Karim Kassem

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Karim Kassem
Born
Karim Ahmed Kassem

(1986-10-08) 8 October 1986 (age 37)
Cairo, Egypt
EducationAmerican University in Cairo
OccupationActor
Years active2006–present

Karim Ahmed Kassem (Arabic: كريم أحمد قاسم, Kareem Ahmad Qassem, Egyptian Arabic: [kæɾˈiːm ʔæːsem], also spelled Karim Assem; born 8 October 1986) is an Egyptian actor.

Biography[edit]

Karim was born on 8 October 1986 in Cairo, Egypt. He is a Muslim himself though had a multi-faith religious upbringing celebrating all Jewish, Christian and Muslim holidays as a child. His late mother was Jewish and his father is a Muslim and is from both Islamic and Christian faith heritage. His paternal grandfather was Muslim and his paternal grandmother was a Christian. His maternal grandfather was a Jewish anti-Zionist who refused to immigrate to Israel, believing Zionism to be a "racist" movement.[1][2][3] His maternal grandfather was a prominent Egyptian nationalist.

He is a graduate of the American University in Cairo, where he studied theatre and acted in many of the university's plays.[4] He is trilingual in Egyptian Arabic (also Standard Arabic), French and English.[4]

Discovered in 2006 while taking an acting workshop,[5] he had his cinematic breakthrough in the teen drug film Awqat Faragh meaning "Spare time".[6] Kassem has co-starred with colleague Amr Abed in three of his films.[4]

Filmography[edit]

Year Film Translation Role Note
2006 أوقات فراغ
Awqat Faragh
Leisure Time Amr
2007 الماجيك
el-Magic
The Magic Mustafa
To Each His Own Cinema Young Youssef Chahine In 47 ans après (47 Years Later)
2009 بالألوان الطبيعية
Bel-Alwan el-Tabe'eya
True Colors Youssef
2011 إي.يو.سي
E.U.C
E.U.C Omar
2012 مصور قتيل
Mosawar Qatil
Snapshot Guest appearance
2014 The First Line (Promakhos) Amit
2014 بتوقيت القاهرة
Bi-Tawqit al-Qahira
Cairo Time Wael
2015 أولاد رزق
Awlad Rizq
Sons of Rizk Ramadan
2016 كدبة كل يوم
Kedbet Koll Youm
A Lie for Everyday Seif
2017 سمكة وصنارة
Samaka we Senara
Mostafa
2018 ليل/خارجي
Leil/Karegy
Night/Ext Mohamed Abdel El-hady (Mo)
2019 أولاد رزق ٢: عودة أسود الأرض
Awlad Rizq 2: Awdet Eswood El-Ard
Sons of Rizk 2: The Return of the Lions of Earth Ramadan
Sawah

Television[edit]

Year Show Translation Role Note
2009 خاص جدا
Khas Geddan
Top Secret Moataz
2010 الجماعة
Al-Gama'a
The Brotherhood Teymur
2012 الهروب
el-Horoub
The Escape Ahmed Abd El-Naser
2014 كلام علي ورق
Kalam Ala Waraq
Words on Paper Marawan Starring Haifa Wehbe
2015 الكابوس
el-Kabous
The Nightmare Faris
البيوت اسرار
el-Beyout Asrar
Houses of secrets Seif
2017 شاش في قطن
Shash X Qotn
Gauze in Cotton Dr. Jean
The State Abu Akram Broadcast in Britain by Channel 4

Theatre[edit]

Year Show Translation Role Note
2013 قالولي هنا
Qalouli Hena
They Told Me Here Mime play

References[edit]

  1. ^ Egyptian Actor Karim Kassem Reveals His Mother Is Jewish Haaretz. 29 November 2016
  2. ^ Egyptian TV star reveals he’s Jewish The Times of Israel. 26 November 2019
  3. ^ "Egyptian actor shocks fans after revealing Jewish heritage". The New Arab. Retrieved 24 September 2019.
  4. ^ a b c Abedelrahman, Sarah. "AUCian is Egypt's 'best upcoming star'". Caravan. AUC press. Retrieved 14 April 2013.
  5. ^ "Arabic Cinema Database". elcinema.com. Retrieved 16 April 2013.
  6. ^ "IMDb". Retrieved 14 April 2013.

External links[edit]