Omar Sherif: We will Never See Democracy

The first news is that Peter O’Toole’s legendary co-star in ‘Lawrence of Arabia’ is not dead yet. Sherif, now 73, says he has been staying away from the international screens after his grand-children were teasing him for appearing in so many bad movies. – He did it for the money; his obsession with bridge-playing led to huge debts.

Now, Sherif is acting in a television play called ‘The Ten Commandments.’ His character is Moses’ father in-law, Jethro. Shooting the series takes him back to Ouarzazate, where part of "Lawrence of Arabia" was filmed more than 40 years ago.

Fast forward to what he has to say about politics:

"I don't find any terrible fault in the political situation in Egypt." The problems, he says, are poverty, ignorance and overpopulation.

“There will never be democracy in the Arab world, because we are tribal people. We are not nations."

"Egyptians are used to having a pharaoh ... People are ignorant. They like to look up to someone .... They look up to God. They look up to the saints."