Rising star blown away by his adventure in Scotland!

THe Wind was so strong when amir el-masry was filming in the outer Hebrides that producers had to hire locals to hold down the equipment so it didn’t take off.

Sources of local entertainment, meanwhile, for the month he spent starring in Ben Sharrock’s rueful drama limbo, consisted of a small co- op store, and a pub called The dark island.

cast and crew lived cheek by jowl in purpose-built huts, with facilities — but no WiFi. ‘There was no reception. only 3 mobile, and nobody had that network.’ and yet elmasry said he found the isles ‘perfect’.

The 30-year-old West london-based actor told me the ‘ sense of isolation was paramount’ in helping him to play omar, a Syrian refugee seeking asylum who’s packed off to the extreme north-west of Scotland. The remoteness helped him capture the sense of loneliness that is mirrored in omar’s face.

it’s a beautifully-balanced performance. el-masry said when he got Sharrock’s script it was ‘the first time i’ve laughed and cried from reading something’. i found it just as poignant, and i was also impressed by the way Sharrock and his Film4 cast found humour in a subject that’s often depicted bleakly.

The opening scene, set in a cultural awareness class as two instructors demonstrate how to behave socially with the help of Hot chocolate’s it Started With a Kiss, is a joy. The picture’s one of the gems chosen by Tricia Tuttle at the BFi london Film Festival — it’s playing today.

el-masry said there were moments where he broke down on set, but the director told him to ‘hold back the tears as much as you can, because if you break down so early on, where do we go?’.

The cairo-born actor can also be seen in forthcoming BBc drama industry, about ‘young grads who get into the banking scene’. He plays a dutchman and found being a manchester United fan useful as he knew where to go for voice training. He watched a lot of videos featuring the club’s former goalie edwin van der Sar (speaking, not playing!). ‘He’s an incredibly eloquent man but has this incredibly thick dutch accent.’