Meet Your New Aladdin, Mena Massoud

Will Smith might be the most famous name attached to Disney's live-action Aladdin, in theaters now, but it's 27-year-old Mena Massoud—Aladdin himself—whom you'll want to know about once you've seen the stunning remake of the 1992 original.

So here are some quick facts: Massoud was born in Cairo and moved to Canada with his family at a young age. He loves to cook. Oh, and he aspired to be a neuroscientist—not an actor—before making a career switch. Even though playing Aladdin in a live-action remake may not have been a dream of his as a kid, the character still made a big impression. "My two older sisters would watch Aladdin all the time in our house before I could even walk and talk, so I grew up with it," he tells me. "I was very different than everybody else growing up. I spoke a different language at home, I ate different food, and I looked different. So I could always relate to Aladdin in that way, being the outcast. It means a lot to me to be able to portray that now for the younger generation."

Massoud's biggest role prior to Aladdin was six episodes of Amazon Prime's Jack Ryan, but he was game for everything the job required—including working 15-hour days, six days a week, in extreme climates. "It felt like being back in theater school times 100 because it was so intense," Massoud says of the singing, dancing, and stunt work he had to do for the part. "But the best dance movies for me growing up were the Step Up movies, and their prolific choreographer, Jamal Sims, also led our team."

So what else is there to uncover about Massoud? Plenty. Read on.

Glamour: You had two days to pack for six months of shooting because of Will Smith’s schedule. What essential items did you make sure to bring?

Mena Massoud: My boots, my gym gear, my boxing mitts. Also, my hair products because I’m very specific about the shampoo and conditioner that I use.

You had to get a Brazilian straightening treatment to transform into Aladdin. So what kind of hair products did you bring?

MM: Yep, that’s right. I didn’t know, obviously, what they used to straighten it, but I used Davines shampoo and conditioner, and I kind of stick to it. My hair was long at the time, so I used those mini scrunchies to tie it up in a bun.

During filming, how long did it take the stylists to make your hair Aladdin perfect?

MM: Each day it would depend if we were straightening it, so about an hour, maybe. But the overall process of getting it straight is pretty extensive. We only had about a week and a half of reshoots, but I was in London for five weeks because they were so stressed they wouldn’t be able to get my hair straight again. [Laughs.]