On the heels of his acclaimed stage performance at London’s National Theater for “Phaedra,” Assaad Bouab(“Call My Agent!,” “Bad Sisters”) is set to team with filmmaker Benjamin Ross(“The Frankenstein Chronicles”)and Europeanproductionbanner Asacha MediaGroup on “Voyager.”
“Voyager” will star Bouab as legendaryMedievalexplorer and philosopherIbn Battutawhowent on pilgrimage to Mecca and ended uptravellingfor over twenty years andover 76000 milesacrossAfrica, Indiaand Eurasia,morethan anyone in pre-modern history. Battutaloggedhisexperiences ofthepeople, places and cultures he encountered along the way,writingone of the world’searliest andmost famous travelogues,The Rilah, andearninghimself legendary statusin history.The project is being developed as a series.
Bouab, who is half Moroccan, said “Ibn Battuta is one of the greatest explorers of all time and I would have loved to have had his life.”
“For many years,hisname was associated with a boat in my mind– the boat that I and my family used totravelonbetween Tangier and Algeciras in Spain, thatmarked the beginning of my discovery of a new world I now have the chance to live in his shoes for a while,” Bouab continued.
Ross,who will be showrunning “Voyager,” said “IbnBattuta’s ‘Rilah’is one of the most fascinating documents in historyanda privilegedwindow ontoavanished world.”
“In our hands it’salso the scaffold for an epic,multi-seriesadventure ofintrigue, ambition,global politics,romance,andspiritual quest that will entertain and enthrallaudiences around the world.”
Asacha Mediagroup,the fast-expandingEuropean production banner, owns several outfits, including the U.K.’s Red Planet Pictures, Picomedia in Italy andKabo Family in France. The company is backing the series project and is seeking potential production and broadcast partners.
“In such a saturated market, it’s hard to finddistinctiveand important stories to tell,thisoneis both, andI am thrilled to beworking with Ben and Assaad in telling it,” said Maria Ishak,head of international content andco-productionsat Asacha Media.
“Thisprojectfurther cements ourourplaceas one of the most exciting and successful destinations for talent and original and established IP,” Ishak continued.
Speaking to PvNew ahead of Cannes, Bouab spoke about his recent experience on stage in London, as well as starring as French philosopher Pierre-Augustin Caron deBeaumarchais, opposite Michael Douglas, in the upcomingAppleTV+series “Franklin,” based on the life ofBenjamin Franklin.
“It was so moving. Michael Douglas has smiling eyes and such a magnetic presence. Seeing him play Benjamin Franklin was almost hypnotic,” said Bouab.
The actor reveled about the role of Beaumarchais, whom he said had “an incredible life” and was a “very complex, multi-layered character.”
“People are familiar with Beaumarchais for his plays, like the ‘Le Mariage de Figaro’ and ‘Le Barbier de Séville,’ but they don’t know that he was a clockmaker, an inventor, he taught music to the daughters of Louis XV, then he was a weapon salesman, and at some point he became a spy for the French king,” said Bouab. The series also stars Thibault de Montalembert, who had a recurrent role in “Call My Agent!”
While a “Call My Agent!” spinoff movie is currently in development, Bouab, who broke through playing the entrepreneur Hicham Janowski in the hit show, said he won’t reprise his role. “I feel a need to turn the page,” the actor admitted.
He said he was grateful for Fanny Herrero (the co-creator and showrunner of the series) who “created this character whom we dislike at the beginning and seems only preoccupied by his business, but then we see his humanity, and he ends up being touching, especially in the third season.”
Landing the leading role in “Phaedra,” SimonStone’s reimagining of the Greek tragedy, of the National Theater in London certainly ranks as Bouab’s biggest acting accomplishment — he’s the first French actor to have played there.
Bouab had worked with Stone on a previous play, “Three Sisters,” but that was in French and at the Odeon Theater in Paris. “Simon has a unique way of working, he keeps writing during the rehearsals and adapting them to the actors, so his plays are very personal,” said Bouab, who pointed out Stone’s modern treatment of “Phaedra” still boasts all the ingredients of a “Greek tragedy.” While the British critics tend to be unforgiving, Bouab’s performance earned a warm welcome. “We got so much love during the performance we did with the press, I was so moved that I cried,” he said.
“It was terrifying at times, especially because I was acting in English, but I learned so much and it opened a new world for me,” said Bouab.
