Widely known for her raw, natural and realistic portrayals of the many characters she’s played, Asma Abulyazeid is a talent on the rise.
Now famous for her parts on El Anesa Farah, El Ekhtiar and Hatha Al Masaa, the multi-talented Abulyazeid has also appeared in many big movies, and has a great singing voice! See what the actress has to say about her journey, past, present and future.
By Mariam Elhamy
What are you excited about the most in the 4th season of El Anesa Farah?
I’m generally excited about Farah coming back and all the new events. The audience can expect many new surprises. Farah will have new experiences and will face many challenges and unanswered questions. Farah will not only be questioning her partners but also her life decisions. Asma Abulyazeid
What do you love the most about Farah? Do you relate to her character in any way?
Farah is a very compassionate and intelligent girl. She loves her family and she is very ambitious. Farah and I are similar in how we both don’t like surprises; we both get nervous easily and we both really love our families.
But we’re different in one thing, she likes to plan and organize everything in her life when I’m a bit less systematic. I don’t like to make a plan, but I can create a wide frame for how I want things to be and leave the rest to God. Asma Abulyazeid
If you were put in the same position as Farah, how would you have handled it?
In which position exactly? Having to decide between Shady and Tarek? Or that she’s pregnant with a baby that she didn’t even plan for? Or that at this age, she suddenly found out that Maged El Alfy is her father after years of not knowing? Farah has many situations!
Which one of these situations do you believe is the hardest to be in?
Her decision to keep the baby is the hardest I believe. I don’t know whether to categorize it as a brave or an impulsive decision, but if I were in her position, I wouldn’t do the same.
I wouldn’t keep a baby that I wasn’t even planning for and is not the result of love but the result of an accident or a coincidence.
Which one of your roles has been your favorite?
They are all my children and I love them all. If I didn’t love a role I wouldn’t have been able to do it. Asma Abulyazeid
Tell us about how you started singing.
While I was still a student in the school of fine arts, I started doing theater. I did many shows as an actress, and then later worked as an executive director and director’s assistant.
In 2015, I auditioned to join a female band and made it. We became Bahgaga, five girls who sing the contemporary art of monologue. Monologue is a very old art but we try to discuss present-day issues with it by making it more modern, simple and relatable.
Do you like theater more or films and TV?
Each one has a different taste. Theater is my first love, so it has a different feeling to me, but cinema and TV have a different taste and pleasure.
Did you have any celebrity crushes as a kid?
Ahmed Zaki, Mahmoud Abdelaziz and lately when I got a bit older, Khaled Saleh. God rest their souls. They were also great people who I really wish I could have worked with.
What’s the hardest thing about acting?
That no matter what you are personally going through, you have to put it aside and put on a happy face. Asma Abulyazeid
Like if I had a role where I had to dance, laugh and be productive and at the same time I was dealing with a lot of issues in my life, I would have to put these issues aside and become that happy character. Even if you’re unhappy, you have to push it away because your audience, who loves you, doesn’t need to see your sad side.
Quickfire round
Would you live in the past or future?
The past, maybe the 60s. I love the dresses of this period!
What’s your biggest pet peeve?
I hate people who just want to talk but don’t listen, I hate when someone treats me like I’m a fool, I also hate having to listen to any sound repetitively for a long time. This is actually a form of torture.
Who do you trust unconditionally?
My family and some of my friends.
Read us the last text you sent.
I was checking up on some injured birds I had found and rescued and I was asking what to do for them and how to feed them.
Did you ever skip school?
No! I loved school.
Did you ever lie to not go out?
All the time. But I don’t lie. I tell the truth. I say I’m sorry I slept, I have to babysit the cat or I’m tired or I just don’t feel like it.
Which subject were you bad at in school and which was your favorite?
I was bad at math because I hate numbers. And I used to love Arabic and Arabic literature.
What do you think about first thing in the morning?
Coffee.
Weirdest thing you ever ate?
In Germany I had cucumbers cooked in red sauce.
