Mena Massoud

Mena Mansour Massoud (; born September 17, 1991) is an Egyptian-born Canadian actor. He made his film debut in the 2017 Canadian dramatic thriller '' Ordinary Days''. His breakthrough came with playing the title character in the Disney fantasy film ''Aladdin'' (2019), which earned him nominations for a Teen Choice Award and two National Film & TV Awards.

Massoud also had roles in the Canadian drama series '' Open Heart'' (2015), the Amazon Prime series '' Tom Clancy's Jack Ryan'' (2018) and the Hulu series '' Reprisal'' (2019). He starred in the Netflix film ''The Royal Treatment'' (2022) and the horror film '' The Sacrifice Game'' (2023), the latter of which he also executive produced.

Early life

Mena Mansour Massoud was born on September 17, 1991, in Cairo to Egyptian Coptic Orthodox Christian parents Gorgit and Mansour Massoud. He has two elder sisters, Marian and Margaret, who both work in the medical field. He and his family emigrated to Canada when he was three years old. When asked why his family left Egypt, Massoud stated, "I was born there. We immigrated when I was 3 1/2 years old, to Toronto. But I'm still very, very close to my culture and – back home in Egypt.
We're Coptic Christian and my parents just felt like things were getting a little too dangerous when I was growing up in Egypt. They wanted to create a better life for their family so they decided to immigrate to Canada."

Massoud attended St. Brother André Catholic High School, where he was the head of the improv team. He later attended the University of Toronto with a major in neuroscience, in the pursuit of becoming a doctor or psychologist. He did not finish this degree, and instead auditioned for theatre schools. Massoud eventually transferred to Ryerson University for their theatre performance program, which he graduated from in 2014.

Career

Massoud began acting in 2011, with guest appearances on the television series '' Nikita'' and '' Combat Hospital''. His role in ''Nikita'', being his first ever on-screen role, was of a terrorist. In an interview with The Daily Beast, it was stated that this role made him set a goal for himself to "find characters who aren’t terrorists or bring negative connotations because of the color of their skin or ethnicity."

In 2015, he was cast as Jared Malik in the Canadian-drama series '' Open Heart'', which was cancelled after one season. In 2017, he starred as Ollie Santos in the film '' Ordinary Days'', which premiered at the Atlantic International University. In 2018, he had a recurring role as Tarek Kassar in the Amazon Prime original series '' Jack Ryan''.

In 2019, Massoud portrayed the titular character in Disney's fantasy-adventure film ''Aladdin'', which is a live-action adaption of the animated film of the same name. The film was a critical and commercial success, passing $1 billion in the global box office, and he received nominations for a Teen Choice Award and two National Film & TV Award nominations. In the months following the film's release, Massoud said that "I haven’t had a single audition since ''Aladdin'' came out". His role as Aladdin is credited with presenting a more positive and vibrant portrayal of an Arab character in Hollywood. Also in 2019, he played Ethan Hart in the Hulu original series '' Reprisal'', Chaz in the thriller film '' Strange but True'', and Kamal in the drama film '' Run This Town''.

In January 2021, it was announced that Massoud would star in the Egyptian film ''Fe Ez El-Dohr''. In January 2022, he starred in the Netflix film '' The Royal Treatment'' alongside Laura Marano. He was announced to star in the horror film '' The Sacrifice Game'', which was released in 2023; he also served as an executive producer for the film.

In 2023, Massoud announced via Instagram that he is producing the film ''The Last King'', an Iranian adaptation of Stephen King. He is slated to reprise the role of Aladdin in an upcoming sequel.

In the same year he debuted as host of '' Evolving Vegan'', a Canadian television series about vegan cuisine based in part on his own vegan cookbook of the same name.

Massoud starred opposite Isabelle Fuhrman in director Julia Stiles' romance drama film '' Wish You Were Here'', released on January 17, 2025.

Other ventures

In September 2019, he was appointed an ambassador by Egypt's Ministry of Migration for their new "Speak Egyptian" initiative, with the goal of preserving the Egyptian identity of those living abroad. Later that year, he launched the not-for-profit Ethnically Diverse Artists Foundation to help Canadian artists from underrepresented groups jumpstart their careers through securing mentors, training, headshots and includes support for actors, musicians, and visual artists. Speaking about his motivation for the EDA Foundation, Massoud stated, "In the industry, artists of color struggle the most. Caucasian artists have really solidified themselves in the industry, and with African Americans now we see directors and producers who vow to only produce work that shines a light on African American artists. But everybody in the middle gets lost." His mission is to make changes in the industry so that roles are cast fairly, despite the color of an artist's skin or their ethnic group. He spoke again about the foundation and his advocacy for diversity in the industry when he was honored at Egypt's third El Gouna Film Festival in 2019.

In February 2022, Massoud announced the release of his new gin, Dharma Indian Dry Gin, via an Instagram post. He created the gin alongside Emily Shah and Prashant Shah, describing it as "the world’s ''first & only'' spirit inspired by Ayurvedic practice" and "an expression of culture, willpower, and history."

Artistry

Massoud is an admirer of Egyptian comedy movies, in an interview with the BBC, he stated how his Egyptian heritage has inspired him as a comedian, stating: "I grew up watching Egyptian comedy films by the great Egyptian comedians such as Ismail Yassine and Adel Emam. The way they entertain the audience with not only their words but with their body language and facial expressions is totally different from that of the actors here. I played a lot of comedy roles in American productions. My role in Aladdin is also a comedy role. I believe I play comedy roles with a different taste that I learned from our own Egyptian cinema and this makes it appealing in a different way."

Massoud takes inspiration from Robin Williams. In an interview with ''The Hudsucker'', he stated that Robin Williams was the actor who impacted him the most, saying "He was an incredibly well-rounded actor but I grew up on his role in '' Mrs. Doubtfire''. That role by itself is very well-rounded and he goes through an amazing journey in that movie. I think it’s very underrated."

Personal life

In 2024, Massoud announced his engagement to actress Emily Shah.

Massoud is a vegan, and the creator of the cookbook, TV series and community with the name '' Evolving Vegan''.

Filmography

Film

Television

Video games

Awards and nominations

References

External links

*
*

{{DEFAULTSORT:Massoud, Mena
1991 births
21st-century Canadian male actors
Canadian Christians
Canadian male film actors
Canadian male television actors
Canadian male voice actors
Canadian people of Coptic descent
Canadian people of Egyptian descent
Toronto Metropolitan University alumni
Egyptian emigrants to Canada
Living people
Male actors from Ontario
People from Markham, Ontario
Egyptian male voice actors
Egyptian male television actors
Male actors from Cairo
Canadian cookbook writers
Canadian television hosts