Tunisian-Egyptian star Hend Sabri is moving the cultural needle in the Middle East when it comes to playing female characters.
Sabri is the star of “Moftaraq Toroq,” the Arabic adaptation of “The Good Wife” that launched in June to top ratings across the Middle East on leading regional networkMBC’s Shahid premium streamer.
In the show, Sabri plays Amira, who after dedicating 15 years of her life to being the wife of a prominent politician and a mother, returns to the legal profession in the wake of her husband’s sex scandal. Besides her “The Good Wife” role, Sabri is also the star of Netflix’s hit Arabic original “Finding Ola,” in which she plays a Cairo divorcee who happily embarks on a journey of self-discovery. The second season of “Finding Ola” is expected to drop later this year.
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Below, Sabri speaks to PvNew about navigating the “tricky” cultural complexities of transposing the U.S. show for Arab audiences.
You are the protagonist in these big series in which you play female characters that push boundaries in Middle Eastern culture. In what ways is it a balancing act?
Yes, the shock doctrine doesn’t work in this region. I don’t think it works when you shock the audience or take them away from what they know, from their values and beliefs. But if you take them on a journey from a place they know to a place maybe they don’t, then they start thinking or approaching it differently.
What were the main challenges in placing “The Good Wife” protagonist Alicia Florrick within an Arabic cultural context?
The show is actually very similar to the original. But there are a few changes that were made. Some before I came on board the project, others afterwards. I had discussions with the producers and the writers about some very tricky moments in the characters’ life concerning social judgment over a married woman being in love with another man. We had to be very, very careful about how to navigate that and how to introduce this dichotomy or this kind of dilemma that she’s in.
How did you make Alicia’s character more Arabic?
We had to reformulate a little bit how Amira, which is her name in the Arabic version, interacts with the lawyer, Will Gardner [her boss] in the U.S. original. And also, her relationship with her husband and the social construct around her. In our version ,she’s much more cared for by society, by her mother-in-law, by her colleagues, by her kids. There’s much less room for action [on her part] or for freedom. We had to tweak this aspect because a format is a format, yes, but it has to also kind of meet the social constructs that are very different from place to place. And I didn’t want to alienate Amira from the audience.
How groundbreaking is “The Good Wife” in the Arab world?
For me, it’s crucial to have such a nuanced character in this part of the world. It’s probably the first time we see a woman trapped in so many crossroads. And, by the way, the title of the Arabic adaptation is “Crossroads.” There are so many crossroads in her life at an age where she’s not in her prime – she’s not 20, she’s getting middle-aged. Nobody talks about middle-aged women in this region. And the fact that she’s torn between being a good wife and living her real life, and being torn between her authenticity and what society dictates — this is super essential for this region. So I thought [the tweaks] were actually good for me as an actress and good for what I want, or the impact I want to have through my work in the region.
Any other cultural differences?
In the American version, Alicia is a very strong character. She chooses – in a society that could have allowed her to do otherwise – to put herself in second place. But she could have chosen differently. Here [in the Arabic version], we have a character who didn’t really have a choice. Amira has a brilliant husband, she has to live in his shadow. And once she goes back to being a lawyer and to the firm and to having her own life, the way she negotiates keeping that life is different from how an American character negotiates keeping that life. And we had to be very subtle in building that, or else she would’ve come across as a character who is a social outcast and someone who chose to cheat on her husband.
How can you tell when you’ve gone too far?
These things are very tricky in our region. Because of my experience, because I’ve been playing so many characters in this region, my nose always tells me. I have a flair for these things, I know when we’re crossing the line and when it’s OK to do so. Going back to what I was just saying about Amira, I had to go back a few times and tell the writers, “I don’t think that’s going to pass.” With Amira, I think we needed to underline the fact that she had no choice and that she was a victim. Not just of that man [her husband], but of society as a whole. And that now that she wants to keep that freedom, wants to maintain her independence, it cannot be only because she fell in love. Otherwise, it’s going to be interpreted as her being a woman who changes her mind very easily, which is still not very well accepted [in the Arab world]. It’s a game. It’s a dance with the audience.
This interviewhas been edited and condensed for clarity.
