Mena Mansour Massoud (Arabic: مينا منصور مسعود; born September 17, 1991) is an Egyptian Canadian actor known for starring as the title character in the Disney fantasy film Aladdin (2019).
'Aladdin'' s Mena Massoud Stars in New Netflix Rom-Com After Speaking Out About Lack of Auditions. Two years after Mena Massoud said he couldn't get an audition following the billion-dollar box office hit Aladdin, the actor will be starring in Netflix's upcoming rom-com The Royal Treatment.
Mena Massoud was an Egyptian-Canadian actor who came to prominence with a lead role in a live action adaptation of one of Disney's most beloved animated classics. Born on September 17, 1992 in Cairo, Egypt, Massoud was raised in Markham, Ontario.
A graduate of Ryerson University's notable theater program, he got his first big break starring in ABC Spark & Teen Nick's mystery-drama television series "Open Heart" as "Jared Malik." Since then, he has appeared in several major film and television productions including "Combat Hospital," "King" on Showcase, "Masters ...
Not in the Middle East. In the earliest version of the story we have, Aladdin is a poor youth living on the streets of China. And he's no foreigner abroad either: he's a native Chinese boy, not an Arabian youth who's ended up in China.
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Is Aladdin filmed in Egypt?
Massoud's return to Egypt fulfils a promise he made to Arab fans when Aladdin made him an international star. In 2019, he spoke to the The National about his desire to work on regional film projects and hoped the success of Aladdin, which was shot in Jordan, would result in more authentic films about the Arab world.
Mena Massoud (Aladdin) is Egyptian, Nasim Pedrad (Jasmine's handmaiden) and Navid Negahban (the Sultan) are Iranian and Marwan Kenzari (Jafar) is Tunisian.
The original Aladdin story was actually set in China. Aladdin is one of the stories compiled in The Thousand and One Nights — a collection of Middle Eastern and Indian folk tales, however, it did not appear in the original Arabic text.
The Los Angeles-based actor began a plant-based diet in 2015 after he and his two best friends and roommates in Toronto learned about the effects of animal products on health and the environment. They encouraged each other, and Massoud began by cutting out eggs, red meat, chicken and other animal-derived foods.
The Egyptian-born Canadian actor had only been in Hollywood for a short time before he landed the dream job, as well as impressive television roles in Amazon Prime's Tom Clancy's Jack Ryan and Hulu's Reprisal.
While some claim Jasmine is Arab because the movie opens with a song called Arabian Nights, others believe that the architecture in Agrabah is clearly based on the Taj Mahal, making Jasmine Indian. It's a debate that has fueled speculation that in Hollywood, Indians and Arabs are interchangeable.
Known along with Ali Baba as one of the "orphan tales", the story was not part of the original Nights collection and has no authentic Arabic textual source, but was incorporated into the book Les mille et une nuits by its French translator, Antoine Galland.
Filming. Principal photography began on September 6, 2017, at Longcross Studios in Surrey, England, and wrapped on January 24, 2018. Part of the film was shot in Wadi Rum Desert, Jordan. The Royal Film Commission provided support to the production during filming and assisted in facilitating logistics.
Mena's hair is naturally curly. That means that if you have naturally curly hair like his, you'll need to invest some time in straightening your hair first, before you can achieve this look.
“I've been a vegan for a very long time and I had to introduce fish and omegas into my life because my brain wasn't functioning properly,” Cyrus said. “Listen … I have 22 animals on my farm in Nashville, I've got 22 in my house in Calabasas, like I'm doing what I need to do for the animals, okay?”
Mena Massoud is a Canadian actor born in Cairo, Egypt on September 17, 1991. He moved to Markham, Ontario with his family, where he was raised and attended St. Brother André Catholic High School. Mena's big break came when he was cast in the title role in 2019's live-action remake of Aladdin.
Princess Jasmine, a fictional character from Disney's animated film "Aladdin," is not explicitly identified as Indian in the movie. Instead, she is depicted as a resident of the fictional city of Agrabah, which is often seen as a blend of Middle Eastern and South Asian cultures and influences.
On Oct. 15, Disney Plus introduced a new disclaimer that appears before older films like Dumbo (1941) and Aladdin (1992), warning viewers that the films include harmful stereotypes. The new message replaces the one that came with the original launch of Disney Plus late last year.
But, though those tales were of medieval origin, Aladdin may be a more recent invention. Scholars have not found a manuscript of the story that predates the version published in 1712 by Galland, who wrote in his diary that he first heard the tale from a Syrian storyteller from Aleppo named Hanna Diyab on May 8, 1709.
Most species of jasmine grown today were originally native to tropical Asia and parts of China. The jasmines that can be grown as houseplants are tropical or subtropical vines or subshrubs grown for their fragrance.
