Mustafa Alabssi

Mustafa is a Deaf actor. He was born in Syria, and when he was 12, his family fled to Jordan to escape the devastation of war in their home country. For the five years his family lived in refugee camps and settlements in Jordan, Mustafa was unable to attend school because he is deaf. Instead, he was given a job sweeping floors at a local university. He began to feel that his lifelong dream of becoming an actor would never come true, and that he would be an illiterate janitor for the rest of his life. His family was applying for refugee status and finally, when Mustafa was 17, they were welcomed to Canada. To his delight, Mustafa found a home in a Deaf classroom with other young deaf people, some Canadian, and many refugees. Part of this program involved the students creating their own new work with a Deaf theatre company, and Mustafa, although untrained and barely able to use English or American Sign Language, soon demonstrated his uncanny natural talent for performing. His debut performance in the Deaf theatre was astonishing, and he won the hearts of both Deaf and Hearing audiences. When the call went out for a Deaf actor for a role for a Deaf character in Netflix's Black Summer, Mustafa's teacher and theatre director worked together to help him understand the script and prepare an audition video. They created a resume and head shot for him, and sent it off to the Casting Agent. Soon they were contacted. Mustafa had a callback. When he got the role, Mustafa could barely contain his excitement. Still unable to read English, to prepare for the role, Mustafa relied on his teacher to interpret the script for him, and his theatre director became his acting coach, teaching him to tone down his expressive theatrical acting style for the camera and giving him tricks for a realistic on-camera performance. On set, the gregarious and warm Mustafa soon made many friends, including the show's star, Jaime King. He became known as a one-take wonder, nailing his performance on the first try in almost every shot. Mustafa loved the experience of playing the character of Ryan on Black Summer, and although when he got his first professional acting job he had only been in Canada less than three years, he sees that his dream is coming true. Mustafa now believes that not only he, but other Deaf actors, have a bright future in film, television, and theatre.