We took a bit of time from Khaled El Sawy’s busy schedule to talk about his latest movie The Money, written by Tamer Hosny, and asked him a few questions about his new year’s resolutions for 2020. Here’s everything he shared with us on this exclusive interview.
CWM: Tell us about your character in this new movie?
I play an old-school and very experienced con-man named Selim and he takes Tamer Hosny’s character under his wing and serves as a mentor in The Money. He teaches him every he knows, but both our characters answer to an older Godfather named Christo and we run operations for him. Selim isn’t trustworthy at all, even if he makes agreements with friends, he can easily stab them in the back, unlike Tamer’s character.
What about this film made you excited to do it?
What really excited me about The money was Tamer! He’s a superstar, and I loved the story – it’s fun, and has action, travel, so many different elements. The cast and crew selected were also a wonderful bunch – Said El Marouk, the director, Zein Kurdi, the producer, Zeina, Mohamed Sallam, Aicha Ben Ahmed. But mainly, Tamer’s presence sealed the deal because he chooses his projects very carefully and he has an ability to predict the success of a film pretty accurately.
The trailer looks absolutely action-packed, what about this movie is going to blow audiences away?
Besides the action, I think the performances of this brilliant cast will blow audiences away! However, the action and romance scenes will complement the acting very well. I think for sure, action films don’t have to be foreign to be mind-blowing. I believe we had an amazing team for stunt choreography and we achieved a very realistic standard of action sequences and scenes.
Which scene was the most challenging to shoot?
The climatic action scene between Tamer and myself was the hardest to pull off and required a lot of work to pull off! The scene takes place in our house and we basically break everything in the house and face off against each other in a very intense fight scene. We trained really hard beforehand, and the process needs you to plan every move – I’ll hit you here, then you’ll move here, and so forth. It’s very much like learning how to dance. I mean, we were exhausted and in pain by the end of it! And there is always a chance that a move will slip and you’ll end up injured.
Besides The Money, what’s is the most fun you’ve had playing a part?
Cabaret. Because, well, it was a movie about a cabaret (laughs) It was a set full of laughter and lightness, and the director would always start the day by saying “I want everyone to get to work! I want hysterics!” which was a great summary of The money itself. We worked really hard and made a great comedy movie about the seedy and greedy world of Egyptian cabarets.
What can your fans expect from you in the upcoming period?
I have quite a few projects coming out this year, for which I’m very grateful! I’m finally going to take part in a Ramadan series after being out of the game for three years. It’s a great series produced by Synergy and the writer is a legend, Ibrahim Kamal. Hossam Ali will direct, and it will be an ensemble cast including myself, Fathy Abdel Wahab, and Tarek Lotfy. I’ll also film a project with Ramez Galal this year called Haykal Nazbi which should be a laugh! I love Ramez and his work, and I think this idea is super unique – it’s a comedy/horror film and should be something special.
I have Sandoo’ el Donya and Shereet 6 coming out this year, hopefully, two movies that I’m sure audiences will enjoy. Fun fact: I’m the oldest cast member in Shereet 6!
Our January issue is all about our dreams and goals for the year, do you have any personal goals or dreams you want to achieve in 2020?
Of course, I have a lot of goals – career-wise and health-wise, in order to be the best version of myself I can be. I ultimately wish to avoid any missteps and mistakes I’ve gone before.
Quickfire Round
If someone makes a movie of your life, who would you want to play you?
Ahmed Khaled Saleh.
What do you think about when you’re alone in your car?
Self-analysis, currently.
If your name wasn’t Khaled, what would you like it to be?
Tarek, since everyone called me that by mistake!
What is your biggest/weirdest fear?
Failure.
If you could live in any other country, where would it be?
America.
Favorite place to eat?
Donato’s, because it’s near the house.
What was the last film you watched?
Godfather 3 for the 9th time, and Irishman.
Are you a morning or a night person?
I like both – specifically dawn and dusk.
What is one item you could never live without?
The arts.
If you had to eat one thing for the rest of your life, what would it be?
Molokheya.
In one word, what is happiness for you?
Fighting to better yourself. This is what leads to happiness, unfortunately.
In 2020, I want __ to disappear!
Injustice.
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