Mena Massoud Quotes

We don’t tell Canadian stories enough.

I always view auditions as the first and last time I’ll ever do a character, so that’s how I like to see the joy in it. Assuming I don’t ever book this, I get to play this character this one time and give it my all because I’ll never play it again.

I grew up speaking Arabic at home.

Aladdin is a good soul. He is very selfless and usually does things for other people, but as he falls in love, he loses himself a little bit and starts to become someone that he is not. But he is a person with good intentions and has good people surrounding him who lead him back to where he is supposed to be.

I grew up loving okra.

There is such a peace out in the middle of the desert. There’s nothing like it.

I think it’s time we start chipping away at the stereotypes in Hollywood about the Middle East, and the Arab World, because it’s one of the most beautiful regions in the world.

I went to schools that had a significantly large Caucasian population and I feel very fortunate because I was able to compare that perspective with my family‘s. It allowed me to create a wider world view on things.

Canada‘s a small market. I think sometimes we do too much of supporting American stories in Hollywood and not enough supporting our own.

You’ve got to have confidence that the universe is working out for you.

We’ve got to be able to get to a point where we represent everybody equally.

Aladdin’ was one of the few things that I watched as a kid where I was like, ‘Oh, that guy looks like me and has a similar culture to mine.’

My parents saw certain things differently than other people.

I can’t change what casting directors do or what producers do. I can only change what I do.

It’s a funny thing that’s happening online. The Middle Easterners want ‘Aladdin’ to be a Middle Eastern story, and the Indians want ‘Aladdin’ to be an Indian story. The truth is, it’s really a folk tale from the 1800s, and Agrabah is a fictional place that’s a culmination of India and Asia and the Middle East.

In the industry, artists of 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.

I’m predominately an actor first.

I want people to know that it’s not always dandelions and roses when you’re doing something like ‘Aladdin.’

I was very different than everybody else growing up. I spoke a different language at home, I ate different food, and I looked different. So I could always relate to Aladdin in that way, being the outcast.

I grew up not really seeing a lot of leads in the industry that weren’t like – and I look up to these people – but like Ryan Gosling and Christian Bale.

I shocked my parents with a lot of things, whether it was becoming an actor or when I was dating someone outside the Egyptian community or when I moved away from home before getting married.

I grew up on Abdul Halim Hafez and Esmail Yassine, a great comedic actor. I think Adel Imam also changed and revolutionised the game and comedy in Egypt.

When we uplift artists who reflect diverse perspectives their stories not only tell us how people view others, but how they view themselves.

How often do we get to go to the biggest cinemas in the world and see diverse actors make up the majority of the cast?

Ryerson helped me because I was around acting all the time. It was pretty much all I thought about, even if I didn’t really get to practice every day; I definitely thought about it. Actually a lot of it was just sitting and watching, especially in my last year, but I think a good actor learns from everything.

Art is very subjective and having to put numbers on it seems counterintuitive.

I was in AP chemistry in high school, and I really liked it.

Growing up in a Mediterranean household ruined my tastebuds a little bit because my mom, my sisters, and my aunt were all great cooks, and ever since I went plant-based, I’ve been missing a little bit of that Mediterranean affection.

Christoph Waltz, you know, blew up in Hollywood at a very old age. He won two Oscars back-to-back so I thought, ‘You know what? Even if it happens when I’m 50, that’s fine.’ You know, I’ll always keep going, always keep trying.

I grew up in a culturally different household.

I went to theater school in Toronto for four years and grew up around actors, and things like headshots could cost you from $500 to $1,000. That can be a big deal for a struggling artist.

The beautiful thing about art is that there’s always somewhere to go. There’s always something new to explore and, as an artist, that’s just what I want to do. I wanna keep exploring new things with different directors with different producers and different styles and tones.

I don’t like the word ‘vegan‘ on its own, and the reason I started Evolving Vegan, is because the people associated with that word can be very militant.

I was told growing up that the arts were just a hobby – that I couldn’t do it as a career.

We’re – we’re Coptic Christian.

I love my parents and we have a terrific relationship. They have been very supportive of my career choice.

I’ve always envisioned working with the best directors in the world.

Growing up, I didn’t see anybody with my skin color or my background. I didn’t know it was possible to have a Middle Eastern actor in a lead role.

My first professional gig was on a show called ‘Nikita,’ and I played Al Qaeda No. 2. At that time I had to take those roles because I just wanted to get my foot in the door.

There’s always a wild card or two when you’re casting. I’m usually the wild card. In a room of Caucasian guys, a director might be like, ‘OK, let’s see, like, two guys who aren’t. And maybe they’ll be the wild card choice.’

A good learner learns from everything!

I think since ‘Aladdin’ my expectations for things releasing and what they’re going to do in my career, I’ve had to really pull them back.

I went through it in high school. It’s like, ‘Who am I? Am I good enough? Is my background good enough? I know I’m different, but do I have a voice?’

In fact, in the original folk tale, Aladdin was actually of Chinese descent. So what we wanted to do with this was represent as many different cultures from that part of the world as possible.