{"id":5196,"date":"2018-07-01T15:10:37","date_gmt":"2018-07-01T13:10:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/insight-egypt.com\/?p=5196"},"modified":"2019-07-26T15:15:03","modified_gmt":"2019-07-26T13:15:03","slug":"wissam-saliba","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/insight-egypt.com\/?p=5196","title":{"rendered":"Wissam Saliba"},"content":{"rendered":"

From a Fresh Face<\/em> to a Rising Star <\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

It was only four years ago when we saw Wissam Saliba\u2019s talents on the screen in the hit TV series, \u2018Ahmed and Christina,\u2019 which tells the story of two young adults from different religious backgrounds falling in love. You might also know the rising star from the international Arab film \u2018La\u2019eni Bahebak\u2019 (Because I Love You), which continues to receive global and regional acclaim until today. We talked to Saliba about his exceptional role in the upcoming \u2018Mala Al\u2019a\u2019 (Trouble); a film that narrows down the generational gap by blending contemporary social angst with outdated obligations imposed on millennials of today. The Lebanese star with a multi-faceted resume opens up to us about his latest film, and some of the challenges he has overcome thus far. <\/em>\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

What sparked your interest in the entertainment business?<\/strong><\/p>\n

I\u2019ve wanted to be an actor since I was twelve. I used to go to drama school, and I\u2019d get kicked out of class all the time because I wanted to do something more; I always tried to challenge myself, and the teachers would end up being pissed off at me. It was a time when I realised acting is what I really wanted to do. It was either that or basketball. My father is a singer and actor, and I think in my subconscious, the idea was always there, but it wasn\u2019t just my dad\u2019s career that ingrained it; the idea developed as I hung out backstage and started going to school. Watching TV series and taking drama classes at such an early age just set it off.<\/p>\n

You studied film direction in the USA. Why haven\u2019t you pursued a career as a director yet?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Because I believe a director needs to be a lot more mature in the field – so to speak. There are plenty more experiences I need to absorb to be able to direct. Film direction encompasses knowledge in every department, from production assistance, the wardrobe and makeup all the way to the director of photography and casting. A director gets all the blame, and he gets all the praise, so I want to wait until I\u2019m ready for that. Studying in the US taught me the business of acting more so than just acting, alongside the business of directing and producing. Hanging out with professionals and knowing what a good meeting is, and how to benefit from a bad meeting was a lot of help. I learned how to be my own man. When you\u2019re a part of the big leagues and come back here, things seem to be kind of easy when it comes to business. It was especially helpful seeing as it\u2019s going to aid me in many projects that I have yet to produce. I\u2019d love to direct in the future, namely documentaries.<\/p>\n

You portrayed a variety of different characters in many successful projects. Which was your favourite and which was the hardest to portray?<\/strong><\/p>\n

I think it would be my role in \u2018Trouble\u2019, just because I love the script and the people I worked with. He\u2019s very awkward, yet funny and very empathetic. He\u2019s quirky, and I love that \u2013 it\u2019s always fun to play. The hardest for me to play was probably my first role in \u2018Ahmed and Christina\u2019, because I was still getting used to Arabic, and the poetic part of talking on camera. The challenge was not because he\u2019s Muslim and I was raised in a different religion – that part was actually easy because my social life was always multicultural, and I hung out with people from different faiths – but it\u2019s because the setting is in a different era. He\u2019s from the \u201860s, and in a way, it was a very different life from what I lived, but also very similar in the sense that he moved out of his bubble and learned a lot.<\/p>\n

What can you tell us about your upcoming movie \u2018Trouble\u2019?<\/strong><\/p>\n

I think it\u2019s a very risky flick. The plot revolves around blackmailing over sexual online content, which happens to a lot of boys and girls nowadays. At the same time, it\u2019s very original and fresh to the Lebanese market, since we\u2019re all used to romantic comedies and soap operas here, but our generation was not raised on those and we want to change the game. It\u2019s a road-trip-meets-hangover kind of film. A beautiful story about the son of a political official who was raised to become just like his dad, but has never really lived, or been with women. The film starts with his wedding 48 hours away, and he gets blackmailed after his coach urges him to go online and talk to this crazy girl so he can have an adventure. They have a little bit of webcam sex, and she blackmails him in return for some money. He ends up going on this big road trip with a guy he does not like, and his best friend that he hasn\u2019t seen in ten years. They meet a lot of people along the way and a lot of adventures take place. It\u2019s really fresh, and really fun.<\/p>\n

What did you learn from your father, Ghassan Saliba?<\/strong><\/p>\n

He guided me and taught me how to act and react with people. He instilled in me similar qualities to those I learned from my stay in LA. Both of my parents have been supportive and impelled me to never give up. Before I even left to LA, he taught me the most crucial thing of all by showing me rather than telling me, and that\u2019s to be kind. He taught me to respect myself, respect other people, and their time. He taught me to be punctual and remember where I\u2019m from. It\u2019s because of him that I learned to be humble, no matter where I end up. And thanks to that, I was brought to many valuable things in my life.<\/p>\n

What about singing? Would you consider taking a bigger step in the music field?<\/strong><\/p>\n

I\u2019m currently working on a bunch of new originals with my friend. We\u2019re putting melody on some lyrics and poetry (written by other people) that I\u2019m still amassing. I am taking a bigger step in the music field, and it\u2019s going to be a mix of Eastern and Western, because the latter is what I was raised on, despite my dad being Ghassan Saliba. I don\u2019t want to make music that sounds completely Eastern because it\u2019s just not me, and I don\u2019t want to feel like I\u2019m in a place that I have invaded; or be a sellout and sing something out of my character. My music will be something that comes from the heart: some very funky stuff \u2013a blend of pop and hip-hop, with some rock and electronic sounds as well. It\u2019s going to be really fun.<\/p>\n

You\u2019re famous for your philanthropic work and activities. What can you tell us about that?<\/strong><\/p>\n

I try to use my fame and art to shed light on social awareness. It\u2019s one of the reasons why I wanted to move back here. I do my best to talk about social change and encourage a higher type of thinking: a mental transcendence of sorts. I still work with a lot of NGOs that help refugees as well as those that alleviate poverty, hunger, diseases, and drug abuse. It\u2019s usually pretty clear what needs to be done in these departments, but what I try to shed light on is how we need to live our lives; we, as in, the people in the same social or economic caste as I am, people who make the same amount of money that I do and don\u2019t know what to do with their lives; or feel like they have no purpose. I want to stress on how you can be kind and loving, yet individualistic in your opinions and simultaneously a team player. Don\u2019t follow the norm or what the media tells you. Just live, amass information and learn about yourself and others.<\/p>\n

How do you evaluate your journey so far? What do you still aim to achieve?<\/strong><\/p>\n

I\u2019m happy where I am, and very grateful. I\u2019m living in the moment, enjoying my work, and I try as much as I can to shed light on what I just spoke about in terms of social awareness, transcendence and helping others. I aim to create more art and express these beautiful social ideas more vibrantly through my pieces. As for what I aim to achieve, I\u2019d love to produce my own work on the MENA level and later on, expand to Europe and the USA. I would just love to produce art that resembles our streets and our generation.<\/p>\n

What are your upcoming projects? Any specific Egypt-based projects you want to tell us about?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Egypt has always been a huge part of my education and cultural learning, and I look forward to learning more about the culture, especially historically. I would love to be in the Egyptian market, not only because it gives me exposure, but it also creates a beautiful reach in terms of my social work. There are plenty of great Egyptian artists I\u2019d love to meet and work with sometime in the future. As for my upcoming projects, other than \u2018Trouble\u2019 and my music, I\u2019m working on my new film production company. I\u2019m also working on a dark comedy feature, as well as some projects for Netflix and iflix.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

It was only four years ago when we saw Wissam Saliba\u2019s talents on the screen in the hit TV series, \u2018Ahmed and Christina,\u2019 which tells the story of two young adults from different religious backgrounds falling in love. You might also know the rising star from the international Arab film \u2018La\u2019eni Bahebak\u2019 (Because I Love You), which continues to receive global and regional acclaim until today. We talked to Saliba about his exceptional role in the upcoming \u2018Mala Al\u2019a\u2019 (Trouble); a film that narrows down the generational gap by blending contemporary social angst with outdated obligations imposed on millennials of today. The Lebanese star with a multi-faceted resume opens up to us about his latest film, and some of the challenges he has overcome thus far. \u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":5197,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_EventAllDay":false,"_EventTimezone":"","_EventStartDate":"","_EventEndDate":"","_EventStartDateUTC":"","_EventEndDateUTC":"","_EventShowMap":false,"_EventShowMapLink":false,"_EventURL":"","_EventCost":"","_EventCostDescription":"","_EventCurrencySymbol":"","_EventCurrencyCode":"","_EventCurrencyPosition":"","_EventDateTimeSeparator":"","_EventTimeRangeSeparator":"","_EventOrganizerID":[],"_EventVenueID":0,"_OrganizerEmail":"","_OrganizerPhone":"","_OrganizerWebsite":"","_VenueAddress":"","_VenueCity":"","_VenueCountry":"","_VenueProvince":"","_VenueZip":"","_VenuePhone":"","_VenueURL":"","_VenueStateProvince":"","_VenueLat":"","_VenueLng":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5196","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-interviews"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/insight-egypt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5196"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/insight-egypt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/insight-egypt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/insight-egypt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/insight-egypt.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=5196"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/insight-egypt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5196\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5198,"href":"https:\/\/insight-egypt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5196\/revisions\/5198"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/insight-egypt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/5197"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/insight-egypt.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=5196"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/insight-egypt.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=5196"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/insight-egypt.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=5196"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}