Meet Omar Moustafa Ghonim | Actor

We had the good fortune of connecting with Omar Moustafa Ghonim and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Omar Moustafa, is there a quote or affirmation that’s meaningful to you?
My favorite quote currently is “Be Curious, Not Judgemental” by Walt Whitman, popularized by the show Ted Lasso.

It’s informed a lot of my decisions in life lately and really opened me up to unlimited possibilities. I feel like we often don’t give things or people a chance because we’ve predetermined the outcome based on previous experiences, therefore judging the way things will go without ever giving ourselves a chance to dig deeper and discover new things and learn for ourselves.

Every time I think of the quote it sparks my curiosity in whatever’s in front of me and it’s been a pretty enjoyable way to live when you can be opened up by life instead of closed off.

Alright, so let’s move onto what keeps you busy professionally?
I’ve been an actor now for almost a decade but I’ve been a lifelong performer. From doing impressions of movie characters for my family as a kid to school musicals to social media to the big screen, I always had a love for entertaining. It’s always been there and taken several forms.

I’m extremely proud of my acting because it’s always been reflective of what stage of life I’m in. When I started I was making comedy videos on the 6-second video app Vine, so my acting was loud and rambunctious. Almost a decade later, I’ve grown into myself as a man and become much more contemplative a reflective on my life, whether it’s writing my first script Pigskin based on my experiences with prejudice playing football while fasting the holy month of Ramadan or processing grief & heartbreak through writing & performing poetry; my acting now is grounded in realism and naturalism.

It for damn sure was never easy. I sacrificed everything to pursue this dream. I gave up stability for creativity, I dropped out of school twice and moved to LA at 20 with $400 to my name. I’ve slept on floor after floor, couch to couch and even spent a weekend sleeping in my car. More than that, I limited enjoying my life in this pursuit, I skipped hundreds of nights out with friends, quality time with loved ones, trips home to Egypt and many more in my pursuit of this goal. Inevitably forcing me to create a balance of living to create instead of creating to live.

I learned that you shouldn’t attach your whole self to an outcome, instead focus on what you can control and have the patience and confidence that everything will all fall into place. I learned that your health, both mental & physical, is paramount to monetary and materialistic gains. But simultaneously in order to get what you desire from life you can’t just sit around waiting for it to come to you… you need to earn it, and that takes two things: persistency and consistency. If you have those two, while taking time for yourself, the wins add up, you could have a 10% day today and a 100% day tomorrow, both days still got you closer to your goal.

I want the world to know that I am a proud Egyptian-American Muslim, I’m blessed to come from such a rich culture and faith and represent it on the biggest stages in my field. I have a deep well of love for those close to me. I’m always looking for ways to better myself. I’m an advocate of mental health and physical health. I’m very passionate & artistic, respectful and articulate, knowledgeable & generous, strong-willed & confident and I’m wise beyond my years. I have a story to share with the world and I’m writing it one day at a time, and the world will hear it someday. I’m not a one-trick pony by any means, if you take the time to get to know me, you’ll learn a lot.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
I’ll be honest with y’all… I 100% gatekeep my LA spots hahaha. I keep all my gems for me and mine. But I think a good visit to LA whether you’re a first timer or you basically live here, involves hiking a great trail, hitting one of the beaches down in OC and doing some kind of Hollywood touristy activity like the Academy Museum or walking Rodeo. Then you’ve gotta do a foodie tour, there’s incredible local places and trucks as well as some more well known ones like Kazu Nori which is a personal favorite of mine!

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
There’s been a lot of people who’ve motivated me, uplifted me and inspired me but no one stands out the way my mother does. Her courage and sacrifice to give me my life and pour unlimited & unconditional love into me has been the foundation for me to strive to be the best I can be. My goal is give her the life she deserves and reward her sacrifices through my success.

We still butt heads sometimes but she’s my North Star always.

Website: https://www.imdb.com/omarghonim

Instagram: https://Instagram.com/OmarMGhonim