It’s time for everyone to pause their regularly scheduled programming to tune into Hend Sabry’s latest (and one of our fave) projects, Finding Ola. The Arabic Netflix Original series was only released earlier this month, but just the trailer itself gave us ~goosebumps~.
Finding Ola continues the story of pharmacist Ola Abdel-Sabour from the 2010 comedy series Ayza Atgawez (I Want To Get Married,) where the female protagonist who’s now 40 faces life-altering events. And by life-altering we mean getting a divorce, starting a business, and finding herself. Yep, it’s a lot.
This is also the first time that Tunisian-Egyptian star Hend Sabry is an executive producer as well as an actress on set, so it’s no wonder that Finding Ola has been on Netflix’s top trending list for a while now.
Cosmo ME had the chance to sit down and chat all things Finding Ola with Hend herself, Nada Moussa who plays her super single and super cool best friend Nisreen, and their business partner Montasser played by Mahmoud Ellisy.
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Scroll down to check out what the trio had to say about their characters on the hit series and why it’s so important for young Arab women to watch Finding Ola as well.
Hend Sabry on being both in front of, and behind, the camera
When we asked Hend whether she preferred being behind the camera as an executive producer, or acting in front of the camera, the star said “my main priority is acting. I’m an actress and I still define myself as an actress but maybe, the experience of producing isn’t something uncommon in Hollywood. For example, in Hollywood, a lot of actresses become executive producers of shows or movies that belong to them. Maybe to us, this is something new.”
She sees this experience as an “extra hat” that she wears, and doesn’t believe in immobilism when it comes to her career.
How much do Hend, Nada, and Mahmoud *actually* relate to their characters?
Honestly, get you some friends like Ola, Nisreen, and Montasser. The trio are hilarious throughout the series, and apparently according to the cast, their characters aren’t far from their ~actual~ selves. Well, except for Montasser in real life as his French isn’t “flawless” as Hend and Nada laugh about.
“If I don’t use a lot of filters, I’d be Ola. Nada also resembles her character. If filters didn’t exist, Nada would be her,” Hend says.
She elaborates on Finding Ola‘s genre as “in comedy, you try to get close to things you personally relate to. For you to humour people, you have to relate to the situation.”
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If you’re wondering if the three actors got along off-screen too, then we have some good news for you. Hend described Ola, Nisreen, and Montasser’s dynamic as “similar” to the triangle of Hend, Nada, and Mahmoud. We’re living for this friendship.
On why it’s important for young Arab women to watch Finding Ola
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“What brought Finding Ola closer to the people watching the show is that you always compare the mother to your mother, the father to your father. The Arab world has the same idea. She gets married and wants to take care of her house, her kids, and her husband. So yeah, it’s important for Arab girls to see it, especially as the new aspect of Finding Ola is that the writing of it is modern. It’s very modern. There’s nothing we talk about that ladies in their 40’s who are going through a midlife crisis don’t go through.”
Hend continues explaining that this show doesn’t “sugar-coat family conversations,” they don’t “pretend to be perfect as the characters are real.”
If that doesn’t give you a good enough reason to press play and give the show a watch, then we don’t know what will.