Mohamed Karim, is an award winning actor who has starred in award-winning films and tv series, before moving to Los Angeles to fulfil his dreams of becoming a budding actor. Not only has he starred in two feature films already, but now he plays a leading role alongside the Hollywood A-Lister, Bruce Willis.
A Day to Die, directed by Wes Miller and will be released in February 2022, Karim describes as “similar to Die Hard” but there being a “big twist in the film.” He also immediately noted that “I’m not playing a stereotype Arab character but a police detective, and Bruce Willis “Aliston” is my boss.”
When asked what to expect in the film, he replied “there are robberies, explosions, internal investigations and nothing was post-production, it was all real with a lot of days to rehearse. We took over and evacuated the whole city with a SWAT team, and there were huge explosions in buildings and cars which was a very cool thing to see and be part of.”
When asked about the highlights of shooting the film, Karim paused for thought before answering – “Bruce Willis himself. Most of my scenes were with Bruce and it was incredible being with a legend. As a kid growing up, I was fascinated with all things like action films, and years later, I’m here standing on set with Bruce shooting great scenes with him and dialogues. I think that’s an incredible dream come true.”
As well as Willis and Karim starring in the film, other main casts include Frank Grillo, Leon Robinson, Johnny Messner, Kevin Dillion, and Brooke Butler. “When you’re actively working with big talented, actors, it gives you more confidence and makes you want to be more involved. The stronger the act in front of you, the better and stronger your scenes will be. I learnt from Bruce and Director Miller, and I was lucky to be with such a great cast.” Scenes were shot with a juxtaposition of locations “shooting in California, flying to Mississippi. There was a different vibe in the different states we visited.”
Without creating too much of a spoiler, the character played by Karim in the film is a single dad with his daughter. “Although most of his time is spent at work and in the middle of chaos, he has a human/father side to him. I don’t know about his background, but my thoughts are that his wife passed away, giving him motivation to become a cop.”
Karim’s character is filled with “suspicion, instincts, and determination” which will be presented throughout the film. Understanding character traits and getting into the role itself is a challenge for any actor, and when asked how he got into the mindset of Reynolds, Karim replies “I had to brainstorm the character with the director. What are his motives? What’s his background? Every film is like my first film and I start from scratch working on the character. I worked on him for 7 months before, wearing hit clothes in real life and holding my coffee a certain way.” Laughing on the phone he said, “At times I didn’t realise how I was acting and some of my friends were like why are you talking like that?”
As an action-packed film, we can expect to see jaw-dropping scenes. Karim said at some points it looked like a “warzone” and that he almost had a near-death experience. “I will always remember one of the days was ‘exploding day.’ They started shooting at 7 AM and my call time was at 12. I came out of hair/makeup, they drove me to the set and all of a sudden, I see no-one else there but me. Holding my cell-phone in one hand and coffee in the other, I’m so focused looking down at the intersection with no cars, just me and a limo. When I turned my head, I see everyone waving at me 3 blocks away saying ‘Mohamed, get the hell out!’ I didn’t realise that my cell-phone will trigger the limo explosion and I was just walking in, having fun! Everyone freaked out! [laughing] This is one thing I will never forget in my life!”
Karim featuring in this film is just one of the incredible things we will see from him. Asking what he will be doing next, he says “I would like to diversify and do different genres like Drama, Rom-Com and Thriller. I have a cool project in the pipeline that I am currently working on, and one right now which is going to be a big surprise that I cannot wait to reveal.”
A Day to Die is out on February 2022 by Vertical Entertainment.
