A Gazan actor who helped win the Hollywood strike

After Hollywood actors approved a deal with the studios on Friday that would end their months-long strike, they are now finally able to get back to work. 

For Iyad Hajjaj, whose screen credits include Ms. Marvel, Will and Grace, and Black Monday, this means he'll be able to send more money to his family sheltering in southern Gaza.

"It's not easy for me to stand by and just watch"

It is an unusual burden for a Hollywood actor to bear on top of other daily struggles, but one Hajjaj knew he would be taking on when he left Gaza as a young aspiring actor.

"It's not easy for me to stand by and just watch," Iyad tells The New Arab. "Every time I was asked why I came to America, I'd say I came to have a good quality of life and to help my family."

He says, "If I were to make a connection between Gaza and the strike, it would be that I wish I made more money to help my family buy food and water." 

Even before the latest outbreak of violence in Gaza, his purpose for marching on the picket line since July was for more than better pay, residuals and protection from using his likeness in artificial intelligence.

He has also been hoping to pave a path for those from his part of the world who want to get into the same line of work and to give a more human and nuanced representation of Middle Easterners to Western audiences.

An early taste of acting in Palestine

Iyad grew up in Gaza's border city of Rafah, a world away from the bright lights of Hollywood. However, as a child, he had already caught the acting bug doing community theatre, and even played a part in an A-lister Hollywood film, Appointment with Death, in the historical West Bank city of Jericho with an all-star cast, including Lauren Bacall and Carrie Fisher.

It was a big step for a child in a career that would take many turns before would find himself on the picket lines in southern California.

Before he began full-time in entertainment, he trained and then worked as a physical therapist, with the idea of sending money back home to help take care of his family. 

His job in physical therapy took him to Stanford University's medical centre, where he met graduate students who were making a short film about post-9/11 America and cast him as an Arabic-speaking character.

It would be another four years before he could rely on acting and filmmaking for a steady paycheck. First, he got his teeth fixed, an important step for a screen actor.

After that, he took what acting jobs he could, including being the face of Western Dental, where his newly fixed teeth must have come in handy.

As his work became more steady, he moved from San Francisco to Los Angeles to get an agent, leaving behind his northern California community that included an Arab dance troupe, a soccer team, and a small community theatre. He also left behind his day-long commute for Hollywood auditions.

Bringing Middle East representation to Hollywood

Once in Los Angeles, he continued gaining commercial experience. However, he didn't forget his community theatre roots and his desire to see more Middle Eastern representation in Hollywood.

"My identity isn't the biggest factor in me being an actor. As a talented person, it's more that I want to make movies and make people understand where I come from," he says.

"In a very subtle way, I want to continue making films and make people aware of facts that they're missing." 

"If I could, I would put one minute of content of my films with context, to say it's OK to have Arab or Muslim friends because we're good people" 

He recalls instances in which people have told him that Palestinians were trying to take over Israel and try to kick Israelis out of their homes.

"Sometimes I just walk away. I feel so overwhelmed, I don't even have the energy to respond," he says. "If I could, I would put one minute of content of my films with context, to say it's OK to have Arab or Muslim friends because we're good people." 

He recalls Muslims and Arabs being called terrorists after 9/11 and not wanting to talk about politics, but always getting dragged into it. Also frustrating, he says, has been people's resistance to educating themselves, despite having information at their fingertips online.

"These are the things that bother me and motivate me to stay in the film industry," he says.

Gaza's 'ambassador to Hollywood'

To Palestinians back in Gaza, he's "an ambassador to Hollywood", a role he doesn't take lightly.

"It's a huge responsibility and too big for me. They think I can change the world, the Hollywood way. I'm not going to change a country's opinion, but I can change one person's opinion here and there. Change comes from people over generations," says Iyad.

For the last five months, he's been focused on the strike, which has taken him and other actors to the streets throughout an unusually hot summer. For the last six weeks, he has been even more focused on Gaza.

"I'm excited about the strike being over," he says. "But I'm still nervous and scared for all of my brothers and sisters. A lot of them are displaced and sharing rooms. Each room has a family. You're talking about multi-generational families staying together. They can't leave."

Fortunately for him — and for his family back in Gaza — he already has more work lined up. Within hours of the end of the strike, he got an offer to play the role of a doctor in a movie.

"With my roles, I'm trying to change the image of Arabs and Middle Easterners. This role is a doctor, which is good," he says. "These are the kinds of characters that represent us more than terrorists. I'm trying to change the narrative."