Mena Massoud (Arabic: مينا مسعود‎; born 17 September 1991)
is an Egyptian-Canadian actor and comedian, known for starring as the
titular character in the Disney fantasy film Aladdin (2019). He also
starred as Jared Malik in the Canadian drama series Open Heart (2015),
Tarek Kassar in the Amazon Prime series Jack Ryan (2018), and as Ethan
Hart in the Hulu series Reprisal (2019).Massoud was born in Cairo,
Egypt, to Egyptian Coptic Orthodox Christian parents. He has two older
sisters. He and his family emigrated to Canada when he was three years
old. When asked why his family left Egypt, Massoud stated, "we're
Coptic Christian and my parents just felt like things were getting a
little too dangerous when I was growing up in Egypt. They wanted to
create a better life for their family so they decided to emigrate to
Canada." Massoud grew up in Markham, Ontario, where he attended St.
Brother André Catholic High School. He is a vegan.Massoud is a huge
admirer of Egyptian comedy movies, in an interview with the BBC, he
stated how his Egyptian heritage has inspired him as a comedian,
stating: "I grew up watching Egyptian comedy films by the great
Egyptian comedians such as Ismail Yassine and Adel Emam. The way they
entertain the audience with not only their words but with their body
language and facial expressions is totally different from that of the
actors here. I played a lot of comedy roles in American productions.
My role in Aladdin is also a comedy role. I believe I play comedy
roles with a different taste that I learned from our own Egyptian
cinema and this makes it appealing in a different way".
is an Egyptian-Canadian actor and comedian, known for starring as the
titular character in the Disney fantasy film Aladdin (2019). He also
starred as Jared Malik in the Canadian drama series Open Heart (2015),
Tarek Kassar in the Amazon Prime series Jack Ryan (2018), and as Ethan
Hart in the Hulu series Reprisal (2019).Massoud was born in Cairo,
Egypt, to Egyptian Coptic Orthodox Christian parents. He has two older
sisters. He and his family emigrated to Canada when he was three years
old. When asked why his family left Egypt, Massoud stated, "we're
Coptic Christian and my parents just felt like things were getting a
little too dangerous when I was growing up in Egypt. They wanted to
create a better life for their family so they decided to emigrate to
Canada." Massoud grew up in Markham, Ontario, where he attended St.
Brother André Catholic High School. He is a vegan.Massoud is a huge
admirer of Egyptian comedy movies, in an interview with the BBC, he
stated how his Egyptian heritage has inspired him as a comedian,
stating: "I grew up watching Egyptian comedy films by the great
Egyptian comedians such as Ismail Yassine and Adel Emam. The way they
entertain the audience with not only their words but with their body
language and facial expressions is totally different from that of the
actors here. I played a lot of comedy roles in American productions.
My role in Aladdin is also a comedy role. I believe I play comedy
roles with a different taste that I learned from our own Egyptian
cinema and this makes it appealing in a different way".
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