Role reversal: What it's like to be a Muslim woman acting in Ottawa

Watching Bohemian Rhapsody was a monumental moment for me. Not because I am the biggest Queen fan, but because of the actor playing Freddie Mercury. The fact that Rami Malek, an Egyptian-American actor, was asked to play such an iconic role is a big deal.

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As an Arab-Canadian actress, I know that roles like that one don't come along often. Instead, Arabic actors in North American films often playroles that portray Arabs and Muslims in a negative light bad guysor sad, oppressed women.

I sometimes wonder if Hollywood knows that we, Arabs/Muslims, aren't actually like that, or if they're just riding on an Islamophobia trend until it passes and they start hating on another culture or race.

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That may sound harsh, but it comes from my own experiencetrying to get cast in the industry. When I get called for an audition for an Arab/Muslim character, it's usually for the role of a refugee, a terrorist or the wife or sister of a terrorist. On top of that, I'm asked to adopt an accent because I actually don't have the one needed for those roles.

When I see how people like me are depicted on television and film, I get angry,because that is not my reality. Although my parents are from Lebanon and Syria, I was born here, and so I have a Canadian accent. I'm also not a covered Muslim one who wears a traditional head covering such as a hijab unlike many people I know.

What do you do when you want to act and you want to change the narrative on how society sees you? You create something.-Maissa Houri

Last year, I read that thepeople behind the new live-action Aladdin film had a hard time casting the roles of Aladdin and Jasmine. Insert eye roll here. I find it ridiculous that they couldn't find someone of my background to take on a role we are actually ideally poised to play.

What makes it even harder is the fact that many Arab or Muslim actors feel they have to decline rolesbecause they don't want to represent their culture in a negative light. So, what do you do when you want to act and you want to change the narrative on how society sees you? You create something.

I started writing and making films because someone has to change people's perceptions. If not someone in Hollywood, maybe someone here.

I created a series called Dirty Love about a first-generation Arab-Canadian Muslim woman who ends up selling sex toys when she finds herself out of a job. It's based on many of my personal experiences, as well as some of my friends'.

What will you see in this that you normally wouldn't when it comes to Arabs? Relationships, sex, a real Arabic family dynamic, and oh what real life looks like.

No bombs. No terrorists. You may actually be able to relate to me.

Maissa Houriis an actor andfilmmaker in Ottawa.