and advisor, Dale Dye, saw
potential in our proposed project and his Warriors Publishing Group made
Fahim’s dream of a book a reality—FAHIM SPEAKS: A
Warrior-Actors Odyssey from Afghanistan to Hollywood and Back. Our book
earned critical acclaim and won the Gold Medal for “Top Biography” from the Military
Writers Society of America. It inspired several script adaptations and Fahim’s
latest dream is that his story will become a movie, thus bringing his inspiring
real-life journey full circle, back to Hollywood.
All of which brings us
back to Russian aggression and the terrified young Ukrainian boy, now a
refugee.
“Seeing that little boy
all alone and crying as he crossed the border gave me such flashbacks,” said
Fahim. “Where was his mother? Had the Russians killed her? I could so relate to
his anguish. My heart broke.”
But Fazli’s emotional
distress also reinforced his profound gratitude that fate led him to reunite
with his family in a safe country where amazing dreams of freedom—and Hollywood—came
true.
“I love America,” said
Fazli. “That’s why I wanted to give back and that’s why I put on a uniform. We
have such a beautiful country here that is hard to truly appreciate without
having spent time in other lands.
Like war-torn
Afghanistan. Or embattled Ukraine.
The little Ukrainian
boy’s tears of anguish prompted Fahim’s flashbacks and his own tears, tears
that rolled down his cheeks and into a beard that is now flecked with grey.
But Fahim’s own journey
gives hope that someday there might also be tears of joy for the likes of the
little boy—such as were shed when his own family reunited in America.
“Have faith. Never give
up.”
#####
(A former professor and retired Marine Corps officer, Mike Moffett is a author and columnist. He is currently serving as a State Representative in the New Hampshire legislature.)
Fahim Fazli, Mike Moffett, and Joe Kenney atop Mt. Washington, which has been considered as a film site for a Hindu Kush escape scene for Fahim's film project.
Actor Bill Murray "devouring" the award winning book FAHIM SPEAKS on the set of ROCK THE KASBAH in Morocco. The book was co-authored by Fahim Fazli and Mike Moffett. Fazli had a significant role in that movie, which also starred Bruce Willis and Kate Hudson.
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