Omani actor to be featured in Hollywood film

Yousuf al Housni, Oman’s budding actor, will soon be seen sharing screen space with some of the acclaimed names in Hollywood, making his country proud of being the first to have been selected to be featured in a Hollywood film.

After a lot of futile applications and rejections for different projects, luck came his way and Al Housni has been selected for the Hollywood movie ‘Dune 2’ by the agency based in the UAE, called Miranda Davidson Studios (MDS).

“The role is a background extra, and they picked me for a supporting actor role in one scene as a senior person. The shooting was for three weeks at Qasr al Sarab Resort in Abu Dhabi,” 31-year-old Yousuf, who is settled in Ras Al Khaimah, told the Observer, adding, “I’ve been trying to get into a Hollywood project since 2019, but each time, I was rejected for some reason or the other.”

This is the second project that Yousuf is participating in with MDS after they shot a mini-series called ‘Last Light’ featuring Matthew Fox, and the third American project he acted in after he got into a contest which turned into a participation in an independent production studio ‘Paradox Universe’, a movie and TV production studio in the film ‘Alien Sniperess’ in 2021 featuring Olivia Okoro, Sean Dillingham, and Bourke Floyd.

“Here, my role was a supporting actor and second unit director because I made the whole shot in Oman, they just gave me the script and an example of the location and the frame. I managed and arranged the whole set including the wardrobe, the makeup, the camera angle and the lighting. The experience of these three projects inspired me to proceed with my goals as a professional actor and till now, I'm into more than 30 projects since 2013, and there are upcoming projects for which I'll be working with big names, in future,” a triumphant Yousuf, an Omani from Khasab, raised in Al Khabourah, said.

Regarding the shoot in the ‘Dune 2’, Yousuf said he was given to wear a high-quality and sophisticated costume designed for the ‘Freeman' tribe in the script. “It took us 15 to 30 minutes to wear it and we can't use the bathroom without taking off half of the costume. We must remain in standing position for hours in the desert till the director called us if needed. Thanks to Denis Villeneuve the director of the movie, who made us work in harmony on set, and learned a lot by working side by side with Zendaya and Temothée Chalamet,” Yousuf adds.

Yousuf is (Oman Wrestling Entertainment) wrestler and a biker and has done many projects in the budding home film industry, as well as in Saudi Arabia, the UAE and the United States.

He was seen in an Indian music video for singer Rashmi shot in the UAE, besides an Abu Dhabi Police Department awareness series called ‘Doors’, directed a short film ‘Empty’ for film festivals ‘Bo Film’ where his idea, acting and directing were aptly used for a campaign among the public.

He was also featured in an investigation thriller titled ‘Murder... Will I solve it?’ by Osama Marwah the YouTuber which has a whopping over 6 million views, and a Bonny milk ad (Graphite Studio) last year besides college contest projects for the American College Dubai. His movie titled ‘Mountain Boy’ by Desert Rose Production as a supporting actor, which talks about autism, will be shown in cinemas in the region soon.

Lab Rats, an Emirati film with a foreign identity, is all set to participate in festivals soon. ‘Among Us’, a movie adaptation for Middlesex University, is a student project for a university in Dubai, while ‘Watch Dogs’, an adaptation movie for Middlesex University, has gained him much name and fame.

Yousuf worked as a production assistant for an Amazon ad by Medulla Productions which shows his undying passion for films and his eagerness to learn the nuances of filmmaking.

His other movies include ‘Son of a Lost Father’ (New York University in Abu Dhabi) which was nominated as the Best Film in the SWIFF Student Film Festival in America, and ‘Caesar’, which was filmed in Amman.

Besides his steady growth in cinemas, Yousuf is a wrestler with OWE, which aspires to be a top entertainment in Oman in future, as Joe Bryan in 2021 till now and his presence in the Oman Wrestling Entertainment (OWE) has been quite promising. “To be a hero in a movie, one needn’t have magical or super powers from the space, instead, he can be a good son of good parents with good attribute such as helping the society, and supporting his family and making his way in life despite the sacrifice and difficult situations,” he shared a piece of the message.