HCAC is excited to introduce a new instructor: Emil Marwa. Marwa has been involved in the entertainment industry for 25 years as an actor in both theatre and film. Some of his work include the role of Muneer Khan in BAFTA winning movie, ‘East is East’ and Norwegian hit, ‘Izzat’ in which he played the lead role where he was nominated for best actor at the AMANDAs. With his expansive and growing body of work, we know we will have alot to learn from Emil Marwa in the Acting on Camera 101 Workshop. But first, let’s get to know him on a more personal level.

We ask him 10 questions originally conceptualized by host Bernard Pivot from the French series “Bouillon de Culture”, and made famous by James Lipton, host of “Inside the Actors Studio”.

1. What colour best represents, Emil Marwa?

Blue. The colour of the sky and the sea. I’m a deep thinker and often at drama school and in professional life, this has been misinterpreted as moody, which is something I am definitely not.

2. What is your favourite word?

My favourite word at the moment is Sasquatch. I just love the idea that something living exists on the planet that we have not discovered and there have been sightings all over the world so they quite possibly do exist. I love the sound of the word: the sas, the middle qua is quite asian sounding and the abrupt end tch. It comes from the Halkomelem tribes word for ‘wild men’.

3. What sound or noise do you hate?

I hate the sound of car horns. I worked and lived in New York for 4 months and that is all I heard continuously for 20 hours of the day. Why can’t people be a bit more relaxed!

4. What turns you on creatively, spiritually or emotionally?

What turns me on creatively is being part of an interesting story either on stage or screen. I’ve been lucky enough to have done both. The thing with film is that you actually train to do the things you see on screen and get taught by professionals. I’ve learnt to drive fast cars, ride horses and camels, shoot guns… I even learnt how to strip a Kalashnikov and put it back together blind folded in under 60 seconds.With theatre, you go away and do your research and get your practical experience for your characters background. More often than not, you don’t show or do it on stage, it’s part of creating your character.

5. What turns you off?

What turns me off emotionally is some people’s unquestioning belief in what the mainstream media pedals as truth and how we as the people really have no say in what our governments choose to do even though we are supposed to live in democracies.

6. What skill would you like to pick up in your life that you haven’t already?

I would love to learn to play the guitar or piano. I so wish my parents had sent me to classes! Now I’m writing this, I think I might just have to start.

7. What profession other than your own would you like to attempt?

If not an actor, then a Holistic Therapist: Aromatherapy and alternative natural medicines, natural cures rather than chemical synthetic pharmaceuticals.

8. What profession would you not like to do?

I would not like to be a window cleaner as I think I’m acrophobic (fear of heights).

9. What is that one thing that makes you smile whenever you think about it?

Thinking about my wedding day always makes me smile, being around friends and family.

10. If Heaven exists, what would you like to hear God say when you arrive at the Pearly Gates?

You passed. So, on to the next stage of your journey.