Egoyan was born in Egypt, raised in western Canada, and is now based in Toronto, where he lives with his wife, Arsinée Khanjian--an actress who appears in many of Egoyan's films--and their son, Arshile.
Egoyan has directed a dozen full-length films, several television episodes, and a few shorter pieces. His early work was based on his own material, and he received some notice for the film Exotica (1994), but it was Egoyan's first attempt at adapted material that resulted in his most well-known work, The Sweet Hereafter (1997).