CAIRO, Aug. 21 (Xinhua) -- Egyptian actor Sherif Sobhy said his experience acting in the Chinese film "Once Upon a Time in the Middle East" showed how cinema can serve as a bridge fostering closer Egypt-China cultural exchange.
In a recent interview with Xinhua, Sobhy said he went through about three rounds of auditions before being selected for the role of Zayd, a character he said immediately attracted him.
"He is a very human, flesh-and-blood character," Sobhy said, recalling that he cried while reading the script of the Chinese anti-war film, which has been drawing attention for telling a Middle Eastern war story through the eyes of a Chinese chef.
In the movie, Zayd begins as a quiet restaurant owner, loving husband and devoted father. But after an explosion kills his wife and daughter, grief and a thirst for vengeance consume him, driving him into the ranks of a terrorist group.
Sobhy said he did not view Zayd as an inherently violent person. "He was not raised in a terrorist group, nor was he originally violent. He was actually compassionate," he said.
The challenge, therefore, was to portray the painful transformation of an ordinary person whose grief gradually overwhelms his former self. To prepare for the role, Sobhy imagined himself as a father suddenly robbed of his family.
"After his family's death, he began to live and behave almost like a robot, without emotions," Sobhy said, adding that many of Zayd's feelings were conveyed through his eyes.
The Egyptian actor said working with the Chinese team was another memorable part of the experience.
He noticed differences between Chinese and Egyptian filmmaking styles, saying Chinese crews could spend many hours perfecting a single scene, with the director paying close attention to every shot, angle and performance.
During one take, the director played the film's soundtrack before the scene to help him immerse himself in Zayd's grief, Sobhy told Xinhua. "As an actor, I really appreciate clear direction and instructions."
What affected Sobhy most, however, came after the film reached Chinese cinemas.
"I could never have imagined the tremendous response from the Chinese audience," he said.
He was touched by messages from Chinese viewers who sympathized with Zayd and understood the difference between the man he was and the person he became.
"They understood that this was not the real Zayd. The death of his wife and daughter changed him," Sobhy said.
For him, such reactions showed that audiences from different cultural and linguistic backgrounds can connect through universal human emotions.
Sobhy also sees symbolic meaning in the film's restaurant setting. Initially, Zayd tells the Chinese chef that the rice is salty, partly to assert his authority as the restaurant owner. Yet as the story develops, he comes to understand people share the same bitter taste of war, even when they are of different cultural backgrounds and eating habits.
"It became a symbol of different cultures coming together and of harmony among people from different countries," he said.
The film's message also resonated with Sobhy as an Egyptian actor from a region that has experienced prolonged conflicts.
"For anyone living in the Arab world, where we are surrounded by many conflicts, the dream is very simple: everyone wants to live in peace and not lose the people they love," he said.
"Regardless of our different cultures or nationalities, we all share the same desire to live in peace," he added. ■