Rising Star Yasmina El Abd on What It Means to Grow Up On Camera

The spectre of typecasting follows every actor, a shadow lingering just out of sight. For Yasmina El Abd, it’s not something to fear but to shrug off, the way you might shake free from an ill-fitting coat. She wears her roles like second skins, slipping in and out with a grace that feels both effortless and unsettling, as though she’s been doing this forever. And in some ways, she has. At 18, she’s already spent nearly half her life on screen. The boundaries between who she is and who she plays blur, but not in a way that feels disorienting - more like she’s inviting you to see the world through her eyes, even if just for a moment.

In Finding Ola, where she plays Zeina, the teenage best friend could have been a simple, throwaway role. But El Abd refuses simplicity. There’s a quiet resolve in the way she holds herself, a steadiness that acts as a counterbalance to the turmoil around her. Watching her scenes with Aicel Ramzy’s Nadia, you begin to understand that it’s not the words that matter here - it’s the silences, the spaces between the dialogue, where the real story unfolds. She has this way of making you feel like you’re eavesdropping on something intimate, something fragile.

It’s tempting to romanticise her rise, to imagine that she glided into this career, a star from the start. But behind the camera is a girl who learned early that nothing is given freely. At 10, she was juggling school and six-hour stints at Dubai’s Diverse Performing Arts School, eating lunch in cars, coming home late, only to wake up at dawn and do it all over again. By 12, she was starring in The Shadow of Cairo, a film heavy with loss and societal fractures, themes that might have overwhelmed another child. But not her. She moved through it with the same quiet determination, the same unsettling ease.

Her first brush with Hollywood came in Theodosia in 2022, playing Safiya, another notch on a resume that’s as varied as it is impressive. But even now, after the commercials and the international roles, there’s something deeply unglamorous about the way she approaches her craft. It’s work. Hard work. 

When El Abd first approached her parents with the desire to act at the age of eight, they were initially sceptical. "Their very first answer was, 'No way,'" El Abd tells Scene Styled. "When your kid tells you, 'I want to act,' you don't know if they have what it takes." she says. Yet El Abd's persistence paid off. Though her schedule was gruelling and she suffered from bouts of illness brought on by exhaustion, stopping never crossed her mind. "I never complained once, and it never occurred to me to think 'oh I'm tired,' I was so preoccupied with how much I loved it." she asserts.

El Abd's Egyptian breakthrough came with Finding Ola. The show's success, which El Abd gives great credit to, has opened new doors, but she's mindful of the challenges that come with increased visibility. "It’s a seasonal industry. You're unemployed 30% of the year, and sometimes you wonder if people forget you exist, then for that other 70% of the time, you're scrambling to find time to do anything else because you’re so busy,” she explains.

Despite the pressure, El Abd remains committed to the craft she has willfully manifested into existence. "I'm in this for the long run," she says. 

Veering from stereotypes, she seeks to portray more characters with depth and wisdom, navigating the real, pivotal challenges faced by young women today. "[Young women] are always offered the same types of roles; the spoiled girl with the broken Arabic accent and that sort of persona. I'm trying to take on different roles each time, things people don't expect, because that's what an actor should do." 

El Abd is constantly raising awareness on mental health, sexual abuse, and gender violence as an an outspoken advocate for youth well-being, appointed by ‘Safe Egypt’ as its very first ambassador. Speaking on the matter, El Abd detailed how a movie like Flight 404, which starred Mona Zaki, is exactly the sort of film she feels is missing from Egyptian cinemas. “This film did something that no one had attempted. I saw that film and thought, we have all the resources we need to make quality movies like this, what’s stopping us? This is the sort of work I want to do; the sort of roles I want to take up.” she adds. Zaki, whose performance in Flight 404 sparked cruical national debate, is to El Abd a massive role model in the industry, alongside Finding Ola co-star Hend Sabry. 

El Abd also noted how Julie Roberts’ ‘Ben is Back’, which tackles addiction and tumultuous family dynamics, is one example of a movie she hopes would be adapted, half-jokingly expressing a desire to take up a role in said Egyptian adaptation, were there to ever be one. This is what exactly El Abd feels destined to do, make impactful art. Yet she understands the importance of balance and nuance when it comes to presenting delicate topics to an Egyptian audience, noting the importance of catering to mass appeal to get the message across.

“Our whole goal is to inflict good onto our societies, and that shouldn’t mean we avoid light-hearted fun, comedies, and dramas—people do need that—but we also need to use that to raise awareness.” El Abd says. “With In Bloom, we were delivering a message in a way that would appeal to mass audiences. It’s crucial to be very strategic in how you approach certain issues; that way, people will be interested to listen.” In Bloom tackles period poverty, child marriage, alongside other pressing issues, all of which El Abd hopes to be able to represent in an Egyptian context.  

Her career, however, is not the only path El Abd must tread, her personal growth runs hand in hand with her on-camera presence, and often-times, striking a balance while in a state of constant growth proves akin to impossible. “Anyone at this age is constantly changing and evolving. The person I was two years ago is not the person I am today.” The rising star confesses to sometimes ‘cringing’ when seeing scenes of herself filmed as little as one year ago, yet she’s aware it’s part of the process. 

“You can’t make decisions with the fear of regretting them later, you need to live in the moment. If this is what I’m enjoying right now, then it’s the right decision.” she reflects. Her awareness of her shifting identity extends to her public image as well, opting to present herself in a ‘timeless’ manner on the red carpet. “There are definitely things you have to think about every now and then; if I wear this, what would people say? This is the business side of the industry. You have to be careful about your image, but you also have to stay true to your own identity.” 

Throughout her journey, El Abd has relied on a strong support system. "Because of my family I've been able to persevere the way I've been trying to, and choose the things I've been able to," she says. Her parents have encouraged her to stay open to new opportunities while remaining true to herself, a notion that guides El Abd throughout these pivotal formative years. 

El Abd cannot fathom a life outside of the industry. For her, this path she has set on is the one she intends on seeing through for life. “I've learned so much and gained so much knowledge at an age I wouldn't have if I weren't in the industry.” she notes. "Success is something that you define on your own terms," she asserts. For her, it's about sparking conversations, a feat achieved by El Abd many times, with many more to come.

With the release of "Finding Ola" season two and more projects on the horizon that remain under wraps for now, Yasmina El Abd stands at the threshold of a promising career, both in Egypt, and abroad. Her journey from a starry-eyed child in Switzerland to one of the Arab world’s foremost rising international stars serves as proof of persistence, hard work, and staying true to oneself – even when growing up in the public eye.

Photographer: Baher Khairy

Styling: Ahmed Sorour DOP: Mohamed Ashraf 

Makeup: Mirna kauzman

Hair: Al Sagheer Salons

Assistant DOP: Adham el Amir

Editor: Youseef Elderaa

PR: Carrots Company | Marwa El Sawy