Insight’s 26th anniversary
This month marks our 26th anniversary. Over the years, we have been honored by the plethora of celebrities who bared their souls to us. In this article, we will skim off our top favorite interviews in which celebrities spoke their minds with us.
Yosra El Lozy
“I consider nightlife a torture.” This was how Yosra described how she hates crowded places with loud music, which is not so surprising judging from her tranquil personality. Yosra said that she loves to sleep and wake up early to enjoy her day the most. Moreover, she expressed her admiration for her parents’ marital relationship, saying that they are a match from heaven and her sheer inspiration.
Photographer: Abu Samra Studio – Photographer: Mahmoud Ashour
Rania Youssef
Insight met the gorgeous 45-year-old actress to discuss the ordeal of her revealing CIFF dress and how she dealt with it. “The dress appeared more revealing on camera than I expected it to be because of lighting and lining” explains Rania. Regarding her divorce from the businessman Tarek Azab, Rania said that she is not on the same page with the notion of marriage.
Photographer: Mahmoud Ashour
Laila Eloui
Like mother like daughter, Laila began her career at the age of 7 performing in several radio programs like, ‘Asafeer El Gana’, and ‘Fatafet Al Sokar’. Then at the age of 15, she participated in a play called ‘Taman Setat’, directed by Galal El Sharkawy. Laila reveals that her mother’s work as a radio host opened her eyes to the beauty of art.
Photographer: Khaled Fadaa
Ghada Adel
Ghada revealed that her role model in acting is Yousra, pointing out that surely there are other foreign actresses whom she loves, yet she feels that her role model has to be a renowned Egyptian actress. Regarding her most challenging roles, Ghada mentioned ‘Mamlaket Eblees’. “I tried to change my guise and lost some weight to form the impression that I was slim and young.”
Photographer: Khaled Fadaa
Ahmed Salah Hosny
Overwhelmed with all-consuming passion, Ahmed shifted his career from soccer playing to art, wending his way as a song-composer. Ahmed’s advice to uprising actors is to watch movies and tv series a lot, attend workshops, and acquire more than one language. Ahmed is also a professional athlete; he always tries his best to stay fit and even gets depressed if he doesn’t train.
Photographer: Khaled Fadaa
Razan El Moghrabi
How amazing it is to have fans across the globe: Razan stayed in London for ten years and returned to MBC in Egypt afterwards, which expanded her fan base. Razan passionately told us about her son Ram and how he is proud of his mutli-sided identity as a British, Lebanese-Egyptian young man. Razan also mentions that she doesn’t regret giving up Scoop with Razan to Raya.
Photographer: Mahmoud Ashour
Myriam Fares
Myriam uncovered her weary nature to us, revealing that her unease keeps her awake at night, but she loves to dance, write, and sing at night. Myriam told us that she doesn’t think about marriage; instead, she waits for her lover-to-be to come and surprise her. She is so passionate about oriental and Indian cultures, and therefore, always keeps abreast of their latest trends and news.
Photographer: Hussein Salman
Mai Omar
After just five years in spotlight, Mai Omar was awarded the ‘Best Youth Actress’ title for her astonishing talent on the screen. Laughingly, Mai says that although she is always up to her eyeballs in trying to be strict with her children, it always ends up the other way round. Omar also talked about her series “Rayah El-madam” as a new, challenging opportunity for her.
Photographer: Khaled Fadaa
Dhafer L’Abidine
Having starred in Hollywood movies including ‘A Hologram for the King’ with Tom Hanks, Dhafer is always ready to seize opportunities that get into his way. Working as an athlete, model and actor, Dhafer reveals that modelling was not his passion in comparison to acting and football. For Dhafer, a compelling role is a one that challenges him by introducing new writing techniques that let him explore beyond his comfort zone.
Photographer: Daniel Salib
Haifa Wehbe
Before she goes out on stage, Haifa loves to choose her outfit according to her mood after her hair and makeup are done. Despite having her own stylist, she always chooses her outlook on the spur of the moment. “A good man will make me feel good, respect me, and put me first.’’ This was how Haifa depicted her dream husband.
Photographer: Sharbel Bou Mansour
Dorra
Dorra has told us that she loves to pick up the roles that expose different personalities from hers to people. She likes to choose roles that encompass cinematic values and personas worth embodying. “Coming out here to Egypt on my own when no one here had heard of me, with no connections whatsoever to help me is my biggest accomplishment” says Dorra proudly.
Photographer: Nouran Khalifa
Eman Elassi
The first thing that Eman checks before she picks a role is a director who can furnish her with advantageous tips for an eccentric role. Eman passionately told us that her best achievement ever is Rita¬–her daughter. In cuddling her daughter and executing considerable career-steps lies Eman’s utter delight. Eman got married and later divorced; therefore, she is endeavoring to make up for this wasted time.
Photographer: Mahmoud Ashour
Dolly Shahine
In Dolly’s point of view, women’s beauty lies in her education, strength, motherhood, virtue, and self-care. Dolly says she thinks that her body is Brazilian but her voice is Lebanese. In 30-40 years to come, she hopes that people sing her songs and watch her movies, saying “‘We wish we were living in that era!”
Photographer: Mahmoud Ashour
Nicole Saba
Nicole’s life has encountered a little bit of change since she married Youssef El khal as marriage has added stability and intimacy to her life. The couple were dating for four years but then got separated. They became friends for six years and started dating again until they tied the knot. Saba says that she is “okay with plastic surgery if needed but not as a way of killing boredom.”
Photographer: Sharbel Bou Mansour
Jamila Awad
Jamila is a talent steeped in the cinema industry since she is the granddaughter of the famed Egyptian actor and comedian Mohamed Awad. However, Jamila told us that nothing in life is easy peasy; “each phase in life holds its own lesson, and the lesson gets harder in each phase” Jamila said. Jamila’s most challenging role was Hanya in ‘Taht Al Saytara
– a role replete with numerous psychological intricacies.
Photographer: Mahmoud Ashour
Mai Selim
Mai always wished to work with screen-legend Mahmoud Abdel Aziz and achieved her dream in ‘Gabal Alhalal.’ “He is a very humble person who knows how to entertain the entire crew” says Mai, depicting Abdel Aziz. In Mai’s opinion, the syndicate needs to dedicate a different season for drama besides Ramadan that is witnessing an annual presentation of more than 60 series, resulting a huge injustice for numerous other series.
Photographer Sherief Mokhtar
Somaya ElKhashab
When asked about the closest roles to her heart, Somaya mentioned “Raya & Sekina” because it was very successful in addition to “El Hakika wel Sarab” because it carried a very important message for families. Somaya revealed to us her three golden tips for weight-loss, which are “No dinner, loads of water, and lots of sports.”
Photographer: Emad kassem
Mona Abou Hamze
Mona loved TV-presenting since childhood, yet she couldn’t worm her way because of her family’s firm norms. When her three children started school, Mona discussed presenting with her husband and started her preparations. In 2009, Mona appeared on air for the first time. “I think aging is most of all a state of mind. My only concern is to live decently and be surrounded by my loved ones” says Mona.
Photographer: Zobian Saad- Photographer: MOHAMAD SEIFEDDINE
Lara Scandar
Made famous by the popular TV show Star Academy, Lara has since morphed into an impressive performer. Lara’s parents were always supportive and always encouraged both Lara and her sister to do what they loved. Depicting her introvert personality, Lara reveals that she is not a party girl at all; “it takes an army to get me out of my house, let alone go to a party” says Lara .
Photographer: Rabee Younes
Hend Sabry
Hend is a multifaceted persona; she is a mother, lawyer, goodwill ambassador, and one of the most talented actresses of our time. Even after her phenomenal success in ‘Algazeera 2’, she thinks she is not there yet. “I am always learning from every director and actor I work with. Now I try to choose the kind of roles that can present me to the audience in a different way.”
Photographer: Marawan Nabil
Jenny Esber
The Syrian actress unearthed her talent at the age of ten as she loved to look through magazines to learn about Marilyn Monroe and Elizabeth Taylor. Jenny’s road to fame wasn’t that easy as she endured many hardships; she spent her teen years in Ukraine and therefore had troubles speaking Arabic. Jane loves to spend her weekends with her daughter who always wakes Jane up early in the morning.
Photographer: Hussein Salman