by Sherif Awad
Rising actress Christine Solomon is of Egyptian, Syrian and Lebanese ethnicity. Talent runs in the family as she is related to notable Egyptian director Sandra Nashaat and Egyptian director of photography Victor Credi.
Born in Egypt, Christine developed an interest in performing arts while growing up in Cairo before her parents decided to immigrate to Canada when she was only seven. Two years later, while visiting her aunt in the US, a casting director accidentally noticed her acting abilities and gave her first American TV appearance. While growing up in Canada, Christine started to do some modeling, winning several competitions including The International Modeling and Talent Association (IMTA) and Model Search America. When she became sixteen then, three year later, joined a theatrical troupe in Toronto and started to study acting for another three years. “After graduating, I started to seek acting and modeling careers between New York, Los Angeles and even Buffalo”, says Solomon who succeeded to land two bit roles in two major American production The Score (2001) starring Robert de Niro and Head in the Clouds (2004) starring Charlize Theron. However, the two roles were cut in the editing room. “While on the Canadian set of Heas in the Clouds, I hurt my foot so the production rushed me home. The Canadians did not question why I was hurt because they did not want to shake the relationship with Americans coming to shoot in Canada”, she says.
Unlike many actresses in her age, Solomon likes to prove herself in Egyptian cinema although she is closer to the American industry. “My biggest dream was also to go back in Egypt and work in the Egyptian cinema I grew up watching. Egypt is still Hollywood of the Middle East and it is a privilege to be part of it”, she says. This dream became a reality few years ago just after she was interviewed in the George Saad show that airs on Metro 14, the Canadian multicultural television station in Montreal ”Egyptian producer Medhat Al-Adl contacted me after watching the interview to urge me to attend Cairo International Film Festival 2007. It was a great opportunity to meet many Egyptian filmmakers in addition to the festival’s American invitees like Harvey Keitel and Matt Dillon. I got many working proposal to appear on Egyptian theatre with leading actor-director Mohamed Sobhy and also many film roles as well”, she explains. The
This led to two films for Solomon in Egypt by two Egyptian directors who cast her in their independently produced films. In Basra by Ahmed Rashwan, she went to play Bouthina, the love interest of photojournalist Tarek who is mesmerized by airstrike of Iraq in 2003. Then came the role of an unnamed weird girl in Ahmad Abdalla’s Heliopolis, an ensemble drama that depicted a multitude of characters living in this cosmopolitan Cairo neighborhood. Both films were screened in world festivals, winning many awards including one for Christine for her role in Heliopolis.
Christine has recently wrapped two major roles; the first in the new intercultural drama Betroit that will premier 12-12-12 in three cities: Dubai, Detroit and Beirut. Written and directed by Adel Serhan, the movie addresses issues of domestic violence, culture, love and relationships through three of three couples different. Solomon plays Rola who is happily married in Detroit and yet she tries to help her sister Leila, played by Lebanese actress Darine Hamze, to escape from her abusive husband in Beirut. On the other hand, there is the story of Lisa (Derek Kelly) who wants to leave her husband in order to pursue a Hollywood career. Christine’s newest appearance will also be in the TV movie Fakers in which she plays an exotic dancer that gets entangled in major counterfeiting scam.
The multi-talent Christine is also an author and entrepreneur. She is currently working on a book, and has opened her own acting career consultancy boutique, Muze Consultancy, which provides career guidance and support for aspiring actors, working either in Canada or elsewhere. She also supports the Breast Cancer Foundation and Make Poverty History.
