From doctor to actor!
entertainment even before I got into medicine. My number one fan from day one, and my only backing when it came to coming to my parents with the decision. My mother, Saba, is not my mother, she’s my friend, we literally grew up together. She was very proud to hear what the academy said about my performance, of course, as any mother would, she threw a lot of below the belt pseudo-joking comments concerning my future and the uncertainties of it. But my promise to walk her first down the red carpet quickly swayed this decision. But she also helped me overcome the biggest obstacle in this decision, the man himself, my father, Dr. Hisham Jomah. My father is a monumentally achieved man, to live up to him would be an equally monumental task. To tell him I wanted to take a hiatus from medicine to pursue acting was met with a flurry of initial discontent and ultimately support. My father believes in me, but his roots are deeply academic, so his reservations, his interrogation was expected.
My aunts, who are essentially my sisters, granted me full support right off the bat, and for that, I will always be truly grateful.
My wife, Khayra, is a very “follow your dreams” kind of girl. So telling her was very easy. The subsequent thoughts of “Oh, you’re married, what if you fail” concerns are natural, but she didn’t bat an eye when it came to saying yes. How can our followers follow your journey?
AJ: By following me on Twitter (@Hakeemjomah) or on Instagram (@Hakeemjomah). We’re currently setting up a website and a YouTube channel, where I’ll be posting vlog posts every fortnight or so to keep everyone updated. What do you expect from being at the New York Film Academy?
AJ: I’ve no illusions of living the American dream and being an overnight millionaire, but that’s never why I chose to do it. Medicine is very lucrative, if I wanted money; I’d stick with that and call it a day. I have a true, very deep, love for the craft, and I want to show it off. I want people to know that we’re not some desolate desert that houses no talent. If nothing else, I want underground artists in the Gulf and Middle East to unearth themselves and show us what they have!
Art is young in the Kingdom but it’s there, and people don’t flaunt their talents nearly enough as they should, I want to change that. I want there to be a flourishing arts community here, and I’d love to say that I was in the vanguard of that art movement.