Jay Abdo shared their story and experiences with us recently and you can find our conversation below.
Jay, really appreciate you sharing your stories and insights with us. The world would have so much more understanding and empathy if we all were a bit more open about our stories and how they have helped shaped our journey and worldview. Let’s jump in with a fun one: Have you stood up for someone when it cost you something?
I took a stand that cost me everything I had and turned me into a refugee. After years of being a well-known actor in Syria, I could no longer remain silent while my own people were subjected to every form of humiliation.
Speaking out was terrifying — the regime is brutal and knows no limits. But while children were being slaughtered, I felt I had no choice. I had to raise my voice.
The price was immense. I lost the safety I once had, the career I had built over a lifetime, and the life I knew. After I spoke out against the regime, Assad’s thugs began to harass me, and eventually I was forced to flee. That is how I became a refugee.
Can you briefly introduce yourself and share what makes you or your brand unique?
I am a man who has learned from life that no matter how great the loss, there is always hope. My journey took me from being a celebrated actor in Syria to losing everything and starting over as a refugee, only to rise again and act in Hollywood alongside names like Nicole Kidman. I believe nothing in life is wasted every experience eventually finds its way back with meaning. I’ve come to see that loss can sometimes be gain in the long run, especially when you take the right stand with your people 💙. Even in my 60s, I continue to learn new things, and I know there are people who depend on us, who need our energy and support and for them, we must never give up. I am an actor, a husband to the wonderful artist Fadia Afashe, and above all, I am a believer in the good that lives within every single person.
Appreciate your sharing that. Let’s talk about your life, growing up and some of topics and learnings around that. Who saw you clearly before you could see yourself?
I believe each of us needs that one person who can truly see through us. For me, that person is my wife, Fadia. She became my compass the one who recognized the good, the strength, the ability, and the talent in me when I had lost sight of them myself. When I lost everything, even my sense of self and identity, I felt like a cork drifting in the middle of the ocean. Yet she never lost faith in me. She did the impossible to help me rise again and stand on my feet. She is my rock.
Was there ever a time you almost gave up?
There were so many moments in my life when I felt like giving up. I ended up in Los Angeles as a refugee, and the immigration system didn’t even grant my wife a work permit. In my fifties, I had to take any job I could find just to pay for food and rent. We were on the edge of homelessness in LA — no one to help us, no social network, no knowledge of the system, and our money quickly vanished.
I applied for countless jobs, but no one would hire me — not even for cleaning. My first job was delivering flowers. The company gave me strict delivery timeframes, but with LA traffic and me being new, unfamiliar with the streets, I often missed the deadlines. When that happened, I had to pay for the delivery myself. In the end, I worked long hours, exhausted, and often made no money at all.
I still remember standing in the middle of the street one day, tears running down my face, asking God: Why is this happening to me? What should I do to feed myself and pay the rent?
Sure, so let’s go deeper into your values and how you think. Is the public version of you the real you?
I’ve always been spontaneous, saying what’s really on my mind. The person people see in public is almost exactly who I am inside. I don’t know how to live any other way. For me, honesty is a way of leading by example. If sharing my life as it is with all its struggles and hopes can inspire even one person to be themselves and to expect love and respect no matter what, then it’s worth it.
Thank you so much for all of your openness so far. Maybe we can close with a future oriented question. What light inside you have you been dimming?
I once lost all hope of ever being able to return to my homeland, Syria. I believed Assad would never leave, even after at least a million people had been killed and half the population displaced. When my parents died and I could not go to Syria to say goodbye or care for them, my faith in justice broke. The pain was so deep that I began to erase the idea of ever going back to accept that I would grow old in the United States and never be buried in Syria.
But on December 8th, 2024, something inside me shifted. I discovered that hope never truly disappears it is we who drift away from it. Hope remains, waiting. It was not hope that had gone far; it was me.
May our hearts never lose hope
Contact Info:
- Website: https://m.imdb.com/name/nm2178881/
- Instagram: @jay.abdo
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/%D8%AC%D9%87%D8%A7%D8%AF-%D8%B9%D8%A8%D8%AF%D9%87-68456a41?utm_source=share&utm_campaign=share_via&utm_content=profile&utm_medium=android_app
- Twitter: https://x.com/JayAbdoActor?t=9yUhtApDxL4s_Tau9IduPw&s=09
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/actorjayabdo?mibextid=ZbWKwL
Image Credits
Fadia Afashe
