- Born
- Ahmed Malek Mostafa (born 29 September 1995) is an Egyptian actor. His first audition came at the age of eight when his uncle took him to perform in a commercial. In 2005, Malek had his first role in the TV series "Ayamna el helwa" (Our Good Days). A few years later, he played a small role in "Mafish Fayda", starring Moustafa Amar and Basma. Shortly after, executive director Osama Farid asked Malek to perform the role of young Hassan al-Banna, founder of the Muslim Brotherhood, in the TV series El-Gamaah (2010) (The Brotherhood), which is considered the then-15-year-old's first breakthrough role.
After the 2011 Egyptian Revolution, Malek disappeared for a short time, as he decided to focus on political and revolutionary activism. When director Gamal Abdel Hameed offered him the role of a young Egyptian revolutionary activist in the TV series "Al-shaware'a al-khafiya" (The Backstreets) - starring famous actors Jamal Soliman, Layla Olwi, Sami El-Adl and Gihan Fadel - he could not resist.
In 2012, director Mohamed Samy offered Malek the role of Ahmed, a stammered teenage addict in his series Ma'a Sabq Alesrar (2012). With his newfound success in the role, Samy nominated Malek to play the role of a troubled teen in his new TV series Hekayet Hayah (2013) for which he won a DG award for Best Young Actor in 2013. Seeing Malek's impressive performance, renowned Egyptian director Sherif Arafa asked him to audition for a pivotal role in the much-anticipated sequel of his movie El-Gezirah (2007). The sequel, The Island 2 (2014), propelled Malek towards regional stardom in the Middle East and after which he become one of the most successful and sought-after Egyptian actors of his generation. He would later find international fame with roles in critically acclaimed films such as Clash (2016), Sheikh Jackson (2017) and Leil Khargi (2018) - all of which have been selected to represent Egypt in international film festivals and award circuits.- IMDb Mini Biography By: pody abazaa - About Ahmed Malek Throughout his career, Ahmed Malek has been known to choose diverse roles and characters, which set him apart from his peers when filmmakers needed to cast someone his age. Among his notable film and television works are SHEIKH JACKSON, CLASH, HEPTA: THE LAST LECTURE - which was a box office and film festival smash - and LA TOTTFE' AL SHAMS TV series, which was one of the most-watched TV shows during Ramadan 2017. Ahmed Malek is a young actor who is constantly working on his craft and trying new things. This is how he got his start in the entertainment industry. His uncle took him to an audition for a TV commercial when he was still in first grade, and since then, acting in front of the camera and appearing on TV have become this little boy's favorite games. He started appearing in one TV commercial after another until he made his acting debut in the AHLAMNA AL-HILWA (2005) TV series by director Ali Abdel-Khalek. Three years later, he made his big-screen debut with a small role in the film IT'S HOPELESS (2008) by Hatem Farid. The young boy's professional career began with director Mohamed Yassin, who chose him after auditioning many children for the role of young Hassan al-Banna, the founder of the Muslim Brotherhood, in the TV hit THE BROTHERHOOD (2010), in which Malek captivated the audience. While he still thinks he's playing pretend when he's actually discovering his talent as an actor, he appeared in Gamal Abdel Hamid's BACK STREETS (2011) and Ali Edries' GEDDO HABIBI (2012). Malek advanced to a new level, becoming a rising young star in high demand. He co-starred in two TV series with Egyptian star Ghada Abdelrazek and director Mohamed Samy: MA'A SABQ ALESRAR (2012) - for which he received the Dear Guest Award for Best Young Actor - and HEKAYET HAYAH (2013). His collaboration with director Mohamed Samy extended to the films REGATTA (2015) and AHWAK (2015). Malek was then cast in Sherif Arafa's smash hit THE ISLAND 2 (2014) and Ahmed Nader Galal's film THE FOURTH GENERATION (2015). After gaining some experience, Malek felt ready to choose roles that would allow him to showcase his incredible acting talent, so he began looking for more complex characters. He starred as Mans in the 2016 film CLASH - which premiered in the Un Certain Regard section of the Cannes Film Festival. Mans is an underserved young man who, for the first time in his life, participates in street protests. Mans was unlike any other character Malek had played before, which surprised the audience. Malek came up with the idea of making Mans a wedding DJ to make the character more appealing. In the film HEPTA: THE LAST LECTURE, he played a character who was completely different from Mans and his world. HEPTA: THE LAST LECTURE was a huge success, becoming the highest-grossing romantic film in Egyptian cinema history, grossing more than EGP 27 million. During Ramadan 2016, he starred in Mohamed Yasine's AFRAH AL QOBA. The following Ramadan season, Malek's performance in the TV series LA TOTFE' AL SHAMS captivated viewers and created a buzz on social media. The chemistry between Malek and director Mohamed Shaker Khodeir was described by Malek as "The Key" to the success of this TV series. Malek's mind is racing with questions as he carefully reads his role, so he approaches Khodeir. After listening to Malek's questions, he asks if he wants answers or 'The Key,' to which Malek responds with 'The Key,' meaning a short-summarized sentence that describes exactly what is required of the actor, which Malek fully understood. Furthermore, Malek appeared in Amr Salama's SHEIKH JACKSON, which had its world premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) and also featured at the BFI London Film Festival and El Gouna Film Festival. The film was Egypt's official entry for Best Foreign Language Film at the 2018 Academy Awards. This role garnered Malek the Best Support Actor Award at the 44th Egyptian Film Association Festival. Malek was among the five promising Arab stars and filmmakers in the Arab Stars of Tomorrow Program during theactivies of the 14th Dubai International Film Festival His film NIGHT/EXT had its world premiere at the 2018 Toronto International Film Festival, where Malek was announced among Screen International's picks for the 5 Arab Stars of Tomorrow. Moreover, he was chosen for TIFF's 2018 Rising Stars Program. NIGHT/EXT had its Arab world premiere at the Cairo International Film Festival (CIFF), where it received widespread critical acclaim and was dubbed "the new hope for Egyptian cinema" in the festival's newsletter. The film was screened as well at Morocco's Marrakech International Film Festival. Malek has appeared in a number of blockbusters, including THE GUEST and GUNSHOT (2018). Malek was able to reintroduce himself to audiences through these films, while maintaining his previous position as a professional young actor, but with more profound and mysterious aspects. NEW YEAR, which had its world premiere at the Marrakech International Film Festival, is one of his 2020 projects. Mohamed Sakr directed it, and producer Mohamed Hefzy wrote it. Following that, he made his international debut in Roderick MacKay's feature film debut THE FURNACE, co-starring with acclaimed Australian actor David Wenham. The role garnered Malek an AACTA Award Nomination for Best Lead Actor.
The film world premiered at the Venice International Film Festival and had its Arab world premiere at El Gouna Film Festival in 2020. The film received numerous positive reviews and ranked high on Google searches. Variety described it as "breathtaking and pleasant," the Guardian as a "Western film with the strength of aged leather and the richness of gold," and Screen Daily praised Malek as "an eye-catching Malek in the character of Hanif." Malek was featured in the film ABOUT HER, which had its world premiere at the Cairo International Film Festival. Furthermore, Malek co-starred in the AWEL EMBAREH episode of the TV drama series NEMRA ETNEEN (NUMBER TWO) with superstar Menna Shalaby, and he was honored by GQ Middle East with the Breakthrough Actor in 2020 Award in recognition of his journey and remarkable achievements throughout the year. He was also on the cover of the magazine, which featured some of the world's best fashion houses, including Hermès and Dior. This is Malek's second collaboration with GQ MiddleEast; the magazine previously featured an interview with the young star titled "Ahmed Malek is About to Go." Furthermore, Malek was a panelist on the Arab Stars of Tomorrow panel during the 42nd Cairo International Film Festival. Malek was chosen to serve on the jury of the 2nd El Gouna Film Festival's Short Film Competition and the Shnit Worldwide Short Film Festival's Realtime Competition. He also announced the winners of the 3rd Global Migration Film Festival's Feature Film Competition (GMFF). In addition, in 2021, Malek starred in BIMBO, an eight-episode series that aired on Shahid and was written by Mohamed Adeeb and directed by Amr Salama. The series featured a star-studded cast, including Huda El Mufti and Wegz. He also appeared in the 13-episode TV drama INVESTIGATION, which was produced by Aroma and aired on the WATCHIT platform. He also appeared in Hadi El Bagoury's film QAMAR 14 alongside Shereen Reda, Yasmine Ra'eis, and Khaled El Nabawy. It premiered at the fifth Gouna Film Festival before being released in Egyptian theatres. In 2022, he starred in a Ramadan commercial series videos with "Badya" real estate. Moreover, in the same year, Malek starred in KIRA & EL GEN by the dynamic duo Marwan Hamed and Ahmed Mourad, the film based on Ahmed Mourad's best-selling novel 1919. Ahmed Malek also appeared in Ahmed Helmy's social-comedy film ANOTHER ONE, which was released on Eid El Fitr 2022. Later that year, Malek starred in Netflix's THE SWIMMERS, a film based on the true story of Yusra and Sara Mardini, Syrian refugee sisters who made it to the Olympics. Egyptian-British filmmaker Sally El Hossainy directed the film, which she co-wrote with British screenwriter Jack Thorne. Furthermore, THE SWIMMERS opened the 47th Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF), was featured at the BFI London Film Festival, and had its MENA premiere at the 44th Cairo International Film Festival. THE SWIMMERS was among the Outstanding British Film of the Year contenders for the 2023 BAFTA Award. The film serves as a motivating reminder of the strength of human resilience. Malek's latest film MATAR by activist Hassan Akkad - who won a BAFTA for his BBC documentary EXODUS: OUR JOURNEY TO EUROPE - is currently available on WatchBear Network. MATAR demonstrates how difficult it is for asylum seekers to live on London's dangerous streets, as well as how difficult it is for thousands of migrants to live in this country. The script is based on the experiences of Syrian refugee and cinematographer Ayman Alhussein. Malek co-stars in the film with BAFTA nominee Youssef Kerkour (HOUSE OF GUCCI, HOME) and Elmi Rashid Elmi (DUNE). After his latest film's release, Malek featured in Cartier's Ramadan campaign alongside Dhafer L'Abidine and Tara Emad. The campaign blended Egyptians' love for Ramadan riddles (Fawazir) with the equally popular game of charades, with each of them acting out a word in less than a minute as casually as possible, leaving it up to the audience to guess what the campaign was all about. Furthermore, Malek is filming a new BBC project with Stephan Graham called BOILING POINT, which is based on the film and follows the relentless pressure that builds up in a restaurant kitchen as a head chef wrangles his team on the busiest day of the year.- IMDb Mini Biography By: MAD Solutions
- Malek was chosen among four international up-and-coming actors to be presented at the Toronto International Film Festival's Rising Stars showcase in 2018.
- We are the future of this country,Whether older people accept it or not, we will outgrow them, and spread, and eventually have some sort of control over most sections of society," says Malek. "The more the youth realize this, and try to become informed, aware and able, the more promising the future of Egypt will be.
- The problem that we have a reference for every reaction in today's acting world, meaning every joy, sadness, and enthusiasm has a certain form referenced from TV. In the end, we come off as imitating TV shows, not life, because real people don't interact that way. there are other good actors who imitate life, and even though I disapprove of imitation, what is better in the school of imitation is to imitate life not TV.
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