Mico Saad, an Egyptian’s journey to Hollywood

CAIRO – 1 April 2019: Mico Saad is one of the Egyptian messengers to Hollywood who eagerly wants to inspire others. Saad spoke to Egypt Today about his journey, Egypt's film industry, and his taste.

A brief account on Saad

His real name is Mohammed Abdel Wahab Saad Abdel Wahab; he is born in Alexandria which affected his personality. By the age of five, saad started doing Michael Jackson's moonwalk, so he was dubbed Michael which later became Mico.

At the age of eight, Saad started his journey in Al-Anfoushy troupe, then Al-Dawla troupe at Alexandria Opera House and was a part of Egypt’s national dance group in Alexandria as well as Reda Troupe.



Saad decided to travel to the UK to pursue education in performing arts; he established the first Arab dancing team with one of his friends in the UK. His performances took oriental dance to new spots. He achieved huge fame and a number of top TV channels including BBC and MBC aired his performances.

Following the booming success of his performances, Mico was appointed as entertainment manager for the events hosted by the Egyptian Embassy in Britain.
In London, Saad participated in plenty of short movies, including "The Mind", which recounts the life of a man with special needs who travels around the world in his mind.
Saad played the role of Henry VIII and tackled and explained historical facts.



TV hosting

Through TV hosting, Saad was able to convey the real image of Arabs and end Arab stereotyping.It was so hard for an Arab guy to present Arab content to a foreign country and through a foreign platform. His vivid, energetic personality as well as the interesting content of his program encouraged foreign celebrities to take part in the program.



After a while, Saad went on to host a series of shows that were based on his personality. The first one was "Aklat Mico" (Mico's Food) which aired on England TV, where he wandered nationwide to explore the best food. As Saad wasn’t a chef himself, it added a twist of comedy to the plot.

In Mico's program "Showreel", he travels worldwide and displays different cuisines, and customs. The show goes around spontaneously and is mainly about human beings.
People admired Saad’s performance on the shows which attracted a loyal fan base.

Mico Saad Showreel from Mico Saad on Vimeo.

“I always raise the questions of ordinary people and not those of anchors or scholars because such people are distant from the public."

First Arab show at the Oscars

Saad has always been exceptional in getting his message across. He makes use of all his knowledge to create a unique personality for himself. His extraordinary talent and amazing presence led him to Hollywood in pursuit of his bigger dream to present his show straight from the Oscars.

He is the only Egyptian anchor on the Oscars' red carpet.
Saad has a unique style. Last year, he customized his sneakers with the face of Tutankhamen on one shoe and the Oscars slogan on the other.



Saad's target

I am Egyptian and am so proud of my own identity. I am keen to tackle Arab issues, hoping to be a messenger who might get countries of different cultures closer.
I am very determined to inspire others, give them hope, and pave the way of success not only for myself but also for all Arabs.

Saad participated in several films and series to go deeper into the film industry and learn how to be a good filmmaker. Saad took a lot of courses, read and watched thousands of movies to broaden his perspective. “I am on learning mode all the time,” Saad said.



Hollywood

Saad currently does all his filming in Hollywood, which allows him to expand his network and fan base across the globe. He is extremely ambitious and his unique personality is taking him to new heights.

In Hollywood, the Egyptian artist took part in "The Pitch" and "The Jumper". The latter recites the story of a man who throws himself from a mountain because his family pushes him to marry a girl that he does not love. Saad took part with Bruce Willis in the "Red 2", where he played the role of a man who works in the Iranian Embassy in England. Saad also played an effective role in 2010's "Hello Carter" with Jamie Foxx.



Egypt's film industry

The issue is quality not quantity; how to be dedicated to your work. Egypt is full of human resources, talents, and huge production. However, it still lacks perspective; to present movies that address the other and trace different models like Mexico that achieved great progress within a very short period of time. Yet, I believe that Abu Bakr Shawky and Mohammed Diab will definitely win the Oscar one day.

In my new program, I point out Arabs' achievements to shed light on good models such as Ramy Malek and Omar el-Sherif.



Saad's taste

I like sea food. I tried lots of dishes from different cuisines but still the Egyptian cuisine is incomparable.

My favourite actors are Ismail Yassine, Yousuf el-Sharif, Khaled el-Sawy, Khaled Salah and Ahmed Helmy who instills morals in his movies in a comic way.

I feel sorry for Mohammed Saad who does not utilize his talent. I wish he would redirect his route to occupy his well-deserved position because he has unlimited skills and talents.

The comic actor reminds me of Said Saleh and Adel Emam, both are qualified and talented, yet only Emam was able to occupy an unprecedented position and achieve peerless success.