Leila ElwyI am happy with most of the acting I’ve done. Let’s say 80 percent.Born in 1962, Leila Ahmed Elwy grew up in the neighborhood of El-Helmeya El-Gedida. Her Egyptian father worked in a tourism company, while her Greek mother, Stella, was an anchorwoman at Radio Cairo’s local European Service. Her parents, neighbors before they married, shared a passion for music and theater they passed on to Leila, who dreamed of becoming a ballet dancer.

Elwy’s first brush with fame was through radio shows with famous children’s show presenter Abla Fadeela (see Egypt Today cover story August 2005 for more on Abla Fadeela).

Since her screen debut in 1977, Elwy has starred in over 80 films. Elwy appeared in critically acclaimed movies including ‘Edam Mayet (Execution of a Dead Man, 1985) with Mahmoud Abdel-Aziz, and total flops like Al-Rogol Alazi ‘Atas (The Man Who Sneezed, also 1985) with Samir Ghanem. On stage, her credits include ‘Esh El-Maganeen (Nest of Lunatics) with Mohamed Negm and El-Gameela We El-Wehsheen (The Beauty and The Ugly Ones).

After a break from cinema she returned last year in two acclaimed roles. Hob El-Banat (Girls’ Love) and Baheb El-Sima (I Love Cinema) both got rave reviews. Elwy also scored a huge success in the serial Bent Men Shubra (A Girl from Shubra) in which she depicted a Coptic Egyptian living in 1950s Cairo.

This year, Elwy returns to the Ramadan screen playing the title character in the series Noor El-Sabah, written by Magdy Saber and directed by Samir Seif. She is reportedly one of the highest-paid female TV stars this year, set to receive LE 2.5 million for the outing.

Noor is a woman who is happily married to a loving husband [played by Hesham Abdel-Hamid] and they have a lovely daughter. She is a tour guide, who suddenly faces death when terrorists attack a bus carrying foreign tourists in Sharm El-Sheikh.

The serial was postponed due to security reasons, but it scored a big success in the other Arab countries in which it was shown.

This new serial is interesting because it deals with contemporary social problems. Also, it was a chance to reunite with Hesham Abdel-Hamid, with whom I worked in the thriller Gharam El-Afaey (Snakes’ Passion, 1988).

I also worked several times with action director Dr. Samir Seif on feature films. Seif adds a cinematic effect to TV drama. Finally, producer Mohamed Fawzy didn’t hesitate to take care of the extra funds to give the serial additional production values.

I am happy with most of the acting I’ve done. Let’s say 80 percent.

I used to imitate actors and actresses before I started joining other children for TV and radio show appearances. Then, when I turned 10, director Mohamed Kamel took me by the hand to join the great Mahmoud Morsy in a TV serial called Dam’et Alam (Tears of Pain).

Back then, I was taught my very first lesson in acting when Morsy advised me to be myself and perform naturally in front of the cameras.

Kharag Wa Lam Ya’od (He Left and didn’t Return), by director Mohamed Khan. I appeared with its star, Yehia El-Fakharany, on TV in the serial Siam, Siam (Fasting, Fasting) in 1979 and Farid Shawky in the Egyptian version of Les Miserables. I also got my first award for this role at the Carthage Film Festival.

Well, I was nominated several times as jury member for festivals like Sao Paolo, Valencia and Alexandria. I received several local awards from numerous other festivals. Any actor is keen to represent Egypt and its cinema at the international level.  et