EUGENE OSSEI : WHERE DO WE START FROM ? YOU HAVE A TALL LIST OF GREAT ACTORS YOU HAVE WORKED WITH . YOU HAVE WORKED WITH THE LIKES OF GEORGE CLOONEY , AL PACINO , JACKIE CHAN , MARK WALHBERG ; HOW WAS IT LIKE WORKING WITH THEM ? SAYED BADREYA : To be honest with you when I was working with them , I don ’ t see them as actors . I see them as characters so when I ’ m on set it about the business of the day . Unless we meet at the premiers or at lunch but on set I ’ m always in character . That is always the focus ; I don ’ t want to look at them for what they are because that will not allow me to do my job and most important thing is me doing my job . EO : Do you make time to party ? SB : If I ’ m not in the movie then I ’ m not partying during the premier . If I ’ m part of the movie then I will be there – even with that I go in late and leave early . I won ’ t say I ’ m the party type – I ’ m a family man so I like to spend time with my family . Also I ’ m into the craft of movie making than the entertainment part of it . EO : What do you do when you ’ re not doing film ? SB : I have friends who happen to have Arabian horses so I mostly visit their ranches . That ’ s my thing – I love Arabian horses . EO : How was it like growing up in Port Saeed growing up in the 1950 ’ s ? SB : It was a warzone at that time . My mother was pregnant with me in 1956 . The war started when I was around 10years old during summer , I will find myself at the cinema watching a movie because the war took away our summer and I was
You need to connect the film to America in order to make it international . You can either go and film in America or get an American actor to feature in the film . tired of the war . We used to watch a movie at the cinema whilst the war was going on because we didn ’ t need light to watch the movies at the cinema . I found America during the war and I told everybody I will go to America and be in the movies . My father died in 1966 and left behind 9 kids . I grew up in the ghetto with my mom who was making $ 7 a month at that time . My dream of being in the entertainment industry is what kept me alive . EO : What was the first thing on your mind when you got to the U . S ? SB : Coming to America was the most important to me and I was determined to succeed . I came to America with $ 2,000 . I started working within 5 days upon arriving . I got a job as a dishwasher ; I needed to work so I can send money to my mother . The first year I wanted her to know I was okay so I sent her money for her pilgrimage to Mecca . I ’ m not good with Arabic and English so I went back to school . I was 20 at that time – I worked and school at the same time . I really worked hard in my youth because there was no room for failure . I had to fulfill my dream and purpose of coming to America . EO : At what point did you find yourself in film making ? SB : I went to college for film making . Whilst in school my friends will use me as an actor , that ’ s where I got my experience of an actor then the last week of my time in college I got my first role for a movie – my role was a football player . I shoot my first movie in 1984 then I moved to Los Angeles in ’ 86 . I believe the character was called Mohammed and I looked like
36 | Colossium . October 2020