Medic, media man, movie star: Ghassan Al Katheri is all these and more. With a PhD in microbiology and a masters degree in marketing and media, 35-year-old Al Katheri decided to switch from medicine to media while he was still a student. His big break came after a stint on television and commercials, when he was cast alongside actor George Clooney in Syriana, a film shot in the UAE in 2005. He followed that up with a role in the Tom Cruise vehicle Mission: Impossible — Ghost Protocol, which releases later this month. In the interim, he bagged his first starring role in Nayla Al Khaja’s film Malal (boredom). In the film, Al Katheri plays a newly-wed man who goes on a honeymoon with his wife to India, but with his work constantly interrupting them, his wife finds herself with time on her hands.
Although he acted as an extra in the two Hollywood productions shot in Dubai, he believes his experience in these films taught him a lot about film-making and the attention to detail that makes a successful film. He feels the stage is set in the UAE for a strong film industry.
Besides working as radio presenter and producer with Noor Dubai and Sama Dubai TV since 2004 and hosting a daily talk show called Masakoum Khair, he is also a developer of talent, helms an intensive actor training programme and casts for various films and commercials.
