Biography

When you say the word "Arab", I suppose the first thing that springs into anyone's mind is "terrorist", suicide bomber, big scary beard, oil sheik, violence - all negative associations. I had no interest in being a part of anything that hurts me as a person when I walk down the street, hurts my family, people I know. I have no interest fundamentally in being part of promoting a stereotype. I believe that takes people backwards and not forwards

My memory is of the place I played. I remember just playing and playing and playing, going out on my bicycle, running away from wasps in the back garden. My first girlfriend was there, my next-door neighbor, a beautiful brunette called Clare. Then we moved to London. On his childhood in Scotland.

It put me in all the tight spots with my identity: as an Arab, a Muslim, and an actor with my background. I had to walk a tightrope and find out where my balance was.

I'm proudly British and proudly a Londoner - but I'm also proudly Egyptian and proudly from Cairo.

In my life, I've been acutely conscious of how the Arab world is represented.