In Islam, Jesus is a prophet, and if you look at Mohammed and Jesus and Moses, it's not like Moses is better than Jesus and Jesus is better than Mohammed. They're all so highly respected and honored and followed, and they're all there for a reason.
Islam believes that Jesus is a prophet, and they honour him - highly - and they respect him, and they follow his teachings. So, for me, as somebody who was raised Muslim, it is an honour to actually play Jesus, just because of that.
The closest you'll get to God, ever, in your existence, is measured by how close you get to yourself. Because your connection with God is you. He created you. That is the ultimate connection you have with God is you.
It's definitely my responsibility not to stereotype any character, but especially a gay character because of the misperceptions people still have about gays.
It's moving in the right direction for Arab actors but very slowly.
Jesus was a teacher, in a way. I mean, essentially, Jesus was a teacher. He was teaching people. He was helping them see themselves for what they were. He was helping them see their power, their strength, their beauty, what they're capable of.
God created me. And the closest I will ever get with God is this soul, this body. And if I don't have myself, if I don't listen to myself, if I don't trust myself, then I don't trust God, because God created me.
Whenever you create some sort of disturbance in the air, there's an awakening that happens, an opportunity for a conversation, an opportunity to build bridges, specifically, an opportunity to connect different groups that typically wouldn't connect with one another.
As an actor, my No. 1 focus was to be on the same page with the writer, director, and producers.