Mena Massoud, the star of Disney’s live-action remake of “Aladdin,” says he hasn’t seen any new career opportunities since starring in the film that has now grossed over $1 billion at the worldwide box office.
Massoud, who plays the title street rat in “Aladdin,” said in an interview Tuesday he hasn’t gotten a single audition in the wake of the film’s release.
“I’m kind of tired of staying quiet about it,” Massoud told The Daily Beast. “I want people to know that it’s not always dandelions and roses when you’re doing something like ‘Aladdin.’ ‘He must have made millions. He must be getting all these offers.’ It’s none of those things. I haven’t had a single audition since ‘Aladdin’ came out.”
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Massoud is a 28-year-old Egyptian actor from Cairo who Disney selected in a worldwide casting search out of 2000 actors. The Daily Beast said that Massoud wasn’t ungrateful that he isn’t a household name, but he is surprised that a billion dollar film hasn’t opened at least some doors.
“It’s wild to a lot of people,” Massoud said. “People have these ideas in their head. It’s like, I’m sitting here being like, OK, Aladdin just hit $1 billion. Can I at least get an audition? Like I’m not expecting you to be like, here’s Batman. But can I just get in the room? Like, can you just give me a chance? So it’s not always what you think.”
He continued: “I think since ‘Aladdin’ my expectations for things releasing and what they’re going to do in my career, I’ve had to really pull them back. Because, you know, I got the same question about ‘Aladdin’ and it was like, ‘Oh, you know, Aladdin’s coming out. How do you feel about what that’s going to do to your career?’ The big truth is I haven’t really seen a big anything from it. As for whether people are gonna discover me from it or what it’s going to do, I literally have no clue. I can’t tell you I know how things are going to work out anymore.”
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Massoud will next be seen in the Hulu series “Reprisal” that airs Friday, and his only other role on the horizon is the animated film “Lamya’s Poem.”
Massoud starred in “Aladdin” from director Guy Ritchie earlier this summer alongside Will Smith as the Genie, Naomi Scott as Princess Jasmine and Marwan Kenzari as the evil Jafar.
Check out the full interview with Massoud at The Daily Beast.
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