“Anyone who looks like his father is not unfair.” This proverb is the best that can describe the young artist Ahmed Khaled Saleh, son of the rising star Khaled Saleh, who tries to follow in his footsteps, but in his own way. Inside the character from the human side, which is what happened to him with his new film “19 B”, which he participated in the last session of the Cairo International Film Festival, achieving great success and receiving wide reactions, regarding to the film and the character it presents, which he confirmed in his interview with the site “Al-Arabiya.net”, and revealed the new works he is waiting for or currently filming.
What prompted you to participate in the 19B film?
I have been excited about the film since I received a call from director Ahmed Abdullah Al-Sayed, and he explained the role and details of the character, which has many different aspects that I had not presented before, as he is a young man who does not listen the advice of those around him who always come to terms with force in society, but this does not mean that he is a Violent character, the character has many dimensions, and among other reasons I was thrilled by this work is the presence of a large star the size of Sayed Ragab.
And how did you find the personality of Nasr Al-Sayes?
I was pleased that the director, Ahmed Abdullah chose me to play this character. The role is completely different and new to me. In general, I consider each character that I present as a challenge that I prepare well for him. The outsider is a politician as a profession, and far from it, what are his vocabularies as a human being, so the director, Ahmed Abdullah, wrote the character with many deep details and aspects, and we worked on it together, like the extent of the injustice that falls on Nasr and the extent of his weakness within him, and the film brings important ideas, on top of which there is an idea The non-judgment of the other and the importance of accepting it thus as it is with his previous backgrounds .
What difficulties did you encounter during filming?
There were many difficult scenes in the film, but director Ahmed Abdullah’s method made things easier, as the film speaks to the person from within, and for me this is very interesting. Difficult despite its simplicity, it is full of rich ideas, and I paid more attention to the important ideas, especially the idea of not judging the other and accepting them as they are with their previous backgrounds, and that we often do and judge the people around us only by the ‘exterior, and so it was necessary to present all that rich detail on the screen.
How did you prepare for the character?
Like I said, I feel with every character like it’s a challenge that I’m trying to prepare for, and I’m looking for the human side in the character, so far from the politician “Nasr”, he’s a human being, as director Ahmed Abdullah he wrote the character in many details and aspects, and we worked on it together, and it was really a fun challenge. Finding a character and seeing the points of difference within him, sympathizing with him, hating him and believing him is a very interesting challenge, as well as there is no specific reference, the inspiration is important, as it belongs to Nasr the Sayes himself and not to any other Sayes you see on the street, as Nasr has different backgrounds.
Can you tell us about the scenes that brought you together with Nahed El Sebaei? And did you have any issues with the look of the animals in the film?
I prefer the viewer to see it and get an idea in their own way about their relationship and what it was like in the past, and this idea is what made the scene strong, you watch it and think about it, you feel there is a passed between them, but you don’t realize what it is, and that’s what made the scene interesting, and I’m also a fan Animals and the truth. I found the idea of having street animals in the script wonderful, and the their presence was justified.
What is your favorite scene from the movie?
The conversation scene with Sayed Ragab is the closest to my heart in the film, as it reveals the human side of Nasr’s personality, and we see two sides to him: one is good and the other is evil, and we see the motives and reasons that make his actions, good or bad, logical to him, so I sympathized with him after reading the scene, and I liked his presentation, especially after the director, Ahmed Abdullah, left me my space to play the scene like Sento Nasr.
Was the ending of the film a bit hard?
In fact, it will be a completely unexpected ending for the audience watching the film in theaters, as it contains a broad aspect of the absurdity that exists in life, and there is a surprise in the events, as you see the combination of the evil character appearing right away with all the feelings and questions it raises, like why does the guard treat him like this? Why did things get to this point? We see that the character “Nasr” was jealous of the dogs and saw the guard’s interest in them at a time when he had not felt any interest in his whole life.
What about your new one?
I am participating in the “Harb al-Jabali” series, which we started shooting some time ago, and the work attracted me after reading the script to participate in the work, and I hope that the work that takes place in a popular social framework will earn everyone’s admiration, and it is with director Muhammad Osama. As for cinema, we recently started shooting the film “Wish in Wush” with artist Muhammad Mamdouh, Amina Khalil, Hamdi Al-Mirghani, Bayoumi Fouad, Asmaa Jalal, Muhammad Shaheen, and directed by Khaled Al-Halafawi. A few days ago the series “The Last Role” began, which I presented through the role of a police officer. And who is not convinced of Dina El-Sherbiny’s innocence towards her the murder of her husband and looks for evidence of her in her case that convicts her of her and shows the series on one of the digital platforms.
