BECOMING FAMOUS IS YOUR DESTINY. In the Quran it states that Allah is the best of Planners... Surah Al Imran verse 54, The Holy Quran. No Industry is more indicative of the lucky break, being at the right place at the right time like Hollywood. SHRAF BARHOM auditioned for The Kingdom from the top of his apartment building in Galilee, the ancient village where he lives in northern Israel. His sister held the camera as the 30-year-old Christian Arab-Israeli transformed himself into a tightly wound Saudi police colonel, Al-Ghazi, at the precise moment when Al-Ghazi finally peels off his officious, official persona. In the movie, the scene is played with Oscar winner Jamie Foxx. On the rooftop, I made it a monologue, looking to my sister, says the actor, with a laugh. Shes 13 now.Barhom didnt know who Jamie Foxx was before he was cast in the geopolitical action-thriller that opens Friday, and hed never been to the United States, let alone Saudi Arabia, which hes barred from ever visiting because of his Israeli passport. Yet the actors work has been traveling, courtesy of his turn as a ruthless Palestinian guerrilla leader in the Oscar-winning foreign-language picture Paradise Now. Barhom is one of a wave of talented actors from the Middle East and South Asia getting a break from Hollywoods newfound interest in geopolitics. With movies such as Syriana, Munich, United 93 and A Mighty Heart as well as the upcoming Rendition, actors such as Ifran Khan, Omar Metwally and Igal Naor have landed some of the most complicated, fraught male roles of the year. Producer Scott Stuber recalls seeing Barhoms audition tape. Over his shoulder, you could see all of Israel off his balcony. You could feel his intensity. Director Pete Berg arranged to meet Barhom in Hong Kong, where he happened to be scouting. Berg called Stuber afterward and gushed, This guy is Robert De Niro from Taxi Driver. He has the same intensity. You couldnt take your eyes off him. Barhom certainly pops out of the starry ensemble (Foxx, Jennifer Garner and Chris Cooper) that makes up The Kingdom, Bergs tale of an FBI team investigating a bombing at an American compound in Saudi Arabia. Effectively demoted for not being able to thwart the attack beforehand, Barhoms Al-Ghazi is nonetheless designated as the Americans police monitor; he is a patriot and a cop operating in the Saudi Arabian justice system whose flaws he understands intimately but whose social code he adheres to rigidly. His character bears the real cost of this American jaunt, emotionally and politically. When Barhom appeared recently in the bar of the Four Seasons hotel in Los Angeles, he was almost unrecognizable. Gone was the perma-stress etched in his characters face. The character had been a human coil in a khaki police uniform, but now sporting a black T-shirt embossed with the tree of life, Barhom seemed many notches more relaxed, his fierce eyes and chiseled features somehow softened. He was accompanied by his manager, Ihab Shasheen, spiffy in a big white shirt and cross, who turns out to be a childhood friend from Galilee. Until recently, Shasheen was working in Tulsa, Okla., wholesaling cars overseas to countries we cant go to, Shasheen cracks. Its a little Entourage, Palestinian style, though their vibe is more grateful than entitled. Theyve just been to Social Security to get Barhom a card so he can join the Screen Actors Guild and have been making the rounds of casting directors and producers courtesy of Barhoms Endeavor agents. Another Brilliantly written Actor Insight courtesy of research by Sam Hawat. Thank you Sam! RIDWAN HASSIM CREATING MAGIC.
Posted on: Sun, 23 Mar 2014 13:21:50 +0000
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