By: Aliaa Elsherbini
We got to know comedian and actor, Islam Ibrahim, the man behind Hamada, the amusing hacker from Ramadan’s hit series B 100 Wesh with 9 fast & fun questions. Hint, the actor mentions ice cream, new roles, and aspirations.
CWM: How did your life change after starring in the hit Ramadan series B 100 Wesh?
II: Due to social distancing precautions I haven’t mingled with a lot of people in the streets yet, but I have received overwhelming support from fans over social media. And hopefully when production projects start running again I will feel a change on a professional level.
How did you prepare for your role as a hacker in B 100 Wesh?
I was very intrigued about the character because he came from a challenging and limited social background, but he was very bright and tech savvy so I started to frequent cyber cafés around town as if I was downloading films and I mingled with techies from low-income areas. Everyone I met was very cunningly smart, but what I noticed the most was how they pronounce English words in their own way so I made sure to add that to Hamada’s character in B 100 Wesh. Hamada had a very distinct and amusing accent.
Do you think you would have made a good hacker in real life? If being a hacker was your job, who would you hack?
I wouldn’t make a good hacker because I am not interested in interfering in other people’s personal lives. Hacking is wrong and immoral, even if I had the technical skills to do so I would never.
Is there a specific character that you would like to play?
I really want to play an evil character because I feel like it would be challenging and it will give me enough room to push my acting skills to their maximum. Some of the characters I have played before had evil sides to them, but I have yet to play a purely evil role.
What makes you laugh?
The people that make me laugh the most are my close friends, my aunts, my sister and my dad; they have the best sense of humor.
Growing up, which book or film characters fascinated you?
All the characters in Yacoubian Building, when I was reading the novel I felt like I wanted to play them all because of how each character is written, it is truly fascinating.
If you had the chance to dine and chat with anyone dead or alive, who would it be and why?
I would love to sit down with Ahmed Zaki. I want to ask him how he was able to fully immerse himself in each character he played and portrayed each of them in a very different and unique way.
I would also like to meet Abla Kamel to learn how she comes across as natural and spontaneous in her roles, and how she was able to maintain that all these years.
What do you do to de-stress and brighten up your mood?
Ice cream! The thing that instantly makes my mood better is ice cream especially Squeeze, those long tubes that resemble Lolitas. I buy them in bulk and eat them, and yes I know that may be unhealthy. Also, when I am in a bad mood I call someone close to me and vent, that really helps.
What are you working on at the moment?
I am working on a film by a new director, a new writer and a new production house. What I liked about the project is its idea, it is a horror movie. I can’t refuse a professional project that offers novelty, even if it is risky due to the creators of it being new to the scene.
Filming has been a blast, I got the chance to do things I haven’t done before like play action, so even if the movie—I pray not—doesn’t succeed I would still be proud of it and happy to have participated in it because it was a lot of fun and it gave me the chance to do something new.
