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DUBAI: Rather a lot can occur while you refuse to surrender on your self. Not way back, Saudi actor Mohamed El-Shehri struggled to get even his closest pals to consider in him. A 12 months on from his breakout flip in MBC’s Ramadan smash hit “Sikat Safar” (Street Journey), the rising star has now turn into the person the area’s greatest producers name to save lots of the day. And after garnering acclaim in a few of 2023’s most heralded Saudi initiatives, 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 alter 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 and 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 night time earlier than filming started. He was ending up on the health club in Riyadh, undecided 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 automotive after they wouldn’t take no for a solution.  

“They pitched me this concept, a collection about 100 individuals locked right into a 40-day survival problem within the deserts of NEOM, and my temper switched solely. I beloved the thought. The producer Hussein Jaber mentioned, ‘You’re the one we would like for this. And when you’re in, we want you at present. The opening helicopter scene is about to movie at 6 a.m. in NEOM tomorrow,’” El-Shehri explains.  

He dropped every thing and rushed throughout the nation, hopping on a aircraft and managing to seize two hours of sleep earlier than he was within the helicopter on the best way to set. There, it was not like something he’d skilled earlier than, a crew of 180 individuals from the world over. 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 referred to as ‘Motion,’ and I delivered the traces I had been given, not figuring out 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 trying to me for confidence. The second we lower, I seemed behind me and noticed the 100 contestants from 15 international locations for the primary time, and simply requested myself, ‘How is that this actual?’” 

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

“But in addition, it’s essential to do not forget that the trouble from each one who labored on the present was really wonderful. 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 individuals in each nation within the area,” says El-Shehri. 

El-Shehri is at all times eager to see precisely how individuals reply to every of his initiatives, poring over on-line feedback and in search of methods to get higher. In the end, 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, you must learn to dedicate your profession to the individuals. 

El-Shehri is presently starring within the groundbreaking Saudi movie “Valley Street,” now in cinemas throughout the Kingdom, and he has been reveling within the alternative to observe how individuals react to his work in actual time. He just lately purchased a ticket to a screening, placed on a hat and a masks, and sat close to a gaggle of youngsters to see how individuals watched his work after years of solely having 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 had been so engaged. To my shock, once I popped up on display, one yelled, ‘That’s Mohammed El-Shehri from “Sikat Safar,”’ they usually cheered. On the finish, he took an image of the display and wrote his overview to submit to his pals, 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 individuals 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 mentioned, ‘Certain, however I need to see what you wrote in that submit!’ He confirmed me, and it was actually so good, a extremely heat suggestion. I simply needed to see his trustworthy suggestions,” El-Shehri continues.  

On the best way residence, he thought again to the primary day that he heard about “Valley Street” 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 had been very completely different.  

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

That isn’t to say that, even now, there aren’t bumps within the highway. 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 had been crushed, undecided if the viewers would nonetheless watch when it lastly premiered 20 days into the month.  

“We had been so happy with that season. Once we had first gotten obtained the brand new scripts, they had 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. Only some 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 bunch 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.