Receiving the news that I had booked the part was incredible. So, I did.įast forward to today dozens of auditions, countless hours of diction training and oh-so-many Montreal-Toronto roundtrips later, I find myself acting opposite of none other than Salma Hayek herself in The Hummingbird Project which is premiering at the Toronto International Film Festival this weekend. I had no expectations of the industry, just very high expectations of myself, and I knew that if I wanted to accomplish everything I had dreamed of over the years, I needed to commit fully. I had a final exam that day - thermodynamics - and I decided to go film a scene in space for the Syfy miniseries Ascension instead.Įventually I dropped out because, as frightening as it was to make that decision, the joy I felt from being on a set had no match. This was also the first time I had to choose between my acting career and my engineering degree. Within a year, I had booked my first professional gig on television. I really didn't think it was realistic for me to pursue a career in film at that point, but I promised myself that I would use any time I had to at least get to know the industry. I knew that, if I was ever going to do this, it had to be now. The time finally came five years ago when I was back in Montreal. My mom taught me another valuable lesson over the years: "All in due time". Ryan Ali (second from right) with the case of Syfy's Ascension. So, for a long time, that fire was buried away. In fact, I barely even saw my dad growing up it seemed like he was always working endless hours. They didn't have the money, nor did they have the time. Being immigrants, my parents didn't know the first thing about the film industry. Just knowing that there was an actor in that American movie that was of Arab descent - something as simple as that - made me think that maybe, just maybe, it would be possible for me to become an actor too.īut my dream would have to wait. The magic of making movies fascinated me I would watch every movie attentively and think about the process and people involved in making it happen. I had wanted to be an actor ever since I had watched Harry Potter come to life on the big screen. Just knowing that there was an actor in that American movie that was of Arab descent - something as simple as that - made me think that maybe, just maybe, it would be possible for me to become an actor too. She then proceeded to point out an actress in that same film, Salma Hayek, was of Lebanese descent. I thought it was impossible until that night when my mom taught me the greatest lesson of them all: "You can do anything you put your mind to". It could've been my name or my accent, maybe my Muslim background or just the political climate at the time. I don't remember what it was exactly that made me believe that Arabs didn't have a place in film. I told her that I really wanted to be like those kids in the movie - but that I was concerned I couldn't because I was Arab. After we watched it, I told my mom that I wanted to be an actor. When I was 12 years old, sitting in that tiny living room in Montreal with my mom and my sisters, I saw the movie Spy Kids 3-D for the first time. But in that pool of uncertainty and underneath all those layers of reasons not to go through with it was a young Syrian boy with a dream. I was also throwing away my parents' vision and the only reason they immigrated in the first place. I wasn't only throwing away any sense of financial stability - I was throwing away a chance that most Syrian young adults my age would die for a chance that most of them didn't have. This is why when I chose to drop out of school and commit to my acting career, the decision carried more weight than I thought it would. I had the golden ticket and I was gonna use it to pursue a career in engineering a dream I inherited from my father, a reputable Syrian engineer who never quite made it in the Western world. A time where they were told that they weren't allowed to dream. I left Syria at a time where people thought life was a privilege - not a right. Leaving family and friends behind was one of the hardest things I've ever had to do. That's when the story begins: five years ago, when I moved back to Canada for the second time. Growing up, I followed my parents back and forth across the world: Syria, then Montreal, then Syria, then Montreal again. My life has led me through an unusual and - at times - unexpected path.
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