Saba Mubarak

Looking into the most famous eyes in Arab drama, you can’t help feel intimidated by their trademark glare. It’s not their beauty, exactly, more the fact they reveal there’s far more to her than merely physical appeal. 

Although Saba Mubarak is smaller than she appears on our screens, a confidently graceful walk towards our table in the hotel café turns out to be an accurate reflection of who she is: a talent who knows where she is heading, and determined to get there – without shortcuts.

Before I arrive, she is sitting with Iraqi artist and long-time friend Tamara Nouri, flicking through layers of coal-pencil sketches and asking advice about their style and composition. “Very good work,” offers Tamara, when asked for an opinion. “But you need to either improve your figures or avoid them completely… But I see great potential.” Her creative talents clearly aren’t restricted to melodrama.

Just when I was preparing to provide my own artistic insight, Tamara closed the sketch book. Saba simply took another drag from her cigarette and waited for the first question.

NOX: What about the viewers in the Arab World? Is it frustrating when they get attached to a lesser quality production…?

Saba: The mission of art should be to elevate the people’s taste. There is no need to limit ourselves to a commercial level on the excuse that this is what the people want – even though a lot of stations look at a TV series as time-filling material between adverts! But an artist should offer the best possible, not just take the easy way out. My message to the viewers is to never settle for less. It may feel easier to turn to the station that we are used to watching and receive whatever they are feeding us. But we should really pay attention to the quality of stuff we’re watching.

NOX: Is fame something that you have ever sought? 

Saba: After Al-Kwaser, I could have easily achieved the status of an “Arab star”, but I stopped working in TV for three years because I got scared. Honestly, at a young age, you can easily get caught up in the hype and lose perspective. You could start believing that the road is way too easy, especially when you are getting offered six to seven scripts a month and could be coming at people out of their water faucets! There are legendary actors who played as little as three or four roles. I was never too occupied with “how many series are you in this year?” or “How many stations are showing it?” 

NOX: So do people think they can ask really personal questions?

Saba: Yeah, but I try to dodge them. Some people ask me laughable questions such as: “Are you really in love with this actor?” and my answer would be “Of course I love him. Like a brother”. Unfortunately, people who work in our field have made it acceptable to talk about personal lives and distort the lines between a celebrity and a famous actor. When you don’t have an accomplishment you become more inclined to talk about your marriage and divorce, and getting people to talk about you is an accomplishment in itself. This is ridiculous. After all, what I wear, what my favourite colour is, what school my brother goes to or whether I am married or divorced are absolutely nobody’s business. 

NOX: Some people come to think that you are actually Syrian, given the fact that most of your work is in Syrian productions. What is the scene like in Jordan for drama?

Saba: Well, I work a lot with Talal Awamleh and Arab Telemedia Services, which is a very important company that is slowly reintroducing the Jordanian actor to the Arabic drama scene – and starting to depend on Jordanian talent in all parts of the production process. But why does any project have to have an identity other than “Arab”? When you work on a project that targets the whole Arabic population, it would be ridiculous to limit your cast to Jordanian actors. We should all work together. But I also have to admit that I cannot watch Jordan TV. It is simply embarrassing. 

NOX: Do you have any regrets about decisions you’ve made? 

Saba: Of course. But I’m very stubborn and I never give up on any project, even if I realise I made a bad choice. To me, the risk is always before the project, not during it. Who am I working with? Who is the director, the writer, the co-workers…? Once you make your choice, there are no excuses. 

NOX: What made you choose acting as a career in the first place?

Saba: I always had extra energy even as a child; a doctor even said I was hyperactive! In addition, living the lives of so many different people.

Fur a full version of this article, see NOX18.