Friday March 29th, 2024
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Sarrah Abdelrahman: From YouTube Blogger to Screen Starlet

Farah Karim meets up with the young YouTube sensation, outspoken social activist, and rising screen starlet to talk revolutionary views, the power of the internet, and acting opposite Nelly Kareem. Meanwhile our MO4 fashion team takes her on whimsical style trip...

Staff Writer

Sarrah Abdelrahman: From YouTube Blogger to Screen Starlet

It is just about 6PM when we meet YouTube sensation and young actress Sarrah Abdelrahman at the studio where the MO4 Fashion team is working their magic. The sun is setting, the weather is still sweltering despite its departure, and we just about manage to catch our breath after being stuck in traffic for quite some time, when the starlet is strung up like a marionette and begins contorting. Ever the committed actress, she poses with ease, embodying a puppet - a high fashion puppet, nevertheless - with her movements and facial expressions, giving us a taste of the raw talent that has gotten her so far. As we cut her down, we get a chance to chat with the screen siren about Egypt's cinematic landscape, the power of the internet and how much faith she has in what is yet to come, as her role in Taht El Saytara continues to garner critical acclaim.

Coming into fame as a Vlogger on YouTube after the 2011 Egyptian revolution, the young talent was extremely confident about the power youth had over political developments and hopeful about achieving the change the country needed; to move from a phase of decay and negativity and exercise her freedom of speech by speaking her mind on a platform that is all her own. “We had just gotten out of the revolution and the whole ‘we’re gonna change the world’ mood, so I decided to make a video about it. I thought I would get 5,000 views maximum, and it got about 50,000 views in a day,” says Abdelrahman about her first video experiment.

Before entering the social media scene, the theatre and journalism double-major landed a role alongside comic genius Ahmed Helmy in 1,000 Mabrouk, a man she had always looked up to. She describes the difference between studying theatre and actually working in the film industry as "completely divergent. Theatre is theatre. Acting in Egypt is cinema. So, acting in front of a camera is truly different from acting on stage; the transformation wasn’t easy.”

As she speaks of the challenges and perks of acting, Abdelrahman's face lights up. ”It takes time to slip out of a role; as much as it does to get into it. Sometimes you gain some characteristics along the way, but most of the time when you portray a character with certain personality traits, you find exactly those, hidden deep within yourself and only then do they come ashore. You’re exploring yourself while exploring the role.”

The social media darling talks about how there’s been a huge thought shift after the revolution that reflects in alot of the cinematic work seen nowadays and how she sees the future of the acting scene in Egypt. “I think that TV is dying, the online world is what’s happening right now. It’s like the shift from radio to television, only now the shift is from TV to internet. I don’t think there’s a replacement to cinema, but there’s definitely a replacement for TV and I want to be part of that. But I definitely still want to do cinema.”

Having to always stick to a given role and script in front of the camera, the actress found her escape on the internet, in her own DIY videos. “Being on set is like being in a factory or a circus; everyone is doing their job and focusing on it. It was very interesting and inspirational to be in this kind of environment,” she explains. “I feel like the internet and the digital world that I work with definitely leave more of an impact than all the films I've done because, basically, cinema is not about subjects that I’ve necessarily experienced. You’re put into a role based on what people think; they put you in a box where they think you fit. But on the internet, I can just honestly say what I think and that’s what leaves an impact." She laughs at the word 'impact' as we consider all of the digital jargon that's become commonplace in our day-to-day conversations. However, impact is the exact word to describe the footprint the outspoken actress leaves with each of her videos.  “I went to speak in Kafr El-Sheikh this one time and a middle-aged man told me that ever since he started watching my videos, he decided to get his daughters a computer after being completely against the idea, believing it was unsafe,” she recalls.

At this point, her feminist ideals come to the surface and take hold of the conversation. “It really matters to me that girls and women in Egypt realise their own potential and through that, I want to realise my own potential. I feel that everything around us screams 'Eshta, you’re mediocre’, you know? Aiming to change that is what gets me up in the morning,” says the former AUC student.

“Traditional media doesn't fill the gap between normal people and celebrities. It's on the internet that you find social activists who break taboos. One of those taboos is how feminists are regarded – like a bunch of crazy women trying to conquer the world,” she tells us of her struggles as a young feminist who simply believes in the equality of chances between men and women. “The cinema can help change that perspective, too, starting by changing the way women are portrayed; they're always either discussing men, or male issues. It’s about time we start depicting the buried part of reality."

I can only imagine the attacks she might be under with such sharp opinions and an outspoken character, in a country where people are still getting accustomed to expressing their own thoughts, and the internet being such an open space. But far from stopping her, feedback only pushes her more. “I think it’s healthy having trustworthy people around me, whose opinions I can depend on, since it’s always hard to judge your own stuff. If their comments are positive, no other negative comment can stop me.”

Perhaps one of her most rewarding moments was shared with screen legend Nelly Kareem in last Ramadan’s hit series Taht El Saytara. “I had mistakenly underestimated [the role], as it was only one scene but it turned out everybody watched it. And the best part is when I finished the scene, I looked at Nelly Kareem and she gave me thumbs up. Suddenly everything was alright.”

With this glorious moment in mind, Abdelrahman pauses for a moment to think about the direction her career is taking. “I guess the challenge is always ‘What else can I do and how well can I do it?’ For instance, I’m acting; am I doing it well enough? The answer is no. I have to work more. When I was just an internet personality, I used to be much freer, but now people are looking at me, awaiting my next role, some even just to criticise it. There are many external barriers, but what I want to be remembered for is breaking my internal barriers.”

Photos produced exclusively for CairoScene by @MO4Network's #MO4Fashion

Styling: Gehad Abdalla

Photography: Lobna Derbala

Art Direction: Ahmad Abi 

Makeup: Soha Khoury

Shop the shoot at The Dressing Room