fiction.wikisort.org - Actor

Mena Mansour Massoud (Arabic: مينا منصور مسعود; born September 17, 1991) is an Egyptian-born Canadian actor[3] known for starring as the title character in the Disney fantasy film Aladdin (2019). He also starred as Jared Malik in the Canadian drama series Open Heart (2015), Tarek Kassar in the Amazon Prime series Tom Clancy's Jack Ryan (2018), Ethan Hart in the Hulu series Reprisal (2019), and Prince Thomas in the Netflix original film The Royal Treatment (2022).

Mena Massoud
مینا مسعود
Massoud in 2019
Born	Mena Mansour Massoud (1991-09-17) 17 September 1991 (age 31)[1] Cairo, Egypt
Citizenship	Egypt Canada
Alma mater	Ryerson University[2]
Occupation	Actor singer
Years active	2011–present
Notable work	Aladdin
Awards	Full list

Early life

Massoud was born in Cairo to Egyptian Coptic Orthodox Christian parents Gorgit and Mansour Massoud. He has two elder sisters, Marian and Margaret both work in the medical field .[4][5] He and his family emigrated to Canada when he was three years old.[6] When asked why his family left Egypt, Massoud stated, "I was born there. We immigrated when I was 3 1/2 years old, to Toronto. But I'm still very, very close to my culture and – back home in Egypt. We're Coptic Christian and my parents just felt like things were getting a little too dangerous when I was growing up in Egypt. They wanted to create a better life for their family so they decided to emigrate to Canada."[7] Massoud grew up in Markham, Ontario, where he attended St. Brother André Catholic High School, where he was the head of the improv team.[8][9][10] He later attended the University of Toronto with a major in neuroscience, in the pursuit of becoming a doctor or psychologist. He did not finish this degree, and instead auditioned for theatre schools. Massoud eventually transferred to Ryerson University for their theatre performance program, which he graduated from in 2014.[11]

Career

Massoud began acting in 2011, with guest appearances on the television series Nikita and Combat Hospital.[12] His role in Nikita, being his first ever on-screen role, was of a terrorist. In an interview with The Daily Beast, it was stated that this role made him set a goal for himself to "find characters who aren’t terrorists or bring negative connotations because of the color of their skin or ethnicity."[13]

In 2015, he was cast as Jared Malik in the Canadian-drama series Open Heart, which was cancelled after one season. In 2017, he starred as Ollie Santos in the film Ordinary Days.[14] In 2018, he had a recurring role as Tarek Kassar in the Amazon Prime original series Jack Ryan.

In 2019, Massoud portrayed the titular character in Disney's fantasy-adventure film Aladdin, which is a live-action adaption of the animated film of the same name.[1] For his performance, he received a Teen Choice Award nomination, and two National Film & TV Award nominations.[15][16] The December after the movie's release, and five months after the film passed $1 billion in the global box office, Massoud openly spoke about how the film's success has translated into his career.[17] He stated, "I haven’t had a single audition since Aladdin came out," and explained that his career has not seen much growth despite the film.[13]

In the same year, he was cast in the main role of Ethan Hart in the Hulu original series Reprisal.[18] Also in 2019, he appeared as Chaz in the thriller film Strange but True, and starred as Kamal in the drama film Run This Town.[19]

In January 2021, it was announced that Massoud would star as the leading role in his first Egyptian film, Fe Ez El-Dohr.[20] He is also slated to reprise his role of Aladdin in an upcoming sequel.[20]

In January 2022, Massoud portrayed the male lead in Netflix's feature film, The Royal Treatment alongside Laura Marano.[21] His role in the film was the first movie he has starred in since Aladdin.

The following May, Massoud was announced to play a role in the upcoming horror film The Sacrifice Game, as well as serve as an executive producer for the film.[22] That same month, he announced via Instagram that he is producing the film The Last King, an Iranian adaptation of Stephen King.[23]

Other Work

In September 2019, he was appointed an ambassador by Egypt's Ministry of Migration for their new "Speak Egyptian" initiative, with the goal of preserving the Egyptian identity of those living abroad.[24]

Later that year, he launched the not-for-profit Ethnically Diverse Artists Foundation to help Canadian artists from underrepresented groups jumpstart their careers through securing mentors, training, headshots and includes support for actors, musicians, and visual artists.[25] Speaking about his motivation for the EDA Foundation, Massoud stated, "In the industry, artists of color struggle the most. Caucasian artists have really solidified themselves in the industry, and with African Americans now we see directors and producers who vow to only produce work that shines a light on African American artists. But everybody in the middle gets lost." His mission is to make changes in the industry so that roles are cast fairly, despite the color of an artist's skin or their ethnic group. He spoke again about the foundation and his advocacy for diversity in the industry when he was honored at Egypt's third El Gouna Film Festival in 2019.[26]

In February 2022, Massoud announced the release of his new gin, Dharma Indian Dry Gin, via an Instagram post.[27] He created the gin alongside Emily Shah and Prashant Shah, describing it as "the world’s first & only spirit inspired by Ayurvedic practice" and "an expression of culture, willpower, and history."[28]

Artistry

Massoud is an admirer of Egyptian comedy movies, in an interview with the BBC, he stated how his Egyptian heritage has inspired him as a comedian, stating: "I grew up watching Egyptian comedy films by the great Egyptian comedians such as Ismail Yassine and Adel Emam.[29] The way they entertain the audience with not only their words but with their body language and facial expressions is totally different from that of the actors here. I played a lot of comedy roles in American productions. My role in Aladdin is also a comedy role. I believe I play comedy roles with a different taste that I learned from our own Egyptian cinema and this makes it appealing in a different way."[30]

Massoud also takes great inspiration from Robin Williams. In an interview with The Hudsucker, he stated that Robin Williams was the actor the impacted him the most, saying "He was an incredibly well-rounded actor but I grew up on his role in Mrs. Doubtfire. That role by itself is very well-rounded and he goes through an amazing journey in that movie. I think it’s very underrated."[31]

Personal life

Massoud is a vegan and the founder of the book and community of Evolving Vegan.[32][33]

Filmography

Film

Year	Title	Role	Notes
2011	What Happens Next	Jad
2014	Americanistan	Mohammed Ali
2015	Let's Rap	John
2017	Ordinary Days	Ollie Santos
2017	Final Exam	Zaid
2018	Masters in Crime	Majid
2019	Aladdin	Aladdin
2019	Strange but True	Chaz
2019	Merging with the Infinite	Charlie Smith
2020	Run This Town	Kamal
2021	Lamya's Poem	Rumi (voice)
2022	The Royal Treatment	Prince Thomas	Netflix film[34]
2022	Hotel for the Holidays	Luke	Streaming film[35]
TBA	Fe Ez El-Dohr	Hamza
TBA	Keeper of the Cup	Marcel	Pre-production[36]
TBA	The Sacrifice Game

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
2011	Nikita	Al Qaeda No. 2	1 episode
2011	Poser	Bretten Thomason	Recurring
2011	Combat Hospital	Salman Zawab	1 episode
2011	The 99	Hafiz the Preserver / Dave / Saad	Main role
2012	Cut to the Chase	Jason	Recurring role
2012	King	Malik Atassi	1 episode
2015	Open Heart	Jared Malik	Main role
2017	Saving Hope	Justin Srinivasan	1 episode
2018	Jack Ryan	Tarek Kassar	Recurring (Season 1)
2019	Reprisal	Ethan Hart	Main role
2021	9-1-1: Lone Star	Salim	1 episode

Video games

Year	Title	Role
2016	Watch Dogs 2	Various voices

Awards and nominations

Year	Awards	Category	Nominated work	Result	Ref
2019	Teen Choice Awards	Choice Sci-Fi/Fantasy Movie Actor	Aladdin	Nominated	[15]
	GQ Men of the Year Awards	Breakthrough Talent	Himself	Won	[37]
	National Film & TV Awards	Best Actor	Aladdin	Nominated	[16]
		Best Newcomer		Nominated
2020	Goodreads Choice Awards	Best Food & Cookbooks	Evolving Vegan	Nominated	[38]

References

External links

• Mena Massoud at IMDb
• Mena Massoud on Twitter

На других языках

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[de] Mena Massoud

Mena Massoud (* 17. September 1991 in Kairo, Ägypten) ist ein ägyptisch-kanadischer Schauspieler. Einem weiten Publikum bekannt wurde er durch die Rolle des Jared Malik in der Serie Open Heart und als Tarek Kassar in Tom Clancy’s Jack Ryan. Internationale Aufmerksamkeit erhielt er im Jahr 2019 durch seine Hauptrolle des „Aladdin“ im gleichnamigen Disneyfilm.[1]

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- [en] Mena Massoud

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[es] Mena Massoud

Mena Massoud (El Cairo, 17 de septiembre de 1991) es un actor y comediante egipcio también con nacionalidad canadiense [1][2] y perteneciente a una familia copta. En julio de 2017, fue elegido para interpretar a Aladdin en la nueva versión de la película animada de Disney Aladdín.[3][4][5] También ha trabajado en televisión; sus papeles incluyen a Jared Malik en la serie canadiense Open Heart de 2015, y Tarek Kassar en la serie de Amazon Prime Jack Ryan.[6]

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[ru] Массуд, Мена

Мена Массуд (англ. Mena Massoud, копт. Ⲙⲏⲛⲁ Ⲙⲁⲥⲥⲟⲇ, масри مينا مسعود, род. 17 сентября 1991, Каир, Египет)[1][2] — канадский актёр. Исполнил роль Аладдина в фильме Гая Ричи «Аладдин» (2019)[3][4][5]. Сыграл Терека Кассара в телесериале «Джек Райан» (2018)[6] .

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