Giant: Prince Naseem's story comes alive as Amir El-Masry champions Arab visibility in British cinema

As an Egyptian-born kid growing up in London during the late 90s, it's no surprise to hear that Prince Naseem Hamed was an icon in Amir El-Masry's household.

For the actor, whose recent acclaim includes indie darlings Limbo and In Camera, the featherweight boxer was a shining example of British-Arab excellence. This game-changing athlete became a global champion at a time of rising anti-Arab sentiment and Islamophobia worldwide.

"I remember my family were invited to a dinner at the Saudi Embassy and he was there," Amir recalls to The New Arab over lunch at London's Soho Hotel. "I asked my brother to please get an autograph, and we still have it."

Twenty-seven years later, that hero worship came full circle after Amir stepped into the boots of Naseem for the big-screen biopic, Giant, from British-Indian filmmaker Rowan Athale.

It premiered at the London Film Festival the night before this conversation, and the actor is elated.

He's effusive about the diverse crowd of "everyday" people who could engage in this story about a man who "faced numerous trials and tribulations in a predominantly white area to become World Champion," Amir tells The New Arab. 

"Not only for himself but also for Great Britain. That in itself is political – that is, power."

Giant is an apt name for the film. Not just because it tracks the small-statured boxer's monumental rise to greatness, but also Naseem's tremendous ego, nurtured under the tutelage of trainer Brendan Ingle, played by Pierce Brosnan.

In a shabby Sheffield gym, we watch as the former Irish boxer moulds the cheeky child of Yemeni immigrants into a featherweight threat, pushing the young athlete to stand tall, embrace his cockiness and redirect the racist vitriol into knock-out punches against his rivals.

Giant film

Ali Saleh and Pierce Brosnan star in Giant

Ali Saleh and Pierce Brosnan star in Giant

Ali Saleh and Pierce Brosnan star in Giant

It was a winning formula until it wasn't, and ultimately Naseem's inflated amour-propre proved detrimental to both of them.

"It was important to portray his impact on me as a child and his legacy," Amir tells The New Arab.

"I wanted to show the light and shade in his personality; to see him as a bog standard person as well as someone who's gone through the trenches and trained militantly to become the best at what he does."

While Prince Naseem gave the film his blessing, he was not involved in the production. The story was drawn from archival research and extensive interviews with those who trained at the gym during the years when Ingle worked with the boxer, and it leans towards the trainer's perspective.

Filmmaker Rowan Athale tells The New Arab that they reached out to Naseem during development to be part of the process, but were told he was comfortable with the film being made.

Amir himself never had the chance to converse with the boxer before or during production. He received the offer just four weeks before the start of the shoot, so he "trained religiously" to get match fit and spent hours studying old footage and interviews to recreate Naseem's swagger in and out of the boxing arena.

It's a compelling, charismatic performance as sure-footed as Naseem was in his heyday.

Amir balances the boxer's bravado, inner turmoil and fall from grace with delicate precision, and distance from the real subject proved "a blessing in disguise," he explains, adding, "As much as you want to champion your character, when you have the source too close to your process, it's risky."

Amir is no stranger to playing real-life people. He starred as a young Mohammed Al-Fayed in season 5 of Netflix's The Crown, and Mohammed Emwazi, also known as Jihadi John, in the 2019 Danish film Daniel. For the latter, he spoke to people who knew the Islamic State group terrorist.

"Sometimes it's better to meet the people who surround the person rather than actually meeting the source," he says.

"Study them from afar, don't get too close, because the subject will always put their best foot forward."

Giant film

Amir El-Masry as Prince Naseem Hamed

Giant is a 2025 biographical sports drama film about boxer Prince Naseem Hamed

Giant is written and directed by Film Director and Screenwriter Rowan Athale

Pierce Brosnan stars as boxing trainer Brendan Ingle

The film has a UK cinema release date of 9 January 2026

Arab representation matters

Among British-Arab actors' careers, Amir's is doing better than most, as roles in Western cinema and TV are few and far between for people of Arab heritage.

While he's had to play a few terrorists (of course!), he's also appeared as Tudor courtier Thomas Wyatt in the BBC's Wolf Hall, investment banking exec Usman Abboud in HBO's Industry, and MI5 intelligence officer Daniel Ramsay in season 2 of the BBC's Vigil.

He credits casting directors like Jina Jay and Dan Jackson for championing marginalised actors like himself in roles that typically conform to the white norm.

"For Vigil, Dan fought tooth and nail with the producers to make sure that I was hired, mainly for the fact that they were like, 'the guy's called Daniel, we want a white name actor,'" Amir explains.

"I am so grateful and so happy with the process that I'm going through; I have no problem playing someone close to my heritage — it's a privilege to do — but it shouldn't just be that," he adds. 

Amir admits that he is "a sucker for a rom-com" and has "had conversations" about playing a romantic lead.

In Abu Bakr Shawky's The Stories, Amir did get to play one: an aspiring pianist who begins a pen-pal relationship with an Austrian woman against the political backdrop of Cairo in 1967.

"This is by far the best film I've done, experience-wise," he says. "It's a true story about Abu's parents, how they met, and it's a love story."

He very recently played a dastardly romantic foil in 100 Nights of Hero, the graphic novel adaptation from filmmaker and Cinema For Gaza co-founder Julia Jackman, which closed this year's London Film Festival.

Jackman had long been a fan of Amir's work and cast him opposite Maika Monroe, Emma Corrin and Nicholas Galitzine in this whimsical queer love story.

Yet in an increasingly risk-averse industry where financiers wanted to invest in a sure thing, and casting still overly conforms to a white male standard, getting anything off the ground with a niche angle, as with 100 Nights or Giant, feels like a miracle.

"It's so hard to get financing now, and it's even harder when you're making an indie film, and you don't have people who are perceived as selling them," he laments.

"I guess it's just one of those things where you've got to ask who is in the decision-making room? Who's championing the idea of 'why not?'"

Then there's the broader political landscape of the last few years to contend with.

The October 7 attack and the collateral genocide that has been enacted against people in the Occupied Palestinian Territory proved a litmus test for the entertainment industry.

Actors like Melissa Barrera and Susan Sarandon lost work for speaking out — as did Amir.

"I remember going into the room for a project, and it was a done deal," he recalls. On October 16, he posted a video about Israel's collective punishment of Gaza. A couple of days later, he says, "I got a phone call from my agent saying they've retracted the offer."

Still, Amir is happy to see the tides have somewhat shifted. How could it not with the onslaught of dead Palestinian men, women and children that have filled our social media timelines for two years?

More stars are using their platforms to call out the Israeli regime's barbarity, but he points to Irish actor and Bridgerton star Nicola Coughlan and her words at this year's Together for Palestine fundraiser, which raised £1.5million for Palestinian charities.

"It's so refreshing to see allies like Julia proudly standing shoulder to shoulder with you, but Nicola quite rightly hinted at the idea that there are people with so many followers, who to this day haven't said anything," he says, lamenting the late, safe timing of others.

"Some people have said stuff, but I feel it's coming from a 'save my career' place."

That candour is what makes an actor like Amir so special. He's already on the back foot because of Arab bias in mainstream media; he could have stayed silent. He could have kept his name out of it.

But like his childhood hero, he put his money where his mouth is — and his integrity remains intact.

Giant will be released in UK cinemas on 9 January 2026

Hanna Flint is a British-Tunisian critic, broadcaster and author of Strong Female Character: What Movies Teach Us. Her reviews, interviews and features have appeared in GQ, the Guardian, Elle, Town & Country, Mashable, Radio Times, MTV, Time Out, The New Arab, Empire, BBC Culture and elsewhere

Follow her on Instagram: @hannainesflint