Egyptian-American actor Mena Massoud, who played the lead role in Disney's live-action "Aladin", has revealed that he is yet to land an audition despite the billion dollar box office success of the Hollywood movie.
The 28-year-old Massoud opened up about the struggle faced by actors of colour in Hollywood in an interview with Daily Beast.
"I'm kind of tired of staying quiet about it. 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," he told the publication.
The actor beat out 2,000 others to land the lead role in the Guy Ritchie-directed movie where Will Smith played Genie.
Massoud said people often assume that he would be flooded with offers but the reality is quite different. The actor said he is not expecting anything special but just a foot in the door.
"It's wild to a lot of people. People have these ideas in their head. It's like, I'm sitting here being like, OK, Aladdin just hit USD 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.
The actor said he is usually the "wild card" in room full of caucasian guys during auditions.
"There's always a wild card or two when you're casting. I'm usually the wild card. In a room of Caucasian guys, a director might be like, OK, let's see, like, two guys who aren't. And maybe they'll be the wild card choice.
Massoud will next be seen in Hulu series "Reprisal" with Abigail Spencer.
The actor said he is prepared for being "overlooked" for a long time as an young actor.
"I'm an up and comer in the sense that I've been doing this for 10 years, but to a lot of people, Aladdin's the first thing they've seen me in. So I think I'm going to be viewed that way for a long time. I'm going to have to work at chipping away at that.
The actor is looking forward to his role in "Reprisal" but he has learnt to manage his expectations after "Aladin".
"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," he said.
Disclaimer: No Business Standard Journalist was involved in creation of this content
