Farewell to actor Mubarak Al Khasi: Saudi Arabia’s small screen man

Throughout his career, he was a dependable face in television

Saudi Arabian actor Mubarak Al Khasi built a career as a dependable supporting actor. Twitter

The Saudi Arabian television industry is mourning the loss of Mubarak Al Khasi.

The actor died on Saturday, January 2, in Riyadh after undergoing open-heart surgery. He was 44.

News of his death was reported by local press and Saudi cultural personalities have gone online to pay their respects to Al Khasi.

"A great man and friend who I last saw when visiting me at home," said Saudi singer Hamdi Sa'ad. "May God have mercy on you."

It was a sentiment echoed by Saudi television presenter Makhled Al Sharari, who praised his contribution to the kingdom's cultural scene.

"This is heartbreaking news to many and everyone who knew him closely," Al Sharari said. "He gave a lot to his region and was one of the top artists in the kingdom."

Hailing from Al Jawf province, which borders Jordan in the north of the kingdom, Al Khasi credited growing up in the desert region for a fertile imagination.

In his early teenage years, he started to use a note book for both sketches and poetry. On reaching adulthood, the books were filled with short stories, which triggered his interest in television and theatre.

This resulted in Al Khasi trying his hand at acting in a string of small local productions until landing his career break in the 1993 debut season of the classic Saudi sitcom, Tash Mma Tash.

It was a steady-earning gig to say the least, with Al Khasi making appearances in various roles throughout the 18 season run, which ended in 2011.

While his roles were often minor, the opportunity to typically play the comic foil to comedy superstar Nasser Al Qasabi in various scenes allowed him to shine in his own light.

This included a villainous role in 2005's Mutlah Al Nour, viewed as a landmark Saudi drama series due to its focus on the kingdom's Bedouin communities.

Other roles he excelled in included the 2003 season of the comedy Beny wa Benak and another witty turn in Kulna Ayal Qaryah, a star-studded 2008 Ramadan series featuring Al Qasabi, once again, and Abdullah Al Sadhan.

In an in-depth hour-long interview on the culture show Ana Wa Shaksiyati, broadcast on Al Saudiya TV in 2015, he shed light on some of the challenges the television industry faced.

Despite the evolution of the cultural scene, he cited a relative lack of professionalism that still hinders its growth.

“There were many moments where a lot of us in certain series would be fed the script in parts. That affected many of our performances because we didn’t have the full context of the character,” he said.

“If we had have known the full script from the beginning, we would have better performances.”

Al Khasi also cited his decision to continue being based in Al Jawf, as opposed to the entertainment industry hubs of Riyadh and Jeddah, for limiting some of his opportunities.

But he was more content to build a steady and sustainable career as opposed to one that would have him burn out.

"I always enjoyed being on a steady journey," he said on Ana Wa Shaksiyati. "Every role I took led me to the next. And with each experience I met new and amazing people that I learnt from. It is very satisfying."