Basam Samra: I like tough characters

Cairo: Ahmed Ibrahim

From the beginning of his artistic career, the Egyptian star Bassem Samra has been keen on choosing the types of roles he participates in in cinema or television dramas, which have complimented most of what he has offered through his artistic career. Except for a few works, he has not denied his regret, in exchange for many works and roles, he has given and received widespread reactions from the audience, perhaps the most recent of which was the reaction he received about the character. “King of the Night” in the movie “Tangal Mama” with the artist Muhammad Imam and the series “A Dangerous Turn” is currently showing.

Samra says: “Dangerous moment” has many aspects. The actors participating in the series and the story of the series are different. And the character of “Jamal” made me very psychologically tired, he looks like a middle-aged man, simple but mysterious and controversial, and the character has many details, and it made me tired to focus and focus on it. A lot, even after shooting, one of the scenes that probably left me the most exhausted was the death scene.” Salma» and the feelings of a grieving father in the grief of his daughter’s death.

Samra says about her role in their film Mama: I had the pleasure of working with the artist Muhammad Imam and all the crew, the editor and the director and all the actors and I am very happy with the success he has achieved. The film received widespread acclaim, both at the public and critical levels, and I was delighted with the audience’s reaction to the character of the “King of the Night”, despite having a relatively small role, but I enjoyed the character. It’s a different mix that I’ve never seen before, has a lot of contentious aspects, and I love these kinds of characters that require great acting skills.

Regarding the quality of complex characters or the secret of his trend called “psychodrama”, Samra says: I like strange characters, and I like difficult, complex characters and thorny topics, because this kind of work or a significant part of the representation of characters, any actor, especially for external details. Completes the artist working on the inner details of the front character, and this remains in the history of the artist, which when we remember the work of one of the late greats, we remember one of these types of characters that decorated his history.

Regret and dissatisfaction

Samra acted in many films, or most of his works, he does not deny that there are some works that he is satisfied with, or that he regrets submitting them, which Bassum does not deny: I really regret some works. After the stage of popularity and fame, I was praising some friends. I don’t deny that there is trickery among directors, actors and characters. These works, but then I was surprised that the director considered me one of the heroes of the film and put my picture on the work and advertising poster, and I did not receive any financial compensation, my role in the film was given an appreciation; I consider it cheating the audience who watch the film for me, but they are surprised to see me in a couple of scenes as the guest of honour.

Samra adds: I have been cheated a lot in this way, but I am now very careful about my name and my history, because I am definitely a friend of most people in the art community, but I refuse roles that I do not want, even if it is through a friend, but at the same time I do not impose myself on anyone. Because in the end I am constantly improving myself and trying to preserve my history.

Performance development

No doubt a true actor is always interested in developing himself and his instruments, but every artist has his own style of developing himself and development for an artist named Samra, as he says: I don’t accept any role. Usually without knowing the full details of it, I felt through my experience choosing the roles, the state of the actor in me, reading on paper, what can be added to it and what. May I add, whether I have given a character close to it before or not, I am keen on repeating my roles at the same time, because repeating roles does not change the status of the actor, and sometimes takes a step back.

Samra clarifies about his experience with the yet-to-be-released film “Ghosts of Europe”, which he completed a year ago: Although this experience has not yet been shown in Egypt, I am very proud. For production issues.

As for the roles he dreams of, he hopes to have the opportunity to present them: I wanted to present the character of Hasan Al-Sabah, the founder of the Hashash group, but I recently learned that the artist Karim Abdel Aziz will present the character, and as he presented it to us, I think he will fully express it. I believe. So many wonderful artworks.. I dream to present the character of “Akhenaton” with written script. By the late great Shadi Abdel Salam, but the work requires much greater preparation, and I hope one day I shall have the opportunity to provide it.