Omid Djalili, 42, was born in London to Iranian parents and is now
acclaimed as one of Britain’s finest stand-up comedians. He has featured in
films including The Mummy, Gladiator and Pirates of the Caribbean: At
World’s End, and has made numerous television appearances, including his own
series, The Omid Djalili Show. He is currently touring the UK and lives in
London with his wife and three children, aged 14, 12 and 8
"Disaster always seems to strike four or five days into my holidays. Our
last was to Evia, in Greece, in the summer. We stayed in a lovely hotel at
the foot of a hill, right next to the sea, with beautiful gardens and
fantastic food, and for the first few days it was paradise.
Then we started hearing reports on the news about forest fires that were
devastating parts of the country. When the sky turned an apocalyptic red,
and ash began to fall onto the hotel, it was time to leave. The hotel rep
told everyone not to panic, but to leave within four hours.
So we ignored his instructions, panicked, jumped in our hire car and raced the
forest fires back to Athens. At one point, the fire had crossed the road,
forcing us to veer around it. It was pretty scary, but quite exciting, and
by the time I had retold the episode a few times, I had personally hosed the
flames and prevented Athens from burning.
My ideal holiday would be to go somewhere by myself. For most of my life, I
have been surrounded by people. My parents used to fill the house with sick
Iranians, who paid to stay while awaiting treatment and occupied my bedroom.
I had to sleep in the lounge, but only after they had all finished sitting
there and gone to bed.
I used to dream of being in a house on my own, and one of the best holidays I
ever had was when I first left home to go to university in Northern Ireland.
I hired a cottage in Coleraine and stayed there, by myself, watching
political party conferences by day and Just Good Friends by night, ordering
curries and reading. It gave me a complete sense of freedom, which is what
holidays should be about.
We had only two family holidays, both to Iran to visit relatives. The first I
was too young to remember, but the second is rooted in my mind because of
the horrors it contained. I was six years old and we went to stay with my
grandfather in Tehran. It was alternately very hot and very cold; I was
unused to the food and sick most of the time; and, when I was well enough to
venture out, the local Tehranian youth stole my western toys.
To complete the happy holiday, there was no sewer system, and I nearly died
after falling into the pit of human excrement where everyone emptied their
various receptacles. I’ve never been back, but I would love to go, not least
because Iran is probably one of the few places where I will be able to waltz
through customs.
My first thought when those planes hit the Twin Towers was that travelling for
me would never be the same again. I’d already encountered a few problems,
because of having a threatening name, but since 9/11 I’ve learnt to allow
extra time to be detained by customs officers.
On one occasion, I went to America to film the sitcom Whoopi, with Whoopi
Goldberg, and had to wait several hours while they phoned the production
office to find out whether the sitcom was for real or just an elaborate ploy
by a well-known terrorist. In the past year, it’s got better, as they’ve
started to recognise me. Instead of searching me, customs officers ask for
my autograph.
Arab countries are easier and one of the most unusual places I’ve been is the
village of Aït Benhaddou, in Morocco, where we filmed part of Gladiator. The
village is in the Atlas Mountains, near Ouarzazate. It was incredible to be
among the local Berber people, who still live simple lives, largely
untouched by the modern world – apart from large film crews and Russell
Crowe.
I went back to Morocco a year later to make the film Spy Game and discovered
that I had become a huge celebrity there – I was in The Mummy, which had
been showing four times a day, prior to our arrival, on Moroccan national
television. I’ve got a great photograph of myself surrounded by an
autograph-hungry mob in Casablanca.
In the background, Brad Pitt and Robert Redford, the big stars of the film,
are hovering completely unknown and unnoticed. That sort of reception is so
much better than being under suspicion in America."
Omid Djalili talked to Lizzie Enfield
Let us assume that Omid is from a "poor and nomadic kind of background". Should that diminish his extraordinary talent as one of the best stand-up comedian in England today? In addition to his talent, Omid has become the greatest goodwill ambassador for Iran in Britain. All Iranians should be proud of him and swell the rank of his fans. It is sad to note that, for jingoistic consideration, some attempt to sabotage this Iranian star.
Jamshid Anvar
Coppet Switzerland
Jamshid Anvar, Coppet, Switzerland
Omid is brilliant and very talented. I am a huge fan. He taps into the british society and picks some of the best stereotypes.
However, he lacks knowledge about Iranians and Iranian culture since his only connection to this culture is via his immediate family who lived all along in England. He has an arabic accent vs. a soft and lax Persian accent. His charactor represents all the way from Moroco to Bangladish. So, most his iranian stereotypes don't apply, but apply more to arabic and some Azari-Turk background. But he is the best and only British-Iranian comedian in the world, three more than Germany (as he says).
Alan , Los Angeles, California
When Mr Djalili says "there was no sewer system" in Tehran he is talking absolute rubbish. Tehran is a more modernized and cleaner city than London. Perhaps the man is from a poor and nomadic kind of background
I had previously detected a degree of ignorance watching his show on TV as he always puts on an Arabic accent when attempting to portray an Iranian character.
Maani Hessabi, London,