Saudi actor Mohamed El-Shehri discusses his hits ‘Million Dollar Land,’ ‘Valley Road’ 

DUBAI: So much can occur whenever you refuse to surrender on your self. Not way back, Saudi actor Mohamed El-Shehri struggled to get even his closest buddies to consider in him. A 12 months on from his breakout flip in MBC’s Ramadan smash hit “Sikat Safar” (Highway Journey), the rising star has now grow to be the person the area’s greatest producers name to avoid wasting the day. And after garnering acclaim in a few of 2023’s most heralded Saudi tasks, there’s no telling the place his religion in himself will take him subsequent.  

“My purpose has by no means been simply to rise to the highest of Saudi Arabia. The second I knew I wanted to vary my life was the day I visited the set of ‘La Casa de Papel’ (Netflix’s ‘Cash Heist’) — an area hit that took over the globe. That’s the trail I envision for myself. Each transfer I’ve made is an try to get nearer to the world stage,” El-Shehri tells Arab Information.  

Some issues, in fact, solely appear fated looking back. El-Shehri, for instance, solely came upon about “Million Greenback Land,” the hit MBC adaptation of the globally fashionable actuality TV present, the evening earlier than filming started. He was ending up on the gymnasium in Riyadh, unsure the place his subsequent alternative would come from, when his agent messaged saying an pressing assembly had popped up. El-Shehri initially refused, agreeing to do it in his automobile after they wouldn’t take no for a solution.  

“They pitched me this concept, a sequence about 100 folks locked right into a 40-day survival problem within the deserts of NEOM, and my temper switched completely. I liked the concept. The producer Hussein Jaber stated, ‘You’re the one we wish for this. And when you’re in, we’d like you at the moment. The opening helicopter scene is ready to movie at 6 a.m. in NEOM tomorrow,’” El-Shehri explains.  

He dropped the whole lot and rushed throughout the nation, hopping on a airplane and managing to seize two hours of sleep earlier than he was within the helicopter on the way in which to set. There, it was in contrast to something he’d skilled earlier than, a crew of 180 folks from internationally. He was the host and lead star, each individual on set greeted him by identify as he walked previous, however he barely knew the place he was.  

“They known as ‘Motion,’ and I delivered the strains I had been given, not realizing but what I used to be even speaking about. I needed to ignore each insecurity I used to be feeling, telling myself that the viewers is seeking to me for confidence. The second we minimize, I appeared behind me and noticed the 100 contestants from 15 nations for the primary time, and simply requested myself, ‘How is that this actual?’” 

Quickly his each query was answered, and the expertise turned life-changing for El-Shehri, not solely as a result of he was in a position to be taught a lot about human nature by watching every of the contestants band collectively to beat the grueling expertise, however as a result of he discovered a lot about himself. For the primary time, he was on the heart of a world-class manufacturing, and he flourished.  

“But in addition, it’s vital to keep in mind that the trouble from each one who labored on the present was really superb. And the standard at each degree was clear as soon as it premiered. It was primary on all of MBC for the entire month, and for the primary time I used to be getting flooded with messages not simply from Saudis, however from folks in each nation within the area,” says El-Shehri. 

El-Shehri is at all times eager to see precisely how folks reply to every of his tasks, poring over on-line feedback and in search of methods to get higher. Finally, the individual he fashions himself after is Tom Cruise, he tells us. And to be Tom Cruise, you may’t simply fear about what wins awards, it’s a must to discover ways to dedicate your profession to the folks. 

El-Shehri is presently starring within the groundbreaking Saudi movie “Valley Highway,” now in cinemas throughout the Kingdom, and he has been reveling within the alternative to observe how folks react to his work in actual time. He not too long ago purchased a ticket to a screening, placed on a hat and a masks, and sat close to a gaggle of youngsters to see how folks watched his work after years of solely with the ability to gauge his success from web feedback.  

“I used to be one seat away from a gaggle of teenaged youngsters, and I anticipated them to be scrolling by means of Snapchat, however they have been so engaged. To my shock, once I popped up on display screen, one yelled, ‘That’s Mohammed El-Shehri from “Sikat Safar,”’ they usually cheered. On the finish, he took an image of the display screen and wrote his evaluate to publish to his buddies, however I couldn’t fairly make out what he was writing,” says El-Shehri. 

“When the movie ended, I walked out usually, however quickly sufficient folks began to acknowledge me. I used to be swarmed instantly, and the child who had been sitting subsequent to me got here up asking for an image. I stated, ‘Certain, however I wish to see what you wrote in that publish!’ He confirmed me, and it was truthfully so good, a extremely heat suggestion. I simply needed to see his trustworthy suggestions,” El-Shehri continues.  

On the way in which dwelling, he thought again to the primary day that he heard about “Valley Highway” from his good friend, the director Khalid Fahad. It was earlier than he’d filmed “Sikat Safar” — earlier than he’d discovered his voice as an actor, and issues have been very completely different.  

“I’ll always remember when he first instructed me concerning the function, he instructed me that he didn’t think about me. However that by no means deterred me. I might have instructed him off, however as a substitute I auditioned, and I earned that function, and if this movie finally ends up on a significant world streaming platform subsequent, it might be the function that introduces me to the world,” says El-Shehri.  

That isn’t to say that, even now, there aren’t bumps within the street. Whereas “Sikat Safar” for example was the primary present on MBC throughout its Ramadan debut in 2022, the 2023 sequel season was faraway from the prime slot simply two days earlier than Ramadan was set to start. El-Shehri and the remainder of the solid and crew have been crushed, unsure if the viewers would nonetheless watch when it lastly premiered 20 days into the month.  

“We have been so happy with that season. Once we had first gotten received the brand new scripts, they have been horrible, so we threw them out and wrote 25 episodes collectively in eight days. When the delay got here, I believed it was the tip, however the followers waited, they campaigned, and when it launched, it was an enormous hit, simply as earlier than.” 

That wasn’t even the second that touched him most. Just a few weeks in the past, he noticed that somebody on TikTok had posted a video about him, and when he clicked the hashtag of his identify, he found a whole lot of movies all devoted to him, totaling greater than 630 million views. After years of dreaming, he thought, Saudi was now actually behind him. Subsequent, he promised himself, the world.