DUBAI: In Apple TV’s new hit international series “Hijack,” starring Idris Elba, we open to a familiar scene: a man is rushing through Dubai Airport, late for an important flight. This being a Western production, you may expect, when the Emirati character appears, to see another foreign performer with no knowledge of Gulf culture slump into the frame, ghutra askew. Instead, something remarkable happens: Emirati actor Mohamed Faisal Mostafa calmly and confidently walks onto the screen, and a star is born.
“I still feel so incredibly humbled by this opportunity,” Mostafa tells Arab News. “This is the first time in history that an Emirati actor has had a key role in an international hit series, in a massive story told on a global scale. Now it’s a number one hit, and it’s getting rave reviews! I can’t stop thinking how amazing this experience has been. I hope to make everyone in the region proud to have me represent them.”
Mohamed Mostafa in ‘Hijack.’ (Apple TV+)
The action thriller, airing weekly, is currently Apple’s #1 show and the #8 trending series worldwide across all platforms. It has an irresistible set up: A plane traveling from Dubai to London has been hijacked, and no one knows but the people on board. Told over seven episodes with the seven-hour flight unfolding in real time, the mystery of how this unlikely situation occurred begins to unfold as the characters struggle to figure out how they are going to survive, and who they can trust.
Mostafa plays Abdullah, an air traffic controller who is the only person on the ground to believe that something is amiss. He begins to investigate himself, searching for a missing employee who has unwittingly become entangled in a dark plot. Mostafa’s character has been well received across the world, with the actor receiving an outpouring of love from newly-won fans.
“People keep saying to me that every time he comes on screen, you don’t want him to come off. They love following this man’s journey, a man who is just trying to do the right thing,” says Mostafa.
Mohamed Mostafa with Idris Elba at the ‘Hijack’ premiere in London. (Supplied)
While this is Mostafa’s first taste of international fame, he has, in his own words, been acting “since before (he) could properly speak.” While he now serves primarily as the founder and CEO of a digital transformation firm, works in his family’s 100-year-old company, and is the director of investor relations for a private equity firm based in Silicon Valley (if that doesn’t sound like enough, he also teaches yoga), he’s also the younger brother of the groundbreaking Emirati film director Ali Mostafa.
“Ali wanted to be a movie director since he was a child, before he could even hold a camera. He started doing stop-motion shorts with his action figures, and as soon as he could handle the camera, he moved on to his brothers. That’s where I learned — I never went to drama school, I never did any training, I just got better because I wanted to help my brother achieve his dreams,” says Mostafa.
Mohamed Mostafa in one of his brother Ali’s early films. (Supplied)
As a child, Mostafa’s own dream wasn’t acting, but football. Unlike most children who start out with that aspiration, however, Mostafa actually achieved it, playing professionally for Al-Ain and Al-Wasl Football Club, two of the biggest sides in the UAE Pro League, and even tried out for Premier League teams.
“I gave it my all, but football was done for me. I had three head fractures, and I needed to find somewhere else to thrive,” he says. “And being on set is where I’d always felt most in my element besides the pitch.”
Over the years, Mostafa had kept acting here and there. He cameoed in his elder brother’s films “City of Life” (2009) and “From A to B” (2014), before landing a major role in Ali’s third film,“The Worthy” (2016). The latter, a post-apocalyptic horror thriller, was a particularly difficult shoot held over an intense three months in rural Romania, a challenge the younger Mostafa reveled in.
“I had to audition for the part, and I loved that, because I knew I had earned my spot. It’s funny, because when we started, I could still feel a certain vibe on set from the rest of the cast and crew, as they assumed I was there just because my brother was the director. I knew I had to prove myself in certain scenes, and I gave it my all, and even did some pretty extreme stunts. After that, everyone looked at me differently — they knew I was worthy,” Mostafa says with a smile.
Mohamed Mostafa in ‘Hijack.’ (Apple TV+)
After a part in the UAE’s first true blockbuster, the war film “Al-Kameen” (2021), for which he went to military boot camp with the rest of the cast to fully immerse himself in the role, Mostafa signed with an agent in the UK, not sure if any opportunity would ever come. The first call he got soon after, it turned out, was for “Hijack”.
“The day I was first scheduled to go to set, I was staying at a friend’s house. After the driver came to bring me to the filming location, I spent the whole ride questioning my ability. I was quite nervous. But immediately, I was treated as an equal to all of these experienced actors. Not one person looked at me like I didn’t belong,” says Mostafa.
“The scenes just started flying by, and the director Jim Field Smith was extremely supportive. He made me feel so comfortable. I was even able to show them how Emiratis hold their hands while greeting people and other small details that helped add authenticity,” Mostafa continues.
Looking back, Mostafa now realizes why he loves that feeling — being in front of the camera is just like being on the pitch during a big game; all that pressure focuses him. “There’s nerves, but they’re nice nerves — the nerves that lock you in,” he says.
As Mostafa looks to the future, excited for what roles might come, whether regionally or in Hollywood, the moment he has been thinking back to the most, the moment that fuels him as he approaches a bright future, came at the premiere, when Idris Elba came up to embrace him.
“Idris said, ‘Mohamed, you did really well in it. You did such a great job.’ I just told him how grateful I was to have the opportunity. It was such a pleasure. It was hard to wait for this to get released, because I couldn’t be prouder to be a part of something this big, representing the UAE,” says Mostafa.
