Salma Abu Deif On Confidence, Confounding Critics, And Climbing Into Character
Actress, model and muse: Salma Abu Deif’s star is shining ever more brightly
Serendipity. Coincidence. Luck… That may be how Salma Abu Deif first stumbled into the modelling scene almost a decade ago, when she was just a fashion-obsessed 22-year-old Misr University student asked by a friend to take some editorial snaps. “When it comes to modelling, acting – both of them chose me, I didn’t choose them,” the Egyptian native says candidly. But the fact that she stayed the course, and blossomed, bursting into our collective consciousness as a bona fide silver screen star now, is not due to chance.
And although the Mass Communications graduate insists there was no grand plan to step into the public sphere, there was an inkling that she was set for the spotlight from the start. “My mum told me that when I was around three years old, I was mimicking people – my grandfather, my uncles, everyone – but I don’t honestly remember any of that…”
The camera instantly loved her; “I used to adore watching Tyra Banks’ America’s Next Top Model, but I never wanted to be a professional model. Then I did some work for Tommy Hilfiger, then Maybelline, and one thing after another led me to do a music video in 2017. And I caught the eye of a director who was scouting for a new face; an actress.”
Fast forward and 30-year-old Salma Abu Deif is now instantly recognisable as an actress known for fronting both television series and movies.
Does she have a preference? “I love both to be honest. Most people know of me from TV shows but movies go down in history – they never fade. People rarely go back to television series and re-watch them again and again – that only happens a few times with shows like Friends for example – but movies go into the archive of the filmmaking industry. I would love to do more of them.”
Flying The Flag: Patriotism is at the core of everything Salma Abu Deif does.
When prodded as to who she admires in the realm on an international level, she quickly turns the conversation back to the Middle East.
She continues, her passion giving her momentum, “I would love to talk about our talent, because they are so gifted, from singers to actors to poets to architects. The golden age saw Soad Hosny, Ahmed Ramzy, Faten Hamama, Salah Zulfikar, Abdel Halim Hafez, the singer Warda, Fairuz… so many legendary people.
“And these days, I really admire Mona Zaki – she is fantastic. I have worked with Hend Sabri who is a very smart woman, the very gifted Menna Shalabi, Kareem Abdel Aziz, Abdi – and he turned out to be not just a really impressive artist but a wonderful human being as well.”
“To be honest, I’ve been supported by so many colleagues that I cannot pick out just one mentor, but Khaled El Nabawy gave me tips on technique. He upped my confidence at a time when I was quite intimidated by him, frankly speaking. He gave me so much trust that it pushed me.”
“Gheda Abdel Risk also shared some of her methods – not many people do that. I loved working with her. We did two shows including Taht Al Hezam. Dhafer L’Abidine taught me how to be very helpful to others; he’s always giving his all in the scene, on the set. While filming Al Maddah I learned from Hamada Helal; he’s one of the most humble human beings, kind to everyone. It is a constant learning process for me.”
Stepping Out of Characters: When Ramadan approaches, everyone wonders what blockbuster series Salma Abu Deif will be fronting.
From Rag’een ya Hawa to Al Maddah, she’s constantly confounding critics by diversifying her portfolio and taking chances. Since her debut performance in Halawet El Donia (Life is Beautiful), she has been on the industry’s – and fans’ – radars, as one to watch. “That was my first foray into acting. People started noticing me as an actress. And then Mon’ataf Khatar (Netflix’s The Killer about a TikTok influencer’s mysterious death) showed people I could take on a new genre.
I changed my whole skin, people started seeing me and watching me doing horror, and speaking in different dialects. For me, Al Maddah was the one I had the most fun in, but it was also the most challenging. I fell in love with the site, the Southern Egyptian accent, and it’s still haunting me. Sometimes I just switch – it’s been a year and the project is over – I still switch sometimes as I fell in love with the people.”
Is there any facet of the industry she has yet to fully explore? “A bit of comedy,” she replies instantly. “But I’m working on a dark comedy now, which is my favourite to watch.” She continues to muse, “Maybe I can do a little bit of action. I’ve never tried action. I want to try everything and not have a type. It’s not a good thing when an actor has a type and is always doing the same thing over and over again. It will be also boring for me and for you as well!”
Although she comes across as fearless when it comes to taking on new projects, Salma admits that she puts on a brave face; “When I commit to a new project I have this feeling as if I’m going to the school for the first day or I have an exam, until I start and get into it. Then day by day you get to know your character more and more. The producer of my very first TV show, Mohamed Mashish, is now like a godfather to me. He always encourages me and gives me the opportunity to try new things.”
Critical Thinking: “Do you want me to speak the truth? No, I wasn’t welcomed at all” Salma states bluntly when asked as to whether she was supported when she stepped into the cinema scene.
“Me, and any other actresses that came from a different background, that didn’t study in a cinema institution, were not welcomed. People do not welcome anything different. So at the beginning, no, they didn’t welcome me. People may think I had an easy way in but I really had to prove myself.”
It seems that misconceptions that exist in the west about models-turned-actresses are also alive and well in the Middle East. “I don’t get that perception; how can it be an easy way in if I was modelling for a couple of years, working hard on project – both good and bad projects – until I arrived where I am? I had no one to back me up. Nothing but my talent.”
“At the beginning it was devastating for me to hear all that, whether from fans or other people in the industry. You can tell from the look in their eyes, they don’t need to say it out loud. I needed to work on myself and listen to the constructive criticism. When I started acting, I had zero experience so I needed to work on so many things, from phonetics to my articulation to learning what acting really is. The criticism ended up being for my own benefit. It wasn’t against me. It gave me the desire to learn more. In the end it was about proving something to myself – not to other people – because people will love you one day, they will hate you another and then they will love you again.”
Has this experience helped make her stronger? “I’ve been hearing criticism, and I’ve been hearing praise for a few years. But when you hear praise it can feed your ego, and you can become laid back. That can be scary. I don’t want to get lazy. I tried to block myself from the feedback. Criticism can be constructive. And it needs to be meant in the right way. I love hearing feedback from my friends, because they can be honest with me, and they give me advice out of love. I have colleagues… I really care about their opinion. It gives me a little bit of guidance.”
Face of The Future: Luxury brands were the first to realise just how bankable Salma Abu Deif was, and clamoured to sign her up for collaborations.
And although she “loves to get dressed up and do the shows and the red carpet,” she is also aware that the Middle East is becoming more important for labels to focus on. “Internationally speaking, actors have always represented brands.
But now as the region is getting bigger and bigger, and our talent is becoming more high profile, we need faces to represent these brands.” And although we are used to seeing her in full glam stealing the spotlight, “Most days, I am in very comfy clothes,” she smiles wryly, pointing to the black track pants and white vest she’s changed into right after our shoot. It’s nice to wear dresses from beautiful brands. And it’s part of our job to walk the red carpet for publicity.”
Another tool in an actor’s arsenal now is social media. Salma has no misgivings about it, using Instagram as her portfolio, and for sharing ongoing projects. Even directors have scouted her through the medium. “I handle it myself. I love social media. It’s an open sea for everyone. There’s no limit. There are no borders. People have the freedom to say what they want.”
“I think everything is changing right now. People trust our generation more and more; we have a voice, we have something we want to say. We need to focus on our narrative, to be represented in the right way, which actually serves our potential and talent. Everyone has started noticing that our region should have one narrative. We should care for one another, and love one another, and be like a big family, even if we have different nationalities, or different languages, or different accents. But At the end of the day, our narrative should be one. I think we’re moving towards that.”
“A lot of big media houses are not based here so there’s a very different international viewpoint that’s being pushed. But the thing with social media is everyone has their little camera that is all their own. People are always asking about the pros and cons of social media, and most of us have been seeing the cons but now, the pros are becoming evident,” says the perpetual wanderluster who feels the biggest perk of her job is being able to travel and has plans to see the gorillas in Uganda on her bucket list. “We can tell the world about us, they can see it and they can hear it from the people who are involved first-hand. I feel there’s a change is happening right now, and hopefully we will see it very soon on the ground.”
The Next Chapter: Salma Abu Deif’s career trajectory is forever gaining momentum
When asked what’s in the pipeline, she reels off a slew of films that’ll give fans yet more insight into the breadth of her acting skills.
In fact, she dashed from our cover shoot straight to the airport to be on set to start shooting a dramatic thriller the following morning. The list of her ongoing and upcoming credits is sure to cement her standing in the industry; from a thriller with Dia Elsherbiny and Eyad Nasser, to Ben El Sutoor (Between the Lines) alongside Saba Mubarak and Ahmed Fahmy, plus Nose And Three Eyes with Dhaffer L’Abidine and Why Live It Alone with Khaled El Sawi. She’s also very excited about Kareem Shabaan’s short film, I Don’t Care If the World Collapses that’ll be doing the festival circuit about the business itself and the series Zenhom with Ahmed Dawood.
Given Egypt is known for its cinematic legacy, has Salma ever rubbed shoulders with any of the country’s biggest, brightest names? “Yes,” she practically squeals with excitement. “I was lucky enough to meet Omar Sharif before he passed away.” She reminisces, “On my Facebook status I wrote, ‘My birthday wish is to meet Omar Sharif’, and a couple of months later I was in El Gouna on holiday and saw the hotel putting up posters of him. I heard he was in the resort, but couldn’t find him. Eventually I gave up and, dejected, made my way to my room with my luggage and suddenly found him right in front of me! He held open the door for me and I told him ‘I love you so much.’ It was literally a dream come true.
Photography: Amer Mohamad. Styling: Nour Bou Ezz. Editor In Chief: Olivia Phillips. Talent: Salma Abu Deif. Hair: Deena Alawaid. Make Up: Irina Kuzmina. Senior Producer: Steff Hawker. Lighting Assistant: Yasir Ali. Talent Management: HU Management. Styling Assistant : Ekaterina Plotnikova
From Harper’s Bazaar Qatar’s Winter 2023 issue