Claude Jabbour talks about playing Sam Ibrahim in Last King of the Cross

Claude Jabbour wants you to forget everything you think you may know about Sam Ibrahim as he brings the character of John Ibrahim’s older brother to life on screen.

Claude Jabbour wants you to forget everything you think you may know about Sam Ibrahim as he brings the character of John Ibrahim’s older brother to life on screen.

Jabbour plays Sam in the new TV dramatisation of John’s autobiography Last King of the Cross.

The actor — known for his portrayal as Farid in Netflix miniseries Stateless alongside Cate Blanchett — makes it clear he didn’t look to the real Sam for much inspiration.

“Even though my character takes his name from a real person, it’s been fictionalised … so we got free range in developing the character, and focusing on how it was written in the script was my inspiration,” he told The Sunday Telegraph.

“It was nice to approach it without having to be too concerned about playing a real person.”

Claude Jabbour, who plays John Ibrahim’s brother Sam in Last King of The Cross. Picture: Jason Edwards

Brothers Sam (left) and John Ibrahim in 1995

Fadi (left) and Sam Ibrahim in 2013.

Telling the story of John Ibrahim’s rise to power in Kings Cross during the 1980s, at the heart of the show is the relationship between the two brothers.

“Sam is a character dealing with a lot of personal demons, growing up in the civil war in Tripoli in Lebanon no doubt haunts him as the show progresses, and his battle with those demons starts to impact the rise of John in the cross and it creates a lot of conflict ­between the brothers,” Jabbour said. “I tried to approach this character as I would with anybody, being human, having the same fears and demons as a lot of us.”

Sam and John Ibrahim (front row) with associates.

Jabbour said his take on Sam, who was deported to Lebanon after spending time in prison for firearms charges, will focus on a man burdened with responsibility after fleeing war.

“I’m an older brother myself in a Lebanese family and I know that responsibility, it’s always in the back of your mind as the oldest brother you feel that responsibility, and I think for Sam that‘s the position he has been thrust in,” he said.

“We’ve created something with themes to do with family, with loyalty, with ambition and characters that were refugees from a war-torn country trying to find their way in Australia, and I think that story is the through line a lot of people will connect to.”

The Last King of the Cross is on Paramount+ from February 17.

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