Bassel Alzaro’s career has been booming recently. He has combined charm and good looks with a light-hearted attitude and raw talent. Whether it be his work as a presenter in the X Factor, or his TV series roles in Le’bet el Mout, Al Ekhwa, or this Ramadan’s Fou’ Mostawa El Shobohat, he’s gained a decent fan base in the Middle East. We talked to him about his work, entertainment and how he handles it all.
“acting is my passion. It’s very tiring, very hectic and needs a lot of work and studying, but I come home after 32 hours of shooting satisfied”
When he started off his career as an anchor, Bassel didn’t have acting in mind, “it came on its own. I refused at first and then they convinced me”, he tells, “after the X Factor I was offered a role in Le’bet el Mout. I thought acting and hosting are the same, but I realized they’re completely different”. After discovering his passion for acting, Bassel would like to do different things, “I would love to act out something that’s unlike me”, he explains. For Bassel, both jobs have their pros, “when it comes to presenting, what I love is live shows. It puts you on the spot and there’s no way back and it has a rush like sky diving”, he continues, “acting is my passion. It’s very tiring, very hectic and needs a lot of work and studying, but I come home after 32 hours of shooting satisfied”.
Having tried being in showbiz from a young age, Bassel has advice for those who become famous when they’re young, especially on Social Media, “whatever channel it is, my advice would be to be yourself. Don’t be fake”, he says. After all, he has experienced the effect of Social Media first hand, “Social Media is a double edged sword. It can end your stardom, or multiply it by 10”, he explains. It’s easy to imagine that some fans could go a little overboard, “in a loveable way, yes. You don’t imagine that someone could love you that much”, he says. At the end of the day, success can even be measured by Social Media reach, “it’s somehow a scale of success. I don’t know if it counts, but it definitely makes a difference”, he says.
“The X Factor is in Lebanon, ET is in Dubai and the series is in Egypt. So I’m living on a plane”
Bassel has been consistently choosing one successful project after another, “part of it is that I’m lucky that I get offered huge things”, he continues, “after being on the X Factor I didn’t accept anything less than that even if it paid more. I said no to a lot of things and stayed like that for seven months, but then I got offered ET”. Doing all of this alongside acting in major series has got to be hectic, “I’m strained physically and mentally, but happy emotionally. It’s very hard, when I entered the field I entered on the Middle East scale, not just Egypt”, he explains, “The X Factor is in Lebanon, ET is in Dubai and the series is in Egypt. So I’m living on a plane”.
“Youssra is such an angel. She has every right to be such a diva, but she’s the sweetest thing ever”
This year’s series that Bassel worked on, Fou’ Mostawa El Shobohat, has received a lot of praise. Bassel tells us he enjoyed working on it, “first of all to work with Hany Khalifa the director is really interesting. He’s different. Working with El Adl group was also fun. They’re such a family together”, he explains, “and Youssra is such an angel. She has every right to be such a diva, but she’s the sweetest thing ever”. Fou’ Mostawa El Shobohat wasn’t the only thing Bassel watched this Ramadan, though, “I’m in love with Grand Hotel”, he tells, “I’ve also watched Wannous, I love it”.
Bassel’s experience working with many Arab actors and actresses from diverse backgrounds has all boiled down to one thing, “it depends on the people themselves. At the end of the day what makes a difference between one actor and the other is not their nationality”, he tells.
“At the end of the day what makes a difference between one actor and the other is not their nationality”
There’s no doubt that Bassel is an extremely talented man, but we can’t neglect that good looks are also nice to have, “I’d be lying if I said good looks aren’t important at the beginning. Halfway there and at the end, they’re not”, he explains, “looks help, but it doesn’t mean that a person has got to be handsome or beautiful. Did good looks help me? I think a little bit back when I was a teenager”. And as for the future, Bassel has his eyes set on big goals, “I’m trying to invade Hollywood. I love the idea. I don’t know if it’s going to happen, but this is my aim right now. I also want to do cinema here”, he concludes.
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