Cairo - Mohammed Youssef
Jordanian actress Dana Hemdan
ordanian actress Dana Hamdan tells Arabstoday that she joined the media industry by chance, but her childhood dream of becoming an actress pushed her towards acting. Dana also spoke about
her new series \"Wadima\", which she says is an Emirati series based on a romantic story.
\"It begins in the fifties between a young man and a girl in an Emirati village, and lasted up until the seventies. During these two decades a lot of changes happened in the gulf region on various fronts, which affected the characters of the series,\" she said.
The starlet said Gulf soap-operas had witnessed huge progress recently, and proved to be a serious competitor to Egyptian and Syrian shows.
\"I\'m confident \'Wadima\' will draw the attention of viewers in many Arab countries which are not Gulf based,\" she said.
On whether she would abandon her career as a TV presenter, Dana said: \"Actually I had joined the media by chance, through my passion for fashion which led me to present a fashion show, and thankfully it achieved good success. However, I have already finished shooting a new show, in which I will do interviews with some prominent women from the Arab region...I will be talking in the Egyptian dialect in this show. But I must admit that acting was a childhood dream for me, and this dream turned to be a priority after my two sisters started acting and singing. I hope I will enjoy a long career, and introduce a good variety of characters.\"
Dana is the sister of acclaimed Jordanian actress Maiss Hemdan, and the half-sister of Egyptian singer and actress Mai Selim.
\"The main reason behind my late entry to the field, is that I had a relatively long spell in Italy and other European countries studying fashion. I travelled there directly after my graduation from the American University in Cairo,\" said Dana.
The young actress described herself as a stubborn person, who always seeks success and made every effort to achieve it..
\"I went to Italy and lived there alone, although I was very young. I didn\'t have any relatives or friends there, and knew nothing about the language as well, but I overcame these difficulties with my and stubbornness. When I started my career as an actress, I lacked many things, and needed to learn so much, but I didn\'t save any effort in ensuring I was qualified for my job,\" said Dana.