Egyptian actor defends ‘Kingdom’

An Egyptian actor starring in a new Hollywood blockbuster set during the Crusades says it will enhance Western understanding of the Arab and Muslim world rather than underscore old stereotypes, as some had feared.

Khaled El Nabawy expects “Kingdom of Heaven,” which portrays a 12th-century Christian-Muslim battle for Jerusalem, to advance rather than harm dialogue and understanding between the faiths.

“It’s good timing. It’s time for the West to know more about us,” said the actor who plays a Muslim religious leader in the film by “Gladiator” director Ridley Scott, due out in May.

“We know more about the West than they know about us. When you don’t know me, you’re going to judge me in a bad way, which is risky,” Nabawy said in an interview here. “We are not terrorists. We are very civilized and our history is a witness to this.”

“Kingdom” is being touted as one of the summer’s biggest movie releases and has a budget estimated at about $130 million.

Some religious figures and academics are concerned that a film about the Crusades, a term once used by President Bush to describe the war on terror, will fuel the idea of an intractable clash of civilizations between East and West. They say it could fuel animosity toward Islam in the West and heighten suspicions of the West in the Muslim world, where the invasions of Iraq and Afghanistan have been portrayed by some as part of a war on Islam.

But Nabawy said the film should have the opposite effect.

“The film is not only about war, it’s about dialogue, it’s about peace, about trying to see the truth,” he said. “We have Christians who think this movie is pro-Muslim and Muslims who think that this movie is pro-Christian. It will make both go and see the movie, which is positive for improving understanding.”

Nabawy, whose previous work includes three movies directed by Egypt’s Youssef Chahine, is one of two Arabs with significant parts in “Kingdom,” which is set in the Third Crusade and was filmed in Morocco and Spain.

Syrian Ghassan Massoud plays the part of Saladin, the Kurdish Muslim leader who recaptured Jerusalem from the Christian Crusaders in 1187. Liam Neeson and Orlando Bloom play two of the lead Crusader roles.

Nabawy said some Arabs were concerned that a film about the Crusades produced by a U.S. firm would be biased. These fears were misplaced, he said.

“Ridley and screenwriter William Monahan made great efforts to have an objective and balanced script. They were discussing everything together until the last day of shooting.”