"How great it is to be absent but present than to be present but absent."
— Ahmed Galal in One Thousand Congratulations
Ahmed Muhammad Helmy is an Egyptian actor, comedian, and TV host born in November 19, 1969. He's one of the biggest stars in the Arab world and he has started his career on the 1993 program Leib Eyal. His first ever movie titled Aboud Ala El Hedoud was made in 1998. Helmy is known for his comic sense of humor and amazing performance which gained him his current considerable fame. After starring in Aboud Ala El Hedoud he got leading roles, such as El Nazerand Snakes And Ladder.
Helmy was also one of the judges of Arabs Got Talent the Arabic equivalent of Britain's Got Talent for the third, fourth, and fifth seasons.
Movies he starred in:
- One Thousand Congratulations (2009) as Ahmed.
- Sleepless Nights (2003) as Amr.
- Zaki Chan (2005) as Zaky.
- Tareks Situation (2006) as Tarek/Omar.
- She Made Me A Criminal (2006) as Rushdi.
- Lifes Speed Bump (2006) as Galal/Mimi.
- Cant Complain (2007) as Reda/Simsim/Prince.
- Sorry To Disturb (2008) as Hassan.
- Bittersweet 2010 (2010) as Masri Sayyed Alarabi.
- Bewildered Bolbol (2010) as Bolbol.
- X Large (2011) as Adel/Magdi.
- Over My Dead Body (2013) as Raoof.
- Excuse My French (2014) (Stoyteller's voice)
- Made In Egypt (2014) as Ala Elfaresy/Panda.
- Scarecrow 2019 (2019) as Zizo/Yakan.
- Another One (2022) as Mustafa.
Tropes associated with his works:
- Arab Beoble Talk: Played with in his movie Bittersweet 2010 where he plays an Egyptian who came back from America so his English pronunciation is noticeably better than everyone there. He's shocked to find an English teacher who can't pronounce her "V"s and "TH"s correctly and is making her students mimic her mispronunciations.
- The Ditz: He tends to play characters that are dumb and aren't quick to understand things a lot like in Zaki Chan.
- Dramedy: His choice of works usually falls into this category as he became known for his quick-witted humor and awesome dramatic acting.
- Kindhearted Simpleton: Many of his roles, such as in Lifes Speed Bump and Zaki Chan, are of him being slow-witted but kind and honest.
- Playing Against Type: He usually stars in lighthearted comedies but he changes this in Sorry To Disturb who's his most serious role yet where he plays the schizophrenic Hassan. This is the first time an Arabic actor plays a role discussing such a serious matter related to mental illness and was considered a risky move for a big star like Helmy.
- Romantic Comedy: A genre he does so well in alongside dramedy, which include Lifes Speed Bump and She Made Me A Criminal.
- Those Two Actors:
- Actor Hasan Hosny usually plays his father figure in movies (Over My Dead Body, Scarecrow 2019, and She Made Me A Criminal). They've worked together in 7 movies in total.
- He made three movies with famous actress Menna Shalaby, which are Cant Complain, Sorry To Disturb, and Scarecrow 2019.
