Hanady Mehanna’s acting career took off in 2019 when she starred in three shows during that year’s Ramadan TV season. Her acting talent caught everyone’s attention, especially for her part in the series Zelzal (Earthquake), with Mohamed Ramadan. Our cover star for this issue, the charming Hanady graciously posed for our exciting photo shoot in full vintage glam. She also sat down with eniGma’s Salma Mohamed for an exclusive chat about her life, her interests, and her rise to stardom.
Dressed in vintage glam for our photo shoot, Hanady Mehanna looks like a legendary Hollywood star. Like a true star, she remains gracious and composed throughout the eight-hour shoot, while listening to her playlist of mostly French and jazz music playing in the background. She is quintessentially natural in front of the camera.
When it is time for our interview, we begin our conversation talking about her childhood and upbringing. “My mom is French, so growing up we went by French rules, I got a French education, and of course, we ate French food,” she says with a laugh, adding, “We also travelled a lot, and that was one of the things that influenced my life most.”
Hanady goes on to explain that theirs was an open and free household, “It was like everyone had the freedom to do what they want. Our household was very democratic, and that gave me the freedom to explore the world. I even went to Spain for college.”
With travel playing such an important part of her life growing up, Hanady recounts how it has affected her. “I loved the fact that I was constantly surrounded by different cultures and learning about people from around the world. It helped shape the person I am today. I gained so much from interacting with people from different cultures and backgrounds in general,” she explains.
Not surprisingly, Hanady, has been independent from a young age and the idea of working and living on her own comes naturally to her. Always wanting to be busy doing something, especially with children, growing up, she always had summer jobs on vacations. One of her first jobs was working as a teacher.
After graduating from high school, she decided to go to Spain for college. She had studied Spanish growing up so she fluently speaks the language, also having been there many times before, and knowing a lot about their culture, she was comfortable with the idea of living in Spain. “It taught me how to be responsible, and to interact with people from different cultures,” she says. “I chose Barcelona based on my previous trips there. I fell in love with the place, and I didn’t want to leave!” she adds.
While she could have easily stayed in Spain, Hanady came back to Egypt after completing her studies. “No matter how nice Barcelona is, and how much fun I had there, I couldn’t live without my parents,” she says, adding, “It’s the main reason that brought me back.” Her father, the famous composer Hani Mehanna, had opened an academy for the arts, and during her studies in Spain, she worked online with him. When she returned, she joined him fulltime, while also working as a teacher, a profession she loved.
Hanady’s life took an unexpected turn, however, when a director friend of her family recommended her for a part in a TV series. He was convinced that she was a natural for the screen and was confident she would succeed. She auditioned and got the part, but it was not smooth sailing for her. “I couldn’t even read the script right, because growing up, I never took any Arabic classes. Someone had to translate everything for me,” she recalls.
Despite her difficulty with the language, Hanady got parts in not one but two Ramadan series in 2018. However, one was cancelled and the other was postponed to the following year. This depressed her and she felt she was caught in a spiral of bad luck. So, she decided to take some time off, travelling. “I went to Los Angeles for a few months and decided to do something that I had never done before. I decided to take hip-hop dance classes!” she exclaims. “I know it’s the weirdest and most unexpected thing for me to do, but when you feel depressed, you have to do something completely out of your comfort zone to get busy and have a different mindset,” she adds.
Her life changed after she came back from Los Angeles. She got calls for three different shows, including Yasmine Sabri’s first ever Ramadan series, Hekayti (My Story). In the beginning, she was approached with a small part in the series, but when she agreed to do it the role grew bigger. “It was Yasmine Sabri’s first main character series, so I was sure it would be amazing, and everyone would watch it,” she exclaims.
Hanady’s major starting role, however, was that of ‘Amal’ in Mohamed Ramadan’s Zelzal (Earthquake). “That role changed a lot for me,” she explains. “I hadn’t appeared in anything on screen yet, so I was shocked that I was wanted in all those shows, especially the one with Mohamed Ramadan. I’m a huge fan of his!” she adds, explaining that taking part in that series was one of the best things she has done. The character she plays goes through different stages of life, which gave her the chance to fully explore her talent.
From there, Hanady’s career took off. She seemed to be all over our screens, especially every Ramadan season. Her first movie role came in 2020 in Banat Sanawy (High School Girls), while her most influential role, and her personal favourite, was as Mariam in the TV series, Illa Ana (Except Me). “Both stories caught my eye right away; both storylines are taken from true events,” she recounts, adding, “I got the best responses from viewers after every episode of Illa Ana. They related to what happened in the show and felt that my character helped them get through hard times. Some people who couldn’t deal with their parents, would show them scenes from the show to help them understand them better!”
Such responses are very important to Hanady, who derives great satisfaction when her work positively affects her audience; whether it’s a comedy that makes people laugh and brightens their day, or if it’s a serious drama. The fact that it sticks with people and helps them get through tough times, is why she loves what she does and is what pushes her to keep going.
Shifting the conversation to her love life, Hanady recounts that growing up, she always felt older than her actual age and had older friends. That is why getting married young, wasn’t an issue for her. She believes it was inevitable. “I’ve always been independent. Ever since I travelled on my own for college, I learned to be responsible and to do everything on my own,” she says. “Leaving my parents that young and making something out of myself on my own helped make me to the person I am today. It even felt like I was already married because I depended completely on myself,” she adds.
Hanady’s relationship with her husband, Ahmed Khaled Saleh, started out as friendship. As time went by, they fell in love with each other. Both being actors, they had a lot in common. They understood each other’s work and there wasn’t a problem getting used to each other’s lifestyles. “In general, getting married young is a scary thing. People tend to stay away from that, especially nowadays. But my experience wasn’t like that,” she says. “We already knew each other very well as friends. We knew each other’s lifestyles and had no plans to try to change anything in each other. I still go out and travel a lot with my friends. Nothing has changed. We live our lives and meet in the middle,” she adds.
Having already been close friends, Hanady is used to having Ahmed around. He was already her best friend before they were married, and he still is. She can’t imagine living her life any other way now. There are hard parts in everything, but she chooses to focus on the blessings in her life, especially her life with her loving husband, and her parents, who are her biggest support system in her whole life.
Turning once again to her career, Hanady feels there is still much she wants to achieve. “I still haven’t had a ‘proudest moment’ in my career,” she explains, adding, “One of my best traits is that I keep going. Even when I feel down, I never stop. I want to try every role I possibly can. There are no boundaries for me when it comes to acting.”
STYLING by Imen Khemessi
PHOTOGRAPHY by Ahmed Mobarez
MAKE-UP by Wedyan Mohy
HAIR by Mostafa Lotfy
LOCATION at Four Seasons Hotel at The First Residence
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