The Jordanian Superstar Eyad Nassar rocks this Eid’s hit movies El-Mamar and Casablanca, impressing everyone with his out of this world roles! El-Mamar tackles the period of the war of attrition between Egypt and Israel, through which Eyad plays the role of an Israeli soldier who used to get information out of Egyptian soldiers. He also outdone himself in his role as a sea pirate in the movie Casablanca, which tells the story of sea pirates and the struggles between them. We’ve met with the Brilliant Star to talk about his roles, new Jordanian series, and more!
1.Why did you decide to work on a Jordanian series this year?
I was a bit attacked in Jordan for not being there a lot and spending more time in Egypt. It was because I did not find the suitable projects to work on yet. I always used to tell them you stick to only one type of series, the Bedouin which I cannot be part of, as opposed to series with more modern issues. The closest thing to me was the series El Khawabi tackling the 1920s-1930s Palestine from a humanitarian cultural perspective, aside from the political struggles.
2.Why did you skip two consecutive seasons of Ramadan in Egypt?
I did not take part in the Ramadan race because I couldn’t find anything suitable. I don’t want to be present just to be present. After Afrah Al Koba and Haza Al Masaa, I have a bigger responsibility to maintain the place I’ve reached.
3.How do you feel about your character Shedid in the Jordanian series Al Khawaby?
I haven’t been acting in Jordan for 12 years now so all the names have changed and the people changed, so I wanted to see what they’ve reached. For me, it was more of an experimental project to explore the situation there.
4.This is not your first time to work on a project about Palestine, why do you think it’s important to produce series that are not necessarily related to the occupation, but to their culture?
There has been so many projects on Palestine with regards to its history and the Palestine-Israel struggle, but we need to shed light on the societal aspect since the Palestinian character is also complex.
5. Both your Eid movies Casablanca and El-Mamar are in cinemas now, can you tell us more about your role in each of them?
El-Mamar takes place during the attrition war. This war was a crucial point in winning the 6th of October war. It’s often overlooked by the younger generations. The victory did not just come overnight, they were trying to exploit the enemy’s resources until they win. It’s a crucial stage that we need to discuss, discussing people’s sense of belonging, even more at times of defeat.
Casablanca features a group of pirates and the struggles between them. It’s an action and entertaining film, outside of the usual comedy frame. The audience needs to see something like this in Eid since now it has become more common to find different genres in this season.
6.What do you think of the idea that now we have movies with group leading roles, and not just solo lead roles?
This is what always happens abroad. Now we see Brad Pitt with Leonardo Di Caprio normally. The cinema now is competing with TV, social media, and so on. The competition is harder and it’s difficult for an actor alone to attract the people, as opposed to a group of popular actors who they won’t expect to see together.
7.What is manhood to you?
To define manhood, you need to separate it from gender. Not every male is a man. Manhood is a way of treatment with its own principles, and both females and males have it! It is the good characteristics that are required from a person such as honesty, gentleness, caring, and more.
8.What do you think of women’s role in cinema and TV?
I believe that women’s role in cinema and drama is not enough because they’re still framed in the family institution, but they should be freed from it.