We’re looking forward to introducing you to Myriam Ali. Check out our conversation below.
Myriam, we’re thrilled to have you with us today. Before we jump into your intro and the heart of the interview, let’s start with a bit of an ice breaker: When was the last time you felt true joy?
On stage or on camera. It is when I am acting that I experience the purest of joy forms. I feel whole. I feel connected. I feel one with myself and with the Universe.
Can you briefly introduce yourself and share what makes you or your brand unique?
I’m a Lebanese-American actress born in Los Angeles and raised in Beirut. I moved back to LA in 2020 and I completed my professional acting training at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts, where I was honored to win the Charles Jehlinger Award—previously awarded to actors such as Grace Kelly, Robert Redford, Danny Devito, Jessica Chastain, and Anne Hathaway. Since then, I’ve worked across stage and screen, most recently creating and performing my solo show Handala, which won Best Solo Show at the Hollywood Fringe Festival and was selected to premiere Off-Broadway at the United Solo Festival. I am excited to keep bringing into Hollywood the Arab voice and representation, more specifically the Levant representation, in its truest form, and not in the biased white-washed lens of Hollywood. I also seek to transcend individual identities and reach a collective representation on a human, soul level.
Okay, so here’s a deep one: What did you believe about yourself as a child that you no longer believe?
I grew up in the middle of the SWANA region’s turmoil and instability, and through difficult life experiences both on a personal and social level, I was made to believe that I cannot achieve whatever I want to achieve, that I don’t have much choice and agency in life. That, I no longer believe. Thankfully I still had the motivation and inner push to achieve and succeed and with life experiences after life experience, my belief system started shifting to one that sees life as pot of clay that I get to mend and build myself, with the interaction of the elements around it.
Was there ever a time you almost gave up?
Yes. To be very frank, I am currently getting out of a phase in my life that has been quite the darkest. I lost so much. My life flipped 180 degrees. I am still recovering, and I am also reaching the light at the end of the tunnel. I accept that this is just a phase that will pass, everyone goes through highs and lows, and that if I don’t go through that dark tunnel, I cannot reach the light.
I think our readers would appreciate hearing more about your values and what you think matters in life and career, etc. So our next question is along those lines. Is the public version of you the real you?
I try to make the public version as true to the “real me” as possible. The truth is, I don’t think there is one real me, I believe each and every person has many versions of themselves of which they put on display only one depending on the environment, the circumstances, and the people around them. You can “act” differently in different environments and still be true to your essence, to your truth, and that is the most important part.
Okay, so let’s keep going with one more question that means a lot to us: What do you think people will most misunderstand about your legacy?
That it was easy for me to make it. Although I am aware of all the privileges I possess, and I am grateful for each and every one of them, the struggle is still real. And the journey came with many other obstacles that perhaps others did not face. It is all very relative, and I have been working and I work so hard to not fall off of this path that I belong to and even if I do fall, I work hard enough to find my way back to it.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.imdb.com/name/nm12560194/
- Instagram: @myrr.i.am
Image Credits
Katherine Kirkpatrick
Karl Sonnenberg
