Background
A Ghanaian Arab, Faress was born in 1948 in Accra, Ghana to Irish and Syrian parents, she lives in London.
A Ghanaian Arab, Faress was born in 1948 in Accra, Ghana to Irish and Syrian parents, she lives in London.
Faress completed a writing course at City Literary Institute adult education college.
She is now best known within the United Kingdom for her portrayal of the solicitor Usha Gupta, in the long-running British Broadcasting Corporation Radio 4 serial The Archers. She has been exploring playwriting as a medium since before 2004. Faress appeared in two episodes of the British Broadcasting Corporation serial I, Claudius (1976) as a slave girl (shouting fire) and as a dancer who at Messalina"s (second and bigamous) marriage party realises troops are coming to arrest them.
In another early British Broadcasting Corporation appearance, she played the character Selma in the Blake"s 7 episode "Horizon".
Since then, Faress has had substantial roles in films such as My Beautiful Laundrette (1985) and Sixth Happiness (1997), as well as much stage work around the United Kingdom. In October 2001 she appeared briefly in Coronation Street as Development Alahan"s mother Umila. Souad Faress also appeared as the Old Rani in The Sarah Jane Adventures serial The Mad Woman in the Attic in October 2009.
In October 2014, it was announced that Faress would perform in Hurried Steps, Sharon Wood"s translation of "Passi Affrettati by Dacia Maraini. The play"s narratives were mainly sourced from Amnesty International, the subject matter including rape, honour killings, sex trafficking and other issues of violence against women.
She currently plays Jay Faldren"s grandmother Maryam Shakiba in Casualty.
Faress appeared in an episode of popular nursing drama Number Angels as lead character, Anji Mittel"s aunt Di. Faress appeared briefly as a hospital doctor in "The Dead of Jericho", the first episode of Inspector Morse. In 2016 she will join the Home Box Office series Game of Thrones in Season 6.
Faress will also be appearing in Independent Television drama Brief Encounters, "a loose adaptation of Ann Summers Chief Executive Officer Jacqueline Gold"s memoirs, Good Vibrations.".