Flair Magazine By Menna Saad El Din
Canadian-Egyptian actor Mena Massoud has made a significant impact in both Hollywood and the Middle East, and gained widespread international recognition for his leading role as Aladdin in Disney’s 2019 live-action adaptation of the classic animated film. Prior to “Aladdin,” Massoud built a diverse resume with roles in television series such as “Tom Clancy’s Jack Ryan,” where he played Tarek Kassar, and “Open Heart” as Jared Malik.
Mena also appeared in the film “Ordinary Days” and following his success in “Aladdin,” he starred in the Netflix film “The Royal Treatment” as Prince Thomas, and the horror film “The Sacrifice Game,” for which he also served as an executive producer. He is also set to appear in the upcoming film “Wish You Were Here,” coming out this year.
As busy as he is, Mena was kind enough to find the time to answer some questions for Flair and get us the inside scoop on his new, very important role as Ambassador for Egyptian Arts and Culture, appointed by the Ministry of Culture.
1. You were born in Egypt and moved to Canada at a young age. How has your dual heritage shaped your identity and your perspective on the world?
When I was a kid growing up in Canada, I didn’t live in a very multi-cultural neighborhood. Those certainly existed back in the 90’s in Canada but my family just didn’t live there. So naturally, it was very apparent, at a young age, that I was different than everyone else. That makes you hyper aware of your differences – food, language, appearance – but also makes you work really hard to try and fit in. You do that for years and then you begin to embrace how different you are because
as you get older you recognize that being different is not such a bad thing.
2. Your role as Aladdin was a significant moment in your career. What was the most memorable aspect of bringing such an iconic character to life?
How focused everyone was. How high the stakes were. For the most part, people on movie sets in the West are always pretty focused. But when you’re working on a $180 million dollar budget film which is an iconic IP for a large majority of the world, people tend to step it up a notch. I would wake up at 5AM every day, head to set, quick breakfast, worked out with my trainer for 90 minutes, then I had a post-workout shake while we began dance rehearsal. I left that rehearsal into singing rehearsals and from there we did scene work. After that I had either camel riding or oud lessons or scuba lessons and then after about 10 hours, I had my second workout. Rinse and repeat for 6
weeks before we even started filming. 6 days a week. The amount of work that goes into delivering a blockbuster film like that is gigantic.
3. You’ve recently been appointed as the Ambassador for Egyptian Arts and Culture. What are your goals in this role, and what do you hope to achieve in bridging Egyptian creative industries with global audiences?
Very simply, I want to bring a spotlight to Egyptian Arts and Culture. I grew up on Egyptian cinema, television and theatre and I know how incredible the art scene is in this country. But since the 70’s and 80’s we’ve lost a little bit of that global spotlight.
With the advent of streaming and globalism, we know have the opportunity to, once again, show the world what a vibrant and amazing arts scene we have in Egypt. I want to help do that.
5. You initially pursued neuroscience before transitioning to acting. What sparked that change, and do you ever find connections between your scientific background and your creative work?
I wouldn’t say anything sparked a change. I had been acting since I was a kid in school and community theatre. I would say something sparked my deterministic nature. I was in calculus class one day and I decided I didn’t want to live with regret the rest of my life. I knew I had this unwavering passion to act and it wasn’t going away. I didn’t want to grow up one day when I was 40 or 50 years old, look back at life, and say, ‘What if’. I knew it was going to be hard but so what? It’s my life and I wanted to go for it.
7. You’ve worked in both film and television, and even voice acting. Do you have a preferred medium, or do you enjoy the variety of storytelling opportunities each offers?
Every medium offers such a beautiful opportunity and flexes a different muscle. I miss theatre. It’s been about 10 years now since I was on stage for example, and I miss that medium a lot. I also miss television because of the ability to really grow into a character or so many minutes. I’ve been blessed to star in about 10 feature films now and I love he ability to portray so many different characters and tell so many different stories but I do love the other mediums.
8. Looking ahead, are there specific types of roles or genres you are particularly
interested in exploring?
I’m incredibly excited to continue to learn and work in Egypt. That to me is really exciting. I think there’s so much to learn from the stars of Egyptian cinema and getting to play with them on set has already been such a beautiful experience. Getting to see someone like Shereen Reda or Eman El Assi or Bayoumi Fouad on set has been a blessing and I truly don’t take it for granted. I can’t wait for everyone to see their work in our film, In Broad Daylight.
9. What advice would you give to aspiring actors, especially those from underrepresented backgrounds, who are trying to break into the industry?
Make sure this is what you want to do with your life because it’s going to take up a lot of it. I don’t think young artists truly comprehend how much of your life it takes to pursue a career in the arts. If you’re not prepared to give it all of who you are, you may be better doing it on the side. For me, I tried that and it wasn’t fulfilling. I wanted to give it everything and I think you have to if you want, even a small chance, at building a career.
10. What do you enjoy most about connecting with your fans, and what can they look forward to from you in the future?
My most loyal fans understand my journey intimately and I think that’s such a beautiful thing. When I talk to fans for more than a minute, I can usually tell how connected they are and I love my loyal fans. They help keep me motivated quite honestly. I have In Broad Daylight, my Egyptian cinema debut, coming out, which I think my fans around the world will enjoy. We’ll have subtitles so everyone can watch it, and I think that’ll be an event to remember.
11.Can you share a moment from set—funny, intense, or meaningful—that stayed with
you? How did working on In Broad Daylight challenge you or stretch you creatively?
It was my first time acting in Arabic. That on its own was a challenge for me. I had to really work on my accent and be able to balance that with everything else going on in the film – conflict, love triangles, action sequences – this film has it all and it wasn’t easy. There was one day on set, we had to shoot a lot of stuff, and we were filming a long time to say the least. We saw the sun set and we saw the sun rise. And after an extremely long day, I had a sequence where I was running down a big sand dune in the dessert. We couldn’t quite get it right, so I had to keep running up the sand dune to reset and then run down pretty intensely. I remember we wrapped that day and I was back on set a short while later. I went to go see the film recently and due to creative decisions, that sequence isn’t in the film. This happens more often than you think but it reminded me – work is work. Film is film. Art is art. It’s the international language of the world that connects us all and I’m so lucky to get to be a part of it all over the world.
