Mona Zaki after being honored at the El Gouna Festival: Fear has been present throughout my life

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Actress Mona Zaki received a special honor during the activities of the ninth session of the El Gouna Film Festival, which began on Thursday, during which she reviewed stages of her artistic and humanitarian journey, and stopped at experiences that created her awareness of acting, roles that left an impact on her career, and human and professional relationships that helped her continue on the path.

Her talk was not limited to recalling successes, but extended to moments of anxiety and hesitation, the difficulties she faced, and how some of her fears turned into motivations to experiment and continue.

Mona Zaki's honor comes in appreciation of an artistic career characterized by diversity and the ability to move between different characters and experiences, from social comedy to human drama, and from popular works to roles that put their performers before more complex acting and psychological tests.

Throughout her career, she has been able to maintain her presence among successive generations of artists, and to make choices that are not necessarily similar in nature or audience, benefiting from her ability to capture the human details of the characters she presents, and present them far from ready-made templates.

Her journey was not based on successes alone, but was also linked to stages of hesitation and fear of reactions, and continuous attempts to discover new tools in performance and understanding characters.

Her artistic choices reveal an interest in human relationships and the contradictions they entail, whether it concerns women within the family or society, or characters who find themselves facing circumstances beyond their ability to control. In her interview with Al Arabiya.net, Mona spoke about honoring and representation.

Artist Mona Zaki said that she was very happy with this honor, stressing that art helped her express her feelings in a way that was not easy for her before. She explained that standing in front of the camera gave her an opportunity to understand different aspects of herself, and that expressing weakness does not mean an absence of strength, but rather it may be a necessary step for a person to understand himself and others.

She indicated that fear remained present at different stages of her life, whether when embarking on a new experience or waiting for the public’s reaction, but she stressed that its presence was not a reason to retreat from work.

She sent a message to young people not to allow fear to become an obstacle that prevents them from taking their first steps, considering that experience remains necessary to discover and develop abilities, even if it is not free of anxiety or the possibility of error.

She added that the artist cannot guarantee reactions to every work he presents, but he can try to get close to the character and understand his motivations, and give him the effort and honesty he needs.

She expressed her gratitude to the directors and authors with whom she collaborated, stressing that some of them stood by her at stages when she felt faltering, and that the support she received from them helped her continue her journey and overcome moments of doubt.

She explained that the artist may present in front of the camera a character completely different from his nature in daily life, citing what she observes of the calmness of some comedy stars outside the filming locations, despite the energy with which they appear on screen.

Speaking about how to prepare for the roles, Mona Zaki revealed that she starts by reading the script, searching for details that reveal the nature of the character and her relationships with those around her, then imagining her background, daily life, and environment, which helps her build an integrated perception of her.

She pointed out that some sentences and situations may turn into keys to understanding the character, which is what happened to her during her participation in the series “Afrah Al-Qubba”, when the details of the dialogue helped her to form a deeper picture of the character of “Tahiya” and its history.

She added that she prefers to memorize the script close to the time of filming, out of a desire to maintain her spontaneity and interact with the moment, but she acknowledged that this method may sometimes make her move away from the literally written text, which may cause some disagreement with her colleagues.

Mona Zaki emphasized that her choices are not aimed at causing controversy, but rather are related to the dimensions she finds in the character that are worth presenting. She explained that an actor may embody a character who carries ideas or positions that do not express his own convictions, noting that art provides a space for presenting diverse human experiences, and every behavior issued by a dramatic character should not be treated as a personal position of the role holder.

She added that the artist's freedom to explore different personalities represents an essential part of the nature of the profession, and that asking the actor to justify every artistic choice may confuse reality with fantasy.

She pointed out that the younger generation faces various challenges, in light of the density of content and comparisons imposed by social networking sites, but she stressed that this does not negate the talents and energies they possess that deserve encouragement. She linked her message to them with what she talked about about fear, calling for not letting it disrupt the experience or prevent them from discovering their potential.