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Actor Mena Massoud says the upcoming live action adaptation of Aladdin is important with respect to the representation of people of colour in Hollywood.
Massoud, who was born in Egypt and lived in Canada, will be seen as Aladdin in the Disney film.
In a video posted on people.com, he opened up about the responsibility he feels being a Middle Eastern actor in a lead role of a Hollywood film.
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“I don’t feel a lot of pressure but a lot of responsibility. I think things are changing with Rami Malek winning an Oscar for doing an incredible job as Freddie Mercury. There are a lot of Middle Eastern actors coming up,” Massoud said.
“I think this film is important for representation. Hopefully, if it does well in cinema, Hollywood can have confidence in the fact that you can put a Middle Eastern in a lead role or in iconic role and it will still do well,” he added.