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The journey from adolescence to adulthood has its own fair share of struggles and growing pains. However, when children are cast into the star-studded universe of entertainment, they often find themselves navigating an obstacle course of a different kind. Their days consist of coordinating red carpet glitz, memorizing scripts and spending their time in a trailer instead of a classroom.
These experiences may differ from one child to another. They often depend on the role the child is portrays on screen or stage, how the crew interacts with the child, and the kind of guidance they receive.
One of the shows that figured child characters into the plot this Ramadan was Kamel El Adad (Full House), starring Dina El Sherbiny and Sherif Salama in the lead roles of married couple Laila and Ahmed, who navigated the pitfalls and comedy of bringing two large families of children together.
The three-season series, which first aired in Ramadan 2023, discusses family dynamics in a comedy drama. It tackles critical issues such as the death of a father, , problematic house parties, and drug abuse among teenagers.
On set, Salana and Sherbiny paved the way for the young actors to shine on screen.
The Caravan spoke with Malek Emad, a 17-year-old who played the role of Farid, Ahmed’s son, in the show.
“The role I played had a huge impact on me personally. I felt that it strengthened my personality and made me grow. Sometimes I even find myself thinking like the character I am portraying,” said Emad.
The focus on child actors and the pros and cons of their roles in the entertainment industry is particularly acute during the Ramadan fasting season when children are forced to work long and difficult hours. , when producers usually tackle topics that are considered taboo or controversial.
Youssef and Younis Bassem, the 11-year-old twins who played the roles of Hassan and Hussein in the Kamel El Adad series, told The Caravan that they enjoyed their roles given the light nature of the show. However, all roles have challenges that actors face.
“The challenges we faced were the long working hours of filming. It would start from four in the morning until midnight, and with that, we had to study during filming, so it was very tiring. Also, the scenes where we had to be emotional were a bit challenging as well,” said Basssem.
Emad agrees with his costars, adding that scenes which involved conflict, such as shouting or crying as per the script were difficult to deal with. He wishes that there would have been more rest time between scenes or even schedule shooting that took into account his high school academics.
“Honestly, the most difficult challenge was balancing school responsibilities and shooting on set, especially during exam season,” he added.
With that being said, the filming crew and the actors on set have a responsibility to be cautious and help out child actors on set.
A typical example of that is the series Lam El Shamseya (Elephant in the Room), which created controversy during the second half of Ramadan 2025, given its focus on child abuse and pedophilia. Main child actor Ali El Bialy portrays Youssef, a victim of sexual assault.
Safe Egypt, an organization that delivers psychological services in the field of child, teen, and women protection, ensured that the sensitive nature of the topic is handled appropriately throughout the process of bringing Lam Shamseya to life.
Safe Egypt’s director, Sarah Aziz, was on set to educate the crew and cast and assist Bialy, to be able to keep El Bialy safe and not exposed to any psychological harm during filming.
“You have a great responsibility, like me and Karim, director of Lam El Shamseya, to be able to protect Aly from as early on as possible,” stated Aziz on set in a reel shared by El Bialy on his Instagram page.
Lamis Hanafi, a child psychologist and educator in Montreal, Canada says directors should pay careful attention to how young actors are treated on set in order to prevent stage fright. They must also ensure that the role itself does not cause trauma.
“When children have a challenging role to play like the role of Aly El Bialy in Lam El Shamseya, the only role the directors have is to provide the child and the parent with a psychologist to aid them after filming to make sure that the child is not affected by the role.”
