Asser Yassin: The man of many roles

CAIRO - 11 February 2018: From engineering classes at the American University in Cairo (AUC) and onto the university’s stage, Asser Yassin was spotted by director Khairy Beshara. But he has come a long way from AUC productions, and has since become one of the leading Egyptian actors on both the small and the big screens. Through a diverse portfolio, Yassin has proved he’s an artist of many talents; ranging from one of his first challenging roles in Zay El Naharda (Like Today) in 2008, where he played the role of a drug addict who made us both love and hate him, and all the way to his latest series 30 Youm (30 Days), where he so meticulously showed us the drastic changes of his character throughout the month. In between, he perfected a stutter in Rasayel El Bahr (Messages from the Sea) in 2010 and then showed us his comic abilities in Bebo w Beshir in 2011.

Always a hard worker seeking new challenges, Yassin has also been assuming the director’s chair, working first in 2016 on the video clip of Abu’s Ahwak (I Love You) song, featuring a retro vibe evoking old Agamy days on the beaches of the North Coast’s Marassi, and now the video clip for the latest Wust El Balad song El Ekhtelaf El Motalef (Our Familiar Differences).

His latest work as a director has created quite the social media buzz; featuring an unconventional storyline and a rather quirky vibe. Egypt Today sat down with Yassin to discuss his latest works, including a rather challenging role, and what role he still wishes he would play.

Tell us more about your experience as a director? Where do you feel more in your element; in acting or directing?
I have directed two video clips, one for the famous Egyptian singer Abu titled Ahwak and the second for the famous Egyptian band Wust El Balad. Definitely the medium I feel more comfortable in is acting. I am still a beginner in the field of directing, trying as much as I can to know more about it and to get the needed experience. It is a new medium I am happy to work in, and I’m happy that a famous singer like Abu and a popular band like Wust El Balad trusted me and gave me these opportunities.

I think my experience as a director [so far] is successful; Ahwak achieved over four million views, and I got positive feedback from people about Wust El Balad’s song. I love directing and I enjoyed what I did.



You are now playing the lead role in the massive production Torab El-Mass (Diamond Dust), which is a new and challenging part; tell us more about this experience.
This is an important movie adapted from a successful novel bearing the same name. It’s written by the acclaimed novelist Ahmed Mourad and directed by the renowned director Marwan Hamed. We have almost finished shooting the movie and I am so happy with this experience, cooperating with a director like Hamed and a scriptwriter like Mourad. Torab El-Mass is a movie with all the right elements, every part of this movie was executed in the optimum way.

Of course, performing the role of Taha in such a movie is a big challenge for me, I reached details in Taha’s character that I have never reached before in any of my previous roles. I worked a lot on the details with the director. I spent two years preparing for this role, I learned to play drums. I lost weight especially for this character before shooting and the shooting was delayed, so I gained weight again then I lost weight again, so it was not only performance preparations, I made physical preparations as well. I worked a lot on the history of the character, I even worked on every word Taha is supposed to say. I can say it is the most tiring role I’ve played till now.

How do you develop your performance throughout your different roles?
I develop my performance by the experience I take from one role to the other. The more I perform, the more mature I become. As time passes, I become older and more mature as a result of the life experiences that I live.

What is your favorite role?
I love them all. I don’t really have a favorite. In most cases it’s the role I am playing [at the moment]. So you can say that Taha is my favorite role now.

And what character would you love to play?
My dream role is to play the world-famous physician Magdy Yacoub. Yacoub is an inspiring human, not just a clever heart surgeon, he is Egypt’s heart.

What can we expect in Ramadan 2018?
I am working on a new series but it requires special licenses from security agencies, so I am not allowed now to announce the series’ name or its plot. All I can say is that is directed by the veteran director Khaled Marie and will feature Zeina.