Steven Spielberg and my father, the actor: Personal History by Eman El-Shenawi

Legendary film director Steven Spielberg once told my father, quiet inspiringly, “Ahmed, you are a Shakespearian-type actor.”

At the time, Ahmed El-Shenawi was acting in the film “Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom.” It was the year 1983, a few months before the movie was released in the US box office and went on to gain $333 million worldwide.

My father was saying his lines in a British-tinged articulate accent, and director Steven Spielberg took note of his eloquent style.

In the scene, Mr. El-shenawi sits beside Harrison Ford and Kate Capshaw, inviting them to eat a bite of “snake surprise.” The belly of a huge snake is, rather appetizingly, cut open on the dinner table in front of them, only for several smaller snakes to gruesomely slither out.

Watching it back with my father beside me and seeing a very chubby man with a heavy fake moustache on the television screen, heavily dressed in embellished Indian clothing and a turban in keeping with the film’s setting, I always feel overwhelmed with pride. And I also cannot help but laugh a little.

I laugh too, while partially cringing, at a YouTube clip of my father dancing in the US 1978 film “Midnight Express,” in which he starred as an Iranian prisoner alongside Billy Hayes – the main character who plays a man who is caught smuggling drugs out of Turkey and thrown into prison.

As someone who has previously written film and arts reviews, I know that my father’s comic timing is faultless as he plays a whacky cell buddy who enjoys being “the big, funny guy.”

My father began what he describes as a “barrel of laughs” career in acting after a move to London from Egypt in 1971. He worked in the BBC Arabic Service as a voice in a radio drama series that had an audience of Arab listeners from all over the world. His voice became warm and familiar to many, as he spoke with an Egyptian dialect.

The Egyptian dialect has traditionally been a popular and well-understood Arabic accent across the Middle East till this day, particularly in the Arab entertainment industry.

The first Arabic mainstream film and music productions were from Egypt. And so, back in the 70s there was demand for a bubbly Egyptian voice that my father played a part in fulfilling.

After his work in the BBC’s famous Bush House, (a London base that is still one of the most prominent BBC World Service hubs) Mr. El-Shenawi became a member of the British Actors Equity Association and a bustling career full of famous faces had sprung from there.

His size had always been a crucial part of his acting, and in some way, added to his vivacious appeal. I’ve had several people tell me that when they see him on screen, he is someone they “want to make friends with.” And that is where his distinctive flair lies.

In the 1978 film, “The Thief of Baghdad,” my father had reached a hefty size. Quite unluckily and to our comedy pleasure, Mr. El-Shenawi had to do a scene in which he was being carried on a large plank of wood by a group extras, as he lay surrounded by fruits and presents to propose to Princess Yasmine. He was Prince Kanishka.

“They had to bring more extras and actually give them extra money to persuade them to carry me!” my father tells me, detailing the behind-the-scenes comedy outtakes.

“Otherwise they wouldn’t do it. They looked at me and said: ‘No way will we carry him!’”

He tells this story to many, pausing for effect in certain moments so that anyone in front of him is sure to giggle. He does this naturally and he never means to “sound” funny, especially when he knows the subject matter is amusing enough.

Another weight-related story he tells is one that has nothing to do with his career and is much more personal. When he proposed to my mother in 1973 at a work Christmas party, she replied: “Yes. But only if you lose some weight.”

In turn, he replied to her: “And you have to gain some because you are far too slim and we don’t suit.”

Renowned actor Peter Ustinov, the star of the 1978 film “Death on the Nile,” worked with my father in “The Thief of Baghdad.” He also spoke of my father with delight also; once saying that Mr. El-Shenawi is “an actor with no problem,” implying that my father’s talent is unquestionable and beyond doubt.

Mr. El-Shenawi also glittered on the silver screen in Denmark, whilst also starring in a couple of English television series, including “The Professionals,” and “Marmalade Atkins” in the 70s and 80s.

He ranks second behind film icon Omar Sharif to be an actor of Egyptian-origin to act in the most international films. And his stories about his career never cease to entertain or amaze me.

A few months ago, I went with him to an Indiana Jones memorabilia event. He did a signing and created an immediate rapport with the fans and even after almost 30 years since the film was released, they were queuing up to see the man who introduced one of the most gruesome dinner table scenes in cinematic history.

It is strange that, despite not acting for so long (his most recent work was in Egypt about a decade or so ago) Ahmed El-shenawi still acts every day. With me. We impersonate people; their actions and accents, we randomly look at each other with the most peculiar facial expressions as if auditioning for a theater production.

And let me not forget our cooking programs. Sometimes when he cooks, I stand beside him and do an incredibly serious voiceover for his cooking instructions and preparations. Silly, but he always tells me that it shows the talent didn’t stop at him.

We also have a secret language that we use to communicate with each other, it is utter gibberish and sounds slightly Italian -- but I always know what he means. We’ll even use a word or two from the language when we are out with both mine and his friends at the Egyptian Community Association in London. It is there he will often burst into song and create a cheery atmosphere in an instant, with his rendition of Egyptian classics.

I ask him about everything. His knowledge of general knowledge is something that I am yet to fully delve into as my father is as media and news savvy as they come.

Our most recent discussion questioned who the next Egyptian president may be and what our home country needs to progress politically.

I find him reading books by political and economic theorists – books with complex arguments and conclusions that require intricate study to process. He’ll discuss their ideas with friends in the Association, a place that has bundled a group of interesting ex-pat Egyptians together. And then he may burst into song again when the conversation ends.

His acting career came to an abrupt standstill when he had to undergo a stomach stapling operation to control his weight. Within a year he lost half of his weight.

“My character as the ‘chubby Arab man’ changed and the agency would not find as much work for me as it did before when I was big,” he says. “But I was still thrilled that I could wear a better selection of suits!”

And in recent years, I believe that I’ve kept him too busy being a dad. But even though his acting career has slowed, I cannot describe how in awe I am of him and his success

I often reminisce about how I perceived him when I was younger and compare this to now. I think back to a snapshot of me watching him as an eight-year-old in Indiana Jones.

Now, the “snake surprise” does not scare me anymore like it used to when I first watched it as a child. My gaze is always transfixed at the man sitting at the table. The one with an animated smile. The one with wide, welcoming eyes.
Yes, that’s him. That’s him.

(Eman El-Shenawi, a writer at Al Arabiya English, can be reached at: [email protected].)