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Nicolas Mouawad Lives for the Role Not the Rerun
Nicolas Mouawad Lives for the Role Not the Rerun

CairoScene

time2 days ago

  • Entertainment
  • CairoScene

Nicolas Mouawad Lives for the Role Not the Rerun

Despite a résumé that includes prophets, kings, and the burdened overthinker, Nicolas Mouawad insists his acting career was an accident. When Lebanese actor Nicolas Mouawad isn't toggling between an alarming range of linen shirts as the perennially anguished Karam in Al Thaman - a melodrama known to cause emotional vertigo and the spontaneous drafting of 3am texts you'll later deny - he's singing in Turkish. In a tuxedo. Beside, naturally, Turkish singer Aylin Yeliz. For a brief but magical moment, he was also exceptionally easy to find - just follow the faint aroma of Earl Grey along the Australian coastline. There, in what was possibly the last functioning civilisation on Earth in the thick of the Covid-19 pandemic, Mouawad was seen in animated conversation with Mad Max director George Miller, Idris Elba, and Tilda Swinton. Whether they were dissecting the nuances of cinematic apocalypse or debating which edition of Stanislavski's 'An Actor Prepares' offers the most existential bite remains unclear. What is clear, however, is that Three Thousand Years of Longing - a harrowing supernatural tale film starring all three - debuted shortly thereafter. Interpret that as you will. Nicolas certainly would. He's very reachable - available on WhatsApp with the ease of a friend abroad who texts back promptly, punctuates liberally with red heart emojis, and deploys exclamation marks with the unapologetic gusto of someone unburdened by irony. Correspondence definitely doesn't feel like liaising with a screen actor. And it's all intentional. Despite a résumé that includes prophets, kings, narcissists, and the occasional romantically burdened overthinker, Nicolas Mouawad insists his acting career began more or less by accident. 'I never wanted to be in front of the camera,' he explains. 'I was shy. I loved math. I watched Spartacus with my dad on Sundays. That was the gateway drug.' It tracks. A child quietly obsessed with physics, but emotionally destabilised by 1960s gladiator cinema, grows up to master four languages and cry convincingly on cue. The acting epiphany arrived, predictably, via Shakespeare. Mouawad found himself performing Richard III at university and walked off stage a changed person. 'It was the first time I felt that kind of electricity,' he says. 'A beautiful, terrifying kind of joy.' He didn't run off to L.A. or start referring to himself in third person. Instead, he did what any dutiful Lebanese son with theatrical leanings and anxious parents would do: he double-majored in civil engineering and theatre. Because in the Arab world, emotional expression is important - but so is concrete income. What separates Mouawad from the method crowd is in part his growing international resume but predominantly his refusal to treat any character, no matter how ethically bankrupt, as a cautionary tale. 'I never judge them,' he says. 'Even if they're manipulative or monstrous - I have to believe them. I have to understand them. Otherwise, no one else will.' It sounds noble, and it is, but it also involves the kind of emotional mining that would make your therapist visibly sweat. This intensity comes with a cost. When playing Karam, a man diagnosed with cancer in Al Thaman, Mouawad drew from his own life: both of his parents died of the same illness. 'It was brutal,' he says. 'I had to go back there emotionally.' Later, in one of the many side conversations this question then prompted, he added quietly, 'Being an actor, sometimes, is not healthy.' The comment was tossed off like a fact - like calling a double espresso strong - but it stuck. The truth is, the body doesn't always know the difference between grief remembered and grief rehearsed. Some roles linger like old bruises. His portrayal of Abraham in His Only Son stayed long after the cameras stopped. 'I wanted him to feel human,' Mouawad explains. 'Not untouchable. Not mythic. Just a man doing what he believes is right - and barely holding it together while doing it.' Grief isn't the only thing that sticks. Fame does too - trailing him with the persistence of an overdue utility bill. He swears he doesn't enjoy recognition. 'I like the work. Not the noise,' he shrugs. He splits his time between Lebanon, Egypt, Istanbul, and whichever city has most recently asked him to learn an entirely new alphabet. He acted in Russian, sung in Turkish, and delivered lines in Arabic, English, and what can only be described as the universal dialect of beautifully managed despair. 'I'm not doing this to impress anyone,' he says. 'I just get bored easily. Learning keeps me awake.' Mouawad claims to have little interest in being 'known,' which is a curious position for someone regularly recognised in public and aggressively complimented in grocery stores. 'I never feel established,' he admits. 'Even when people say it, I don't believe it. My mind's always in rehearsal for something else. I can't afford to stand still. I'm afraid if I stop, I'll start believing my own bio.' Still, he's learned the art of pressing pause. After three projects back-to-back, he's taken a self-imposed sabbatical. 'No scripts. No shoots. Nothing for four or five months,' he tells me. 'I want to be home.' By 'home,' he means with his wife and young daughter, who recently joined him for a six-month shoot in Istanbul. Fatherhood has recalibrated him. The provocateur is still there - 'If everyone says they love white, I'll say I love black' - but so is the softness that comes with realising you are now the person someone else will remember as their childhood. 'She won't be little forever,' he says. 'And I don't want to be the guy who sends a teddy bear from set and calls it parenting.' When I ask what he'd say if, twenty years from now, she told him she wanted to act, he doesn't flinch. 'I'd be her biggest supporter. Because I know exactly what it feels like to not have one.' Of course, all of this - fatherhood, fame, the Turkish ballads - sits in tension with how the public imagines him. 'People think they know me because they've seen me cry on TV,' he says. 'But they don't know who I am at 2 AM, when everyone's asleep and it's just me and the noise inside my head.' So who is that person, we ask. He pauses, then offers a half-smile. 'A dreamer. With insomnia.'

The Beatles and their disruptive trip to India: The ‘Transcendental Meditation' that changed the Abbey Road musicians forever
The Beatles and their disruptive trip to India: The ‘Transcendental Meditation' that changed the Abbey Road musicians forever

Indian Express

time3 days ago

  • Entertainment
  • Indian Express

The Beatles and their disruptive trip to India: The ‘Transcendental Meditation' that changed the Abbey Road musicians forever

By any standard, The Beatles will remain one of the biggest, most prolific, controversial, and iconic bands of all time. Remember the pretentious guy from 10th grade who always carried around a small leather diary with him, the old widower uncle on your block growing up, or the inspiring English professor from your American Literature class in college who made you feel like opening up a dead poet's society of your own. They all listened to the Beatles because the band, like a few other phenomena in the world, wasn't just famous or sought after because of their product; it was because of what they represented and how they made you feel when you associated with their identity, for better or for worse. For example, the Cali Cartel exported and controlled just as much cocaine in their heyday, if not more, as the Medellin Cartel did. But you ask a layman who Rodriguez Orejuela was. It's likely they won't be able to give you the right answer. But ask them about Pablo Escobar, and they will recite for you their favourite dialogues from the Narcos series on Netflix (by the way, they made a season about the Cali guys too; no one cared). Yes, a drug lord who killed thousands of people during his reign is somewhat of an unsuitable person to be compared with the Abbey Road quartet, but Paul McCartney, Ringo Starr, George Harrison and John Lennon, together, had a drug-like hold on their listeners. A drug that would make them keep coming back, a drug that made you cool just by association, and let's be honest, The Beatles weren't pumping out album after album, surviving on Earl Grey tea and English muffins. The boys got together in 1962, after the trio of McCartney, Harrison and Lennon finally found the right drummer in Starr. Soon after their first hit, 'Love Me Do', manager Brian Epstein played all the right moves, and through his grooming and moulding process, out came the biggest rock group in the world. They would go on to make 12 studio albums in the short span of 8 years, due to the power of Earl Grey tea and Scouse, of course. ALSO READ: 'P Diddy would rather die than let go of rights to Biggie Smalls' music': How Diddy was at the epicentre of both Tupac and Biggie's death The amount of music they were putting out was almost too much, and say what you will, the guys knew their stuff. Apart from being amazing musicians, Lennon and McCartney were incredible writers, artists who were more susceptible to inspiration and ideas for a bridge than Joseph B. Strauss (he wasn't a musician, just the guy who built the Golden Gate Bridge). Harrison and Starr were expert executioners of their writers' vision, and together they worked hard day and night to earn their place in the Mount Rushmore of music, if not at the peak of Everest. But that kind of schedule, along with the 'calm and sober' lifestyle of a rock star, can be taxing on the body, and soon the street outside Abbey Road Studios became too long a course to chart, and they were exhausted. It was getting difficult keeping up appearances while trying to manage your career, wives, extramarital affairs and dentists serving you coffee laced with LSD, which, considering the 60s, was probably part of the dental plan for musicians. The Beatles needed a break, and Harrison's wife, Pattie Boyd, the woman who was described as the modern-day Helen of Troy by LA magazine, suggested 'Transcendental Meditation' to the group. This was a revelation, and without any delay, the Beatles travelled to Rishikesh to meet the Maharishi Mahesh Yogi. Liverpool to Rishikesh The Beatles had previously met the Maharishi during a lecture in London and a 10-day workshop in Wales (with Mick Jagger by the way), a trip they had to cut short because Epstein suddenly passed away. They were then invited to join him at his main ashram, where the Beatles would end up writing close to 50 songs, with many of them ending up on their next project, 'The White Album'. Even though the Beatles had sold millions of records all over the world and had probably witnessed every comfort known to man, they were taken aback when they reached the Ashram. 14 acres of land consisting of six long bungalows, each containing five or six double rooms, and the rooms were equipped with four-poster beds and an electric fire system. Along with all that, there was a post office, a lecture theatre and a swimming pool. All four of them were now determined to make the most of this trip, and Harrison and Lennon were the most affected by the teachings. After the band met the Maharishi in Wales, they had decided to give up drugs, just like Jimi Hendrix switched to the tambourine after playing the 'Star-Spangled Banner'. Even after this supposed break from drugs, Lennon admitted that he was hallucinating during his time at the Ashram, and his claims were backed by his wife, Cynthia Lennon, who said in Bob Spitz's book The Beatles that Harrison and Lennon had completely accepted the teachings of the Maharishi. However, Starr and McCartney weren't having that much of a jolly time and left soon after a couple of weeks. The band tripped for days, just on meditation apparently, and wrote an entire album while denying a Lord of The Rings movie (story for another time). But as half of the group departed, the other two maybe went too deep. ALSO READ: Frank Sinatra 'facilitated' John F Kennedy's other life, but couldn't outrun his mafia connections: The rise and ruin of their unlikely friendship Boyd, who introduced Harrison to the entire scheme, admitted later on that the teachings had gotten a hold of him, and so had alcohol and drugs. Lennon who was apparently already thinking about bringing his then muse Yoko Ono on the trip along with his wife, asked for separate rooms for him and his wife after just a few days in Rishikesh. Their relationship would never get back to normal, ultimately leading to a divorce. Through the Ashram and his muse, Lennon had shed the skin of the young and innocent Scouser, and the man that emerged wanted to change the world, and his own life with it. He had already been drifting towards politics and activism before Rishikesh, many fans and members of the band accused his relationship with Ono to be one of the reason, they broke up. Lennon admitted later on that the moment he saw Ono was the moment he knew his days with the old gang were over. Soon Lennon and Harrison also left upon discovering the Maharishi's involvement in sexual assault cases, even though it was never proved. But even though the boys were all back in good old England, the distance had already been created. During this very week in 1968, the Beatles started recording 'The White Album' at the Abbey Road Studios, and to the average Joe, it was just another great project. Songs filled to the brim with mystique of the East, songs that brought out a different side of the Beatles, a broken side of the Beatles. The strum of the guitar still blended perfectly with the thrum of the drums, the tempo still intact, and the different voices and harmonies still so seamlessly brought together that they sounded one. But the trip, like perceived by many, wasn't a breather; it was a moment of realisation for all four men that they didn't need to be the greatest band in the world anymore. It was enough, all that they had done, and if the sun had set on the Beatles on the day they released the White Album, it would be alright. They did end up working on another album, but personal turmoils, failing relationships and four broken minds were enough to stop this madness. Seeds of discontent had been sown long before the trip and maybe whatever they experienced in India, just exacerbated the whole situation. All four of the Beatles left their wives following that trip, with McCartney's marriage lasting the longest. The group went their separate ways, and the band was legally disbanded in 1974. Even though they were gone in such a short time, everyone listened to the Beatles. They were probably the first band to be famous enough to be recognised by all, even if many never listened to a single thing they put out. It wasn't about what they sang; it was always about who they were and what they represented, and maybe the pretentious guy from your school whom we talked about earlier isn't all too bad, because no matter who they were and what they did, the Beatles were cool; it's that simple.

We celebrate ‘National Scone Day' with Anna Polyviou as she rates our staff's homemade scones
We celebrate ‘National Scone Day' with Anna Polyviou as she rates our staff's homemade scones

7NEWS

time4 days ago

  • General
  • 7NEWS

We celebrate ‘National Scone Day' with Anna Polyviou as she rates our staff's homemade scones

Anna Polyviou is a pastry chef known for creating wacky takes on desserts and creative cakes. Today, she is cooking buttermilk scones with tea-soaked raisins. TEA RAISIN BUTTERMILK SCONES INGREDIENTS 400g Plain (all-purpose) flour, plus extra for dusting 60g Caster (superfine) sugar 2tsp Baking powder. 160g Unsalted butter, at room temperature Pinch Sea Salt 2 Egg 160ml Buttermilk 1tsp Vanilla bean paste 1 Egg yolk, whisked. EARL GREY TEA SULTANAS 2tsp Loose leaf Earl Grey tea (250ml boiling water) 100g Sultanas (golden raisins) SERVE WITH Cream & Jam HOW TO 1. Place the raisins, into strained Earl Grey tea. Cover and allow to cool up to 1 week in the fridge. 2. To make the scones, put the dry ingredients in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Add a pinch of salt and the butter, then beat on low speed for 5 minutes until the mixture is crumbly. 3. Whisk together the eggs, buttermilk, and vanilla bean paste. Gradually add this mixture to the flour mixture. Mix on high speed for 2–3 minutes, until the dough comes together and there are no crumbs in the bottom of the bowl. 4. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured work surface and divide it into two halves. Gently knead one portion of dough into a rectangle shape and cover with plastic wrap. Set aside to rest for 10 minutes. 5. Lightly knead the sultanas (strained tea) into the remaining dough portion, form into a rectangle shape and cover with plastic wrap. Set aside to rest for 10 minutes. 6. Preheat the oven to 190°C (375°F). Lightly spray two baking trays with baking spray. 7. Roll out each dough portion to a thickness of 2 cm (¾ inch). Use a 5.5 cm (2¼ inch) circle cutter to cut out discs. Try not to touch the dough, as this makes it shrink just hold the side of the cutter ring and push down. 8. Arrange the scones, flat side up, on the prepared baking trays. Brush the tops of the sultana scones with the egg yolk and lightly dust the tops of the plain scones with the extra plain flour. Set aside for 1 hour to allow the gluten to relax. 9. Bake the scones for 10-12 minutes, until just golden. Wait a couple of minutes, then eat them straight away, served with clotted cream and your favourite jam.

Desert Island Dish with Austin's Susana Querejazu
Desert Island Dish with Austin's Susana Querejazu

Axios

time7 days ago

  • Entertainment
  • Axios

Desert Island Dish with Austin's Susana Querejazu

As part of our running feature about Austin chefs' favorite meals, we recently caught up with Susana Querejazu, executive pastry chef at the Michelin-recommended Lutie's, located at the Commodore Perry Estate by 41st and Red River streets. The background: A native Austinite who attended Lamar Middle School and McCallum High School — her dad is from Bolivia, her mom from San Antonio — Querejazu has worked at some of the best restaurants in Austin and across the country. She met her husband, Bradley Nicholson — now the executive chef at Lutie's — in the kitchen at Enoteca Vespaio. She has worked at Uchi, Odd Duck and Barley Swine, as well as Quince Restaurant and the three-Michelin-starred Saison in San Francisco. The couple returned to Austin in 2020, just before the pandemic hit, to take the reins at the planned Lutie's. "It was a pile of rocks, but it had so much potential, so centered in the city, so close to UT." What we like: Querejazu's creations, characterized by technique and seasonal inspiration, include a watermelon soft serve, kouign amann ice cream and an Earl Grey almond cake. "Texas has amazing strawberries, blueberries, honey, yogurt, milk, sweet potatoes, citrus and pecans. I like to hold a spot for that in my menus," she says. This interview is edited for clarity. You're on a desert island. What's the one dish you'd like with you? "Two answers: The shiitake mushroom dumplings at Barley Swine. It's essentially a filled pasta dish — and at one point they were serving it with a soft scramble and candied nuts. ... The shiitake taste really sticks with you — it's a strong flavor with a creamy filling — really beautiful and a great consistency." "And the Italian sub at Home Slice. It's a fully loaded sandwich, and I love shrettuce so much. Flavors and consistency is the king, and I like the contrast of hot, cold and saucy." You're allowed to bring a dessert. "Just a freshly baked warm chocolate chip cookie. It's basic and easy to eat." Do you like to eat one with milk? "Usually no, but my son does. Maybe on a deserted island, I'm not worried about calories." Well, you can bring a libation on the island. What'll it be?

I visited the new viral London café - I discovered the best Matcha in the city
I visited the new viral London café - I discovered the best Matcha in the city

Yahoo

time26-05-2025

  • Entertainment
  • Yahoo

I visited the new viral London café - I discovered the best Matcha in the city

There's a new matcha café in London that I keep seeing all over TikTok. Most of the videos feature the owner, Hanife, sharing behind-the-scenes clips of opening the café. Hanife, a 25-year-old from London, left her job as a photographer and social media manager to open a café with her dad. She's been documenting the entire journey online, which has helped the café become viral. Frothee officially opened on April 28 on Caledonian Road in King's Cross, and it's already drawing a crowd. On opening day, the queue stretched down the street as the first 100 customers were offered free iced drinks. With all the buzz, I knew I had to see what the hype was about. As I stepped in, I could tell it's a brand-new café still finding its feet, but the vibe is warm and full of potential. The interior is modern and cosy, with three small tables and some counter seating. Outside, there are a couple more tables, as Hanife wants it to become a go-to summer hangout. READ MORE: 'I visited Broadway Market for the first time and can't believe I've been neglecting it' READ MORE: 'Croydon gave me a backbone' - Rachel Khoo on the South London takeaway she misses The drinks menu is matcha-heavy, with flavours like Spanish, Strawberry, and Earl Grey. For £1 extra, you can add a house-made salted vanilla cold foam, something I had never seen before. There's also some coffee options. My sweet tooth and I ordered their best-selling Brown Sugar matcha with the vanilla foam on top. The total came to £5.90, with no extra charge for oat milk. The drink was so sweet and creamy, but still had that signature matcha kick. Honestly, it might be the best matcha I've had in London! They also serve unique baked goods, including Earl Grey and orange cream buns, plus a miso chocolate cookie. I was curious about the Earl Grey flavour, so I tried the bun. It was so delicious - light, fluffy, and not overly sweet, with a delicately flavoured Italian cream filling. It paired perfectly with the richer matcha drink. Frothee is ideal whether you're working solo, studying, or catching up with friends in a sleek, minimalist setting. Yes, it's gone viral - but based on my visit, it's absolutely worth the hype. It'snot just me who has decided so. Google Reviews back it up. A recent review reads: "Only briefly spoke with Hani the owner and can immediately tell she has poured her heart and soul into Frothee. As a matcha lover I can 100000% say….this is going to be your hotspot for one of the best matcha near Kings X. Would highly recommend the matcha cookie!" Another added: "Hands down the BEST matcha in London! Such a lovely, warm space with friendly staff and amazing drinks" You can find frothee on 60 Caledonian Rd, London N1 9DP. It's open daily from 8 am to 8 pm.

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