Amir El-Masry
أمير المصري
El-Masry in 2022
Alma mater
OccupationActor
Years active2008–present

Amir El-Masry (Arabic: أمير المصري) is an Egyptian-British actor. He won a Scottish BAFTA for his performance in the film Limbo (2020) and was nominated for a British Independent Film Award. He was named a 2020 BAFTA Breakthrough Brit and a 2021 Screen International Star of Tomorrow.[1][2]

El-Masry debuted in the Egyptian comedy Ramadan Mabrouk Abu El Alamein Hamouda (2008), for which he was awarded Best Movie Debut at the Egyptian Cinema Oscar Festival.[3]

Early life and education

Born to an Egyptian family, El-Masry was brought up in Acton, West London.[4] He attended Tower House School and the Harrodian School. He went on to graduate with a Bachelor of Science in Criminology and Sociology from Royal Holloway, University of London.[5] After interning at a law firm, he trained at the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art (LAMDA), graduating in 2013.[6][2]

Career

After a conversation with actor Omar Sharif while his father was on a business trip, El-Masry met a screenwriter at a screening of Hassan and Marcus and made his debut in the Egyptian comedy films Ramadan Mabrouk Abu El Alamein Hamouda as Ramzy and El-Talatah Yishtaghaloonha as Nabil.[5] For the former, El-Masry was awarded Best Movie Debut at the 2009 Egyptian Cinema Oscar Festival. He took time out of his first year at Royal Holloway to be in the latter.[2]

After graduating from LAMDA, El-Masry first appeared on British television in a 2013 episode of the medical soap opera Casualty as Naveed. The following year, he made his Hollywood debut as Alireza in Jon Stewart's Rosewater.[7] He had guest roles in the internationally co-produced Transporter: The Series and the FX series Tyrant, and appeared in the BBC Three pilot Rude Boys.[8]

El-Masry received praise for his performance as Youssef in the 2016 BBC One miniseries The Night Manager. This was followed by 2017 roles in the Channel 4 serial The State and the independent film Lost in London. That same year, El-Masry made his professional stage debut in the Royal Court Theatre production of Goats[9][10] and appeared in the Danish series Herrens Veje.

In 2018, El-Masry played Dante in the BBC One drama Age Before Beauty and had a recurring role as Ibrahim in Tom Clancy's Jack Ryan on Amazon Prime.[11] He starred in the film Shoot. The following year, he played Kazem in the Egyptian series El-Brinseesa Beesa and Commander Trach in Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker.

El-Masry starred as refugee Omar in Ben Sharrock's Limbo. For his performance, he won Best Actor in a Film at the 2021 British Academy Scotland Awards. He was also nominated for a British Independent Film Award (BIFA) and a Chlotrudis Award, and appeared on end-of-year lists from Peter Bradshaw of The Guardian and The Playlist.[12] El-Masry had television roles in the first series of the BBC One and HBO series Industry as Usman Abboud in 2020 and the Netflix science fiction series The One as Ben Naser in 2021.

El-Masry has been cast as a young Mohamed Al-Fayed in the fifth season of the Netflix Royal Family drama The Crown.[13] He also has a recurring role in the BBC World War II drama SAS: Rogue Heroes and Jessica Hausner's Club Zero.

Personal life

El-Masry lives in Acton, London. He is Muslim.[14] During lockdown, El-Masry helped to launch MENA Arts UK.[15][16]

Filmography

Film

Year Title Role Notes
2008 Ramadan Mabrouk Abu El Alamein Hamouda Ramzy
2010 El-Talatah Yishtaghaloonha Nabil
2014 Rosewater Alireza
2017 Lost in London Omar
Farside Sayeed Short film
2018 Shoot Anmar Almadi
2019 Held for Ransom John
Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker Commander Trach
2020 Limbo Omar
2021 The Protocol Hugo Short film
Ritsa (film) [ar]
2023 Club Zero
A Haunting in Venice Alessandro Longo
In Camera Conrad
2022 #GAWEZNI With Mayan El Sayed

Television

Year Title Role Notes
2013 Casualty Naveed Episode: "Special: Scars and Nightmares"
2014 BBC Comedy Feeds Bolts Episode: "Rude Boys"
Transporter: The Series Ayoub Al-Jifri Episode: "Beacon of Hope"
2015 Tyrant Musa Episode: "Mark of Cain"
2016 The Night Manager Youssef Miniseries; 2 episodes
2017 The State Sayed Miniseries; 3 episodes
Herrens veje Tolken 2 episodes
2018 McMafia Tarek 2 episodes
Age Before Beauty Dante Main role
Jack Ryan Ibrahim Recurring role; 7 episodes
2019 El-Brinseesa Beesa Kazem Main role
2020 Industry Usman Abboud Main role, season 1 (4 episodes)
2021 The One Ben Naser 6 episodes
2022 SAS: Rogue Heroes Dr. Gamal 3 episodes
The Crown Mohamed Al-Fayed Episode: "Mou Mou"
2023 Vigil Daniel Ramsay series 2

Video games

Year Title Role Notes
2016 Deus Ex: Mankind Divided Additional voices
2017 Assassin's Creed: Origins Voice
Lego Marvel Super Heroes 2

Stage

Year Title Role Notes
2017 Goats Adnan Royal Court Theatre, London
2019 The Abyss Edinburgh Fringe Festival[17]

Audio

Year Title Role Notes
2014 The Insider Joseph BBC Radio 3
The Brick Elias BBC Radio 4
The Boy from Aleppo who Painted the War Tariq
The Puppet Master Jamil
In Praise of Radical Fish Reader
2015 Rasselas, Prince of Abyssinia Ahmed
The Road to Bani Walid Husam / Malik
Oil: The Weapon Youssuf

Awards and nominations

Year Award Category Work Result Ref.
2009 Egyptian Cinema Oscar Festival Best Movie Debut Ramadan Mabrouk Abu El Alamein Hamouda Won [18]
2021 British Independent Film Awards Best Actor Limbo Nominated
British Academy Scotland Awards Best Actor in a Film Won
2022 Chlotrudis Awards Best Actor Nominated

References

  1. ^ "Amir El-Masry". BAFTA. 13 November 2020. Retrieved 16 August 2022.
  2. ^ a b c Salisbury, Mark (4 October 2021). "Stars of Tomorrow 2021: Amir El-Masry (actor)". Screen Daily. Retrieved 15 October 2021.
  3. ^ Shaji, Shireen (24 June 2022). "Egyptian Actor Amir El Masry to Star in Season 5 of Netflix Series The Crown". Vogue Middle East. Retrieved 20 August 2022.
  4. ^ Aftab, Kaleem (16 October 2020). "A different narrative: how British film 'Limbo' tells a refugee story with humour". The National. Retrieved 21 August 2022.
  5. ^ a b "Amir El-Masry" (PDF). Royal Holloway.[dead link]
  6. ^ Ravindran, Manori (16 October 2020). "Amir El-Masry, 'Limbo' Star, on Representation for U.K. Arab Actors & Controlling His Narrative". Variety. Retrieved 19 August 2022.
  7. ^ "London Film Festival 2014: Rosewater - Movie News - Empire". empireonline.com.
  8. ^ "BBC Three - Comedy Feeds, Series 3, Rude Boys".
  9. ^ "Amir El-Masry". Royal Court Theatre. Retrieved 20 August 2022.
  10. ^ "Amir El-Masry: 11 Questions". Theatre.London. November 2017. Retrieved 20 August 2022.
  11. ^ Pedersen, Erik (5 June 2017). "Amir El-Masry Joins 'Tom Clancy's Jack Ryan'; Jimmy Jean-Louis Recurs On 'Claws'". Deadline. Retrieved 13 April 2018.
  12. ^ "Amir El-Masry Selected Among Best Performances Of 2021 By The Guardian & The Playlist". Nile FM. 26 December 2021. Retrieved 20 August 2022.
  13. ^ Vivarelli, Nick (22 June 2022). "'The Crown' Casts Amir El-Masry as Young Ex-Harrods Owner Mohamed Al-Fayed (EXCLUSIVE)". Variety. Retrieved 19 August 2022.
  14. ^ Gilbey, Ryan (23 July 2021). "Limbo star Amir El-Masry: 'I sat on Omar Sharif's lap! It was like I was with my granddad'". The Guardian. Retrieved 19 August 2022.
  15. ^ Ritman, Alex (29 April 2021). "'Limbo' Star Amir El-Masry on His Successful Push for Roles Beyond Arab Stereotypes". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 19 August 2022.
  16. ^ "Guest Blog: Amir El-Masry On Self-Indentity [sic] and Hanging With MENA Arts UK". BroadwayWorld. 4 March 2021. Retrieved 20 August 2022.
  17. ^ "International Climate Crisis Plays". Royal Court Theatre. August 2019. Retrieved 20 August 2022.
  18. ^ "Ramadan Mabrouk Abu Elalamain Hamouda - رمضان مبروك أبو العلمين حمودة". Africine. Retrieved 19 August 2022.

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