Journey to Starring in a Marvel film - Haaz Sleiman

Before becoming an actor, Haaz Sleiman originally wanted to be a recording artist. His idol was Madonna. In an exclusive interview with Red's Reviews & Interviews, he revealed, "After 9/11 happened, no one wanted to touch my music, knowing that I was middle-eastern."

So, Sleiman took an acting class and it all went from there. He stated, "My love for acting began when I was, maybe 6 years old after watching Star Wars. Fast forward, I took a class... and the acting coach said you both [Sleiman and his scene partner] have the potential of being excellent actors." These words stuck with Sleiman, and after speaking with a friend who encouraged him to pursue acting professionally, that's exactly what he did.

Sleiman continued, "I did a couple of independent films in New York, then I got an agent and moved to LA, then when I booked 'The Visitor', that's when I realised acting was my calling."

The Visitor is a 2007 drama movie, where Haaz starred as one of the leads alongside Danai Gurira (Black Panther, The Walking Dead) as illegal immigrants who befriend a character played by veteran actor Richard Jenkins. Sleiman describes the film as a "timeless classic everyone should see."

Richard Jenkins & Haaz Sleiman in "The Visitor", directed by Tom McCarthy

Although the film put Sleiman on the map, and lead to him starring in movies and shows such as "Breaking Fast", "Jack Ryan" and "Killing Jesus", it wasn't an easy road. He describes "long, stretched periods of nothingness. Like a barren desert of no work."

Sleiman has always wanted to play a superhero, a dream he has to this day. However, he did get to star in Marvel's 2021 movie, Eternals, as superhero Phastos' husband, Ben Stoss. This was very meaningful to him as it was the first LGBTQ+ couple in the Marvel Cinematic Universe franchise of films.

Speaking on the audition process, he explained: "I remember auditioning for it, maybe almost like a year prior to hearing back from them." He recalls that he "killed" the audition and saw the role as a great opportunity to "humanise a queer family". He continued, "I thought that was pretty courageous and bold of Disney and Marvel to be an example for all of the other studios."

Sleiman in Marvel's "Eternals"

Arriving on set, Sleiman was "overwhelmed". He joked, "Of course, you're like a kid, you're like 'Oh my god, a Marvel set! What's it gonna look like, how's it gonna be?'"

He remembers that the director, Chloé Zhao (Nomadland, The Rider) had "a kindness to her". One of his favourite memories is of being "starstruck" whilst working with legendary actress Angelina Jolie. Recalling the moment, he mentioned, "I told her, 'I just want to say, I'm from Lebanon and thank you for coming [there] to visit the Syrian refugees, that meant the world to me.' And she just lit up and she was so humble, it blew my mind. Like this is Angelina Jolie, the biggest star!"

Marvel are known for their confidentiality. Sleiman shares that he "had no idea about what the movie was, what it was about, what was happening,"; he only had access to his scenes. He added, "Can you imagine how difficult it is for an actor to show up on set not knowing anything except for those scenes I had to and do a good job? It was really insane!".

However, the actor sat down with Phastos' actor, Brian Tyree Henry for a conversation about their characters, and was able to ask the director any questions he had.

Sleiman knew what he was doing though, he stated "I didn't have that many questions. It was pretty clear, it was just like a very loving family."

Haaz Sleiman & Brian Tyree Henry

Sleiman's character, Ben had a line in Arabic in the movie. The actor revealed that this was actually his contribution: "I borrowed some elements from my family, for instance my brother. My oldest brother got married to a Russian woman, and she is his soulmate, so I think in just a couple months he learnt Russian for her, because he's in love with her; they're in love with each other. So I decided as a result, to suggest it to Chloé: how about if Phastos learned Arabic because we are soulmates....that's the reason why I actually spoke the line to him in Arabic, as to not embarrass him in front of the other Eternals."

His role in the MCU brought "a lot of attention" to Sleiman

Since the release of Eternals, Sleiman says he has "received a lot of love, and also a lot of hate." He doesn't let this stop him though, he will star in Paul Weitz's upcoming comedy "Moving On", alongside Jane Fonda & Lily Tomlin.

His advice to fellow actors wanting to make it in the industry is to "only become an actor if you love it so much... and you know why you love it so much." He advises to "ask yourself the real, honest questions. Do you know your worth? Do you respect yourself? Do you know your value?...If you don't respect yourself, how do you expect others to respect you?"