Profile: Ahmed Malek achieves breakthrough in acting

CAIRO – 19 November, 2017: Ahmed Malek, a tremendously talented aspiring young actor with major film and TV series rolls, has been awarded the Dear Guest (DG) Award for Best Young Actor.

Born in September 1995, Malek’s first audition came at the age of eight when his uncle took him to perform in a commercial.

In 2005, Malek had his first role in the TV series "Ayamna el helwa" (Our Good Days). A few years later, executive director Osama Farid asked Malek to perform the role of young Hassan al-Banaa, founder of Muslim Brotherhood, in the TV series "The Brotherhood”, considered to be the then-15-year-old‘s first breakthrough roll.

After the January 25th Revolution, he disappeared from acting for a short time, as he decided to focus on political and revolutionary activities. When director Gamal Abdel Hameed offered him the role of a young Egyptian revolutionary activist in the series “The Backstreets” – starring famous actors Gamal Soliman, Leila Elwi, Samy El-Adl and Gihan Fadel – he could not resist.

He paid attention of his audience, and his talents were finally recognized in 2012 after achieving great success in his role on the TV series “With Premeditation”.

In 2013, he played the role of a womanizing troubled teen in the series “Hayt’s Tale”, for which he won the DG Award for Best Young Actor.

Seeing Malek’s amazing performance, director Sherif Arafa asked him to audition a pivotal role in the second part of his movie “El Gezira”.

Malek’s latest movie, “Sheikh Jackson”, was chosen as the opening movie for the first edition of El Gouna Film Festival, which took place from September 22-29. The film also screened at the 61st London Film Festival, which kicked off on October 4. Egypt selected Amr Salama’s “Sheikh Jackson” as its candidate for consideration at the upcoming Oscars, set to take place in February 2018.

“Sheikh Jackson” stars Ahmed al-Fishawy and revolves around the death of the “King of Pop”, Michael Jackson. The plotline focuses on an aspiring Imam who loves Jackson’s music and imitates the pop star’s performances. His strong relationship with Salafism reflects the contradictions in his life.

He was chosen by Shnit International Short Film Festival (SISFF) to be a jury member in November 2017, alongside famous script writer Tamer Habib and Egyptian director Mariam Abu Ouf.

Recently, he participated in the Helm Foundation’s campaign launched on social media, starring Egyptian actors Menna Shalaby and Malek, to make Cairo University accessible to people with disabilities.

The campaign video features Shalaby as a visually impaired woman and Malek in a wheelchair. Both have challenges getting around Cairo due to the lack of accessibility for people with disabilities.