Mona Zaki
Mona Ali Mohamed Zaki (Egyptian Arabic: منى على محمد زكى; born 18 November 1976) is an Egyptian actress.[1][2]
Early life
Mona Ali Mohamed Zaki was born in Cairo to her parents Ali Mohamed Zaki and Tahani, on 18 November 1976. Until the age of 13, she lived in Kuwait.
Career
At the age of 16, and after seeing an advertisement by Mohamed Sobhi for new faces, she applied merely in hope of getting a chance to meet the famous Egyptian actor and director. Zaki was cast by Sobhi and had her first acting role in his play Bel Araby El Faseeh. Mona spent one semester in the United States studying in New Orleans under the tutelage of Dr. Malak Abou-Hargah. She returned to Egypt though to continue her acting career. When it was time for Mona to go to university, she enrolled in the Faculty of Mass Communication, Cairo University. During that time, she was introduced to director Ismail Abdel Hafez who chose her to play a part in El A'elah, a Ramadan series that marked her TV debut. Acting became more than just a hobby to Mona after that; she later acted in a number of popular TV series: Khalti Safiya wel Deir, Nisf Rabi' El Akhar, Ahalina, Ded El Tayyar and El Daw' El Sharid. The promising star's TV roles opened the doors of the big screen for her. Mona invaded the Egyptian cinema with El Katl ElLaziz, with Mervat Amin, then went on to play lead roles in Idhak El Soura Titla' Hilwa a performance for which she received an award, Sa'idi fil Gam'a Al-Amrikiya, Omar 2000, El Hobb El Awal, and Leih Khallitni Ahibbak all of which were box office hits.
She played the role of Jehan Sadat in the masterpiece The Days of Sadat (about Egyptian President Anwar Sadat). The young actress was given an award, along with the rest of the cast of the movie, by President Hosni Mubarak. Success remained close to the talented star and her dedication was well rewarded with the huge popularity of her next movies, Africano and Mafia. She went on from one movie to another, presenting Sleepless Nights, Men Nazret Ein, Khalti Faransa, and many more. Despite her huge success in the cinema, Mona also acted in several plays, among which were Le'b Eyal, Ya Messafer Wahdak, Afrouto, and Keda OK.
Personal life
Mona is married to Egyptian actor Ahmed Helmy. They have three children: Lilly (2003), Selim (2014), and Younis (2016).
Philanthropy
Mona Zaki is preparing to take part in the new charity campaign Know your Blood type. The Al-Ahram newspaper reports that the campaign was launched by Mona Zaki as Yanabee El-Hayah ambassador in coordination with Yanabee El-Hayah for blood donation and in cooperation with the United Nations public health arm, the World Health Organization.[3]
Filmography
Film
Year | Title | Original Title | Role | Notes | Ref(s) |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1997 | The Delicious Killing | El Atl el Laziz | Sherin | ||
1998 | Upper Egyptian in the American University | Se'idi fi el Gam'a el Amrikiyya | Syadah | ||
Laugh, Picture Be Sweet | Edhak El Sura Tetla Helwa | Tahani | |||
2000 | The First Love | El Hobb El Awwal | Ranya | ||
Horseback Knight | Fares Zahr el Khel | Zin | |||
Why You Let Me Love You | Leh Khalletni Ahebbak | Dalya | |||
Omar 2000 | Omar 2000 | Bibo | |||
2001 | The Days of Sadat | Ayyam Elsadat | Jehan Sadat | ||
Africano | Africano | Gamilah | |||
2002 | Mafia | Mafia | Maryam | ||
2003 | From Look Of Eye | Men Nazret En | Sarah | ||
Sleepless Nights | Sahar el Layali | Berihan | |||
2004 | My Aunt France | Khalti Faransa | Battah | ||
2005 | Abu Ali | Abu Ali | Salma | ||
Dreams Of Our Life | Ahlam Omrena | Nada | |||
2006 | Blood Of Gazelle | Dam el Ghazal | Hanan | ||
About Longing and Love | 'An el sho' w el Hawa | Alya | |||
Halim | Halim | Nawal | |||
2007 | Taymur and Shafi'ah | Taymur w Shafi'ah | Shafi'ah | ||
2009 | Scheherazade, Tell Me a Story | Ehki Ya Shahrzad | Hebah | ||
Escaping Tel Aviv | Welad El Am | Salwa | |||
2011 | 18 Days | 18 Yom | Mona | ||
2016 | 30 Years Ago | Men 30 Sanah | Hanan | ||
2020 | Black Box | El Sandu' el Eswed | Yasmin | [4][5] | |
2022 | Perfect Strangers | Ashab, Wala Aaz | Mariam | Netflix film | [6] |
2022 | The Spider | El Ankabout | Laila | ||
2024 | Flight 404 | Rehla 404 | Ghada |
Series
Year | Title | Original Title | Role | Platform/Network | Ref(s) |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1994 | The Family | El 'Elah | Awatef | ||
1995 | Nights of the Helmiyyah 5 | Layali el Helmiyyah 5 | Sonia | ||
1997–2000 | Zizinia | Zizinia | |||
1997 | Our Kins | Ahalina | |||
1998 | The Stray Light | El Du el Shared | |||
2002–2003 | Egyptian Goha | Goha el Masri | |||
2006 | Cindrella | Cindrella | |||
2007 | Critical Moments | Lahazat Haregah | |||
2013 | Asia | Asia | Asia | ||
2014 | Equal 100 Man | Be 100 Ragel | |||
2016 | Saturday Night Live | Letet el Sabt mobasher | Guest | ||
Wedding of El'obbah | Afrah El'bbah | Tahiat Abdeh | |||
2021 | Newton’s Game | Le’bet Newton |
Theatre
Title | Original Title |
---|---|
By Fluent Arabic | B el 'Arabi el Fasih |
O Traveling Alone | Ya Msafer Wahdak |
So Ok | Kedah OK |
Demon | Afrotto |
References
- ^ "منى زكى تثير الجدل بصورة "المحجبة" فى "تحت الوصاية"". BBC News عربي (in Arabic). Retrieved 31 March 2023.
- ^ "بعد الهجوم عليها.. سر عدم عرض مسلسل "تحت الوصاية" لـ منى زكي - المصريون". almesryoon.com (in Arabic). 26 March 2023. Retrieved 31 March 2023.
- ^ "Mona Zaki launches blood type campaign". AnaYou. 1 May 2011.
- ^ Hamza, Mohamed Nasser; Kamel, Mahmoud (28 October 2020), The Black Box (Crime, Thriller), retrieved 28 December 2022
- ^ Al-Youm, Al-Masry (19 October 2020). "Mona Zaki reurns to the big screen with 'The Black Box' after a four-year hiatus". Egypt Independent. Retrieved 28 December 2022.
- ^ Al-Youm, Al-Masry (14 January 2022). "Netflix to present its first Arab production film 'Ashab, Wala Aaz' in January". Egypt Independent. Retrieved 28 December 2022.
External links
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/4/4a/Commons-logo.svg/30px-Commons-logo.svg.png)
- Mona Zaki at IMDb
- Mona Zaki on Instagram