Lebanese-American actor Ahmed Mawas has snatched the lead role in a short film that American rapper/songwriter Macklemore loved so much he personally granted the director permission to use his music in it.
“Macklemore met with our director, and after watching it, he loved it so much because he felt the story was powerful and he could relate, that he offered us the rights to use his music,” Mawas told The961.
The film called Beauty of Warmth revolves around the protagonist, Yusuf, played by Mawas.
The synopsis reads, “A polished young executive goes against character and plunges into a volatile relationship with an alluring woman and quickly finds himself on the slippery slope of addiction.”
Getting ready for such a powerful role was no easy task. Mawas told us that preparing for Yusuf took a lot of homework to understand what he was going through.
“I was able to sit down with recovered addicts who were comfortable sharing what their experience was like,” he said. “I was so grateful for how open-minded they were given the sensitivity of the subject. My goal was to understand how and why it all started. What causes someone to go down that path.”
“As an actor, I usually pull from real-life experiences in order to trigger specific feelings and emotions required for a scene.”
“By understanding the conversations and thoughts going on in their head, how they were feeling, their change in mannerisms, body language, speech, and lifestyle, I was able to pull from my personal experiences that had similar results and effects to what I gathered from our conversations,” Mawas explained.
“Emitting the real emotions of an addict is what I was after. You can’t fake emotions, the camera will always notice when it’s not genuine,” he noted.
Mawas plays alongside actress, host, and fitness professional Melissa Paakh as Roxy. Paakh has starred in a number of music videos, commercials, and films, including the Netflix comedy Yes Day. She is also the first runner-up for Miss Minnesota, USA.
Created as a tribute to a lost friend who battled with addiction, the film was directed by Tamir Khalil and produced by recognized Egyptian actor/producer Khaled Abol Naga, also known as Kal Naga, Randy Motilall, and Ramy Khalil.
Beauty of Warmth is now in the process of entering various film festivals.
Here is the trailer for the film:
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