The Men We Love For Keeping it Real 
Ahmed Mekky
Egyptian Boy

By: Daliah Galal
Photographed by Hussein Shaaban
October 2008

He’s young, he’s smart and right now, he’s box office gold. He’s a salacious scriptwriter, a born director and a hugely talented actor. With his pulse on the cultural zeitgeist and his tongue firmly in cheek, Ahmed Mekky has created a big screen afro-sporting character that’s forcing young Egyptians to take a good hard and hilarious look at themselves. This is Mekky’s moment in the sun, and he’s using the opportunity to say it exactly like it is. Enigma’s Daliah Galal hears him out….

First thing’s first, how does a nice Egyptian boy like you end up plastered on giant billboards across Cairo, sporting an oversized afro? You were a professional boxer for about eight years; how on earth did you up in show business?

Actually I was in the UAE on a boxing contract when a friend of mine dragged me along to an acting workshop he was trying out for. Funnily enough, I got into the course and he didn’t even get accepted. I graduated top of the class, but I went to extreme lengths to do it! I had to play the part of a messed up garbage man, and I gained 20 kilos just for the role.

As time went on, I started to notice that my favourite actors, like Robert De Niro, Clint Eastwood and Mel Gibson, were also directors. It’s the director who really gets to tell the story, and I just loved the idea of telling a story through film. So I decided to study directing as well.  The first short student film I directed was called Yabani Asly (Authentic Japanese). It’s about a nerd who has just hit puberty and is trying to masturbate in the middle of a very crowded house to a picture of a Japanese girl in a bikini! The film was ranked one of the top 60 short films at a film festival in France and also won awards in Italy, China, Korea and the Cairo Film Festival.

For my graduation project I directed a seven minute movie called El Hassa El Saba’ (The Seventh Sense) which also won many awards. It was about a young guy who enlists the help of a sorcerer to win the world title of Taekwondo, by acquiring the ability to read people’s minds. I got several offers from producers to turn it into a feature film. At first I was a bit reluctant as there’s really no joy in making the same movie twice. Eventually though I agreed, wrote a longer version and got Ahmed El Fishawy to star in it. The movie proved popular and I guess my career took off from there.

You  then ended up creating and starring in the slapstick sitcom Tamer and Shawkeya. That’s quite a leap from your Japanese boy movie…
I always wanted to do an Egyptian sitcom. So many had tried and failed to pull off a successful sitcom in this country that I wanted to prove it could be done. I did my research and figured if I could localise the whole thing and poke fun at local culture, it had to be a success. And it was!  Originally I was just supposed to direct the show, but when the actor who was meant to play Haitham Dabbour pulled out at the last minute, I made some modifications to the character and did it myself. Dabbour is typical of a lot of ‘high society’ Egyptian guys who think they’re cool. He’s spoilt, Westernized, self-absorbed and wears baggy shorts and t-shirts that are far too tight.  To be honest I was a bit worried that audiences might find him hard to swallow, but they bought into it and the show was a huge hit.

As everyone knows, you got your big break in box office hit Morgan Ahmed Morgan starring alongside the film icon Adel Imam. Tell us about that…
There’s really not that much to tell. One day I got a call from Adel Imam telling me that he wants me to be a part of his new movie. Even though I was offered a small role, I didn’t think twice. That movie really put me on the map and I owe it all to Adel Imam.

You recently surprised audiences with a stunningly intense performance as the taxi driver Zaghloul in the controversial movie The Night of the Babydoll. That must have been a great feeling, defying expectations like that…
I felt that I’d finally earned the audience’s respect and that meant the world to me.  I actually went to see the movie several times and I would hear people whispering manically behind me, wondering if it was really me sitting there with them.

Ok, I guess we can’t avoid talking about your mammoth movie Dabbour any longer! You’ve resurrected your Tamer and Shawkeya role for the big screen and become a cultural icon overnight!
I just keyed in to a major issue of the moment; this huge gap between the higher and lower classes in Egypt and the virtual disappearance of a middle class. Everyone relates to those characters. I’ve also been to see Dabbour several times at the cinema, and every time I appear on screen without the wig the audience applauds! So people have just started to recognise me without it.

There was a lot of controversy surrounding the movie because of the offensive language used. How did you react to that?
Well, I saw that coming but I didn’t expect the backlash to be that strong! The way I see it, this is the language of our generation, I didn’t make any of it up. To stand out you must present something edgy and real.
 
Let’s get a bit personal. Tell me Mr. Mekky, how does it feel being a celebrity?
Look, it’s great to feel that people love you, but I’m originally a director and I have a director’s spirit. I’m not so big on the celebrity thing, but there was this one fan I can never forget. She was very good looking and in her 30s. She told me she just got divorced  and was planning to commit suicide. But when she saw Morgan Ahmed Morgan it made her laugh so much, she watched it four times. She said it really made a difference in her perspective. This ability to touch people’s lives is incomparable.

And how do your friends react to your fame?
Nothing has changed, we always have fun with it and have a big laugh about the silly situations I usually put myself in; especially with the media!

Do you dream of international recognition?
Of course I do. But it’s not my dream, it is my ambition.

You’ve made millions laugh, but who makes you laugh?
Foad El Mohandes and Abdel Moneim Madbooly always make me laugh. And I love the movie Kung Pow, it’s hilarious. It mocks old cliché  and cheesy films, and it’s just my type of comedy. 

Now that you’ve made a name for yourself as a funny guy, do you feel the pressure to be funny all the time?
I used to do stand up comedy back when I was in school; it really is a part of who I am. But being funny does not mean you have to jump up and down and make a fool of yourself. A comedian is someone who makes you laugh, not someone you laugh at!

What do you do in your spare time?
I love spending time in Taba, or camping somewhere, or just hanging out with my pets.
 
And how does it feel now that you’re becoming a heartthrob?
I’m short and bald and being a celebrity can never change that!

What do you find attractive in a woman?
You can never go by the book when it comes to love, but I know she has to be like a bowl of salad. She shouldn’t be all cucumber and shouldn’t be all tomato! She has to be wise and ethical. She’s got to have some sort of religious spirit without being extreme. She has to be a good mother, she has to be really hot, and she has to be polite, sensitive and really feminine. 

Right now, who's the closest person to your heart?
My mom, she's the only woman in my life, she really is my everything.