USC Trojan Family Magazine - Winter 2001: Alumni News

Alumni Profile

An Egyptian Star Is Born

You may not recognize him, but in the streets of Cairo and Alexandria, Sean Delon ’97 elicits giggles and “oh my Gods!” from girls pressing autograph books in his hands. “It’s not as bad as the Beatles,” laughs the star of last year’s Egyptian blockbuster, Sweet Guys – filmmaker Hatim Fareed’s breakthrough indie that’s the Arab-speaking world’s answer to The Blair Witch Project. The film, which takes place in one night – New Year’s Eve, 1999, to be exact – exposes the class distinctions and strips away the artifices of a group of young Egyptians partying in the shadow of the pyramids on what they fear may be the eve of Armageddon.

Though considered the Hollywood of the Middle East, Egypt hasn’t seen anything like Sweet Guys before. Filmed completely digitally, without the backing of a studio and using an ensemble cast sans headliners, the film broke all the rules and has become hugely successful. “This movie reminds me of Peter Sellers’ The Party,” wrote film critic Rafik Alsapan of Akhbar Lanogoom (Egypt’s equivalent to People magazine). All of which translates to overnight stardom for cast member Delon, whom the region’s major daily, Al Ahram (the pyramid), likened to countryman Omar Sharif. “Alexandria is known for its beauty and its big movie stars,” Delon haltingly translates from a news clip, “and Alexandria is proud that Sean Delon – as Omar Sharif and other actors – is rising.”

Born and raised in Alexandria, Delon came to the United States to study acting, much to his engineer father’s bewilderment. “In the beginning, it didn’t make sense to him,” says Delon, “but now he sees me on TV, and all his neighbors show him articles about me. He’s become used to it.”

Sean Delon in a scene from Sweet Guys, Hatin Fareed's blockbuster film that made him an overnight star in Egypt.

After graduating from the USC School of Theatre, Delon returned to Egypt and quickly broke into television and movies. He landed a small role in two action movies, Hero in Action and A Woman from Tel Aviv. These roles led to ones on the popular soap opera “Family Ties,” in which Delon played a World War II lieutenant who falls in love with a girl whose family disapproves of the match. After 10 episodes, his character died in a landmine explosion. In another historical TV series, “Corruption in the Palace,” he appeared in 30 episodes as a double agent conspiring against King Faruk’s government under British occupation.

Now that he’s made it in the Middle East, Delon is back in the West, shopping around a script he co-wrote with classmate David Degan titled No Other Way, about a pair of star-crossed Israeli and Egyptian lovers. He and Degan have also begun a non-profit organization, International Peace Alliance, whose goal is to bring together Israeli and Palestinian children in summer camps where they can build friendships.

Delon’s strategy is to keep busy, to keep exploring options and never to become predictable. The time may come when girls from another Alexandria – the one south of Washington, D.C. – will be angling for his autograph.