The grandson  actor Omar Sharif “hesitantly confessed” in an article this past spring,  that he is gay and half Jewish, and worried about being welcome in Egypt.

Back in the Spring, Omar Sharif Jr. wrote in The Advocate,
“I write this article in fear. Fear for my country, fear for my family,
and fear for myself. My parents will be shocked to read it, surely
preferring I stay in the shadows and keep silent, at least for the time
being. But I can’t.”

Sharif
expressed his disappointment at the recent parliamentary elections,
writing that the revolution gave him hope for a “more tolerant and equal
society,” but now he is not as hopeful.

“The
vision for a freer, more equal Egypt – a vision that many young
patriots gave their lives to see realized in Tahrir Square – has been
hijacked. The full spectrum of equal and human rights are now wedge
issues used by both the Supreme Council of the Egyptian Armed Forces and the Islamist parties, when they should be regarded as universal truths,” Sharif wrote.

“I write … for fear that Egypt’s Arab Spring may be moving us backward, not forward,” he wrote.

Sharif, an actor like his grandfather, left Egypt in January 2011, just
before the revolution. He now resides in the United States.

You may remember the Oscars of 2011?  That tall young man in a tuxedo who delivered the Oscar to Douglas, then had a mock fight over his cane, was Omar Sharif Jr. and the next day, HAD EVERYONE  ASKING, “Who was that handsome guy??”

Omar Jr. has been a busy guy this year!  “I’ve been booking speaking engagements since that Advocate article, traveling all over  to talk
and meet with rights groups. Receiving awards and accolades.” he told us today.

“I played my
first gay character (a lead role) in director Max Makowski’s Thriller Paradise,
which was filmed in the Philippines and is premiering at Sundance…
It’s been crazy!”

Paradise synopsis: A top fashion-photographer and music-video Director, his Production
team, and five super models head to a five-star beach hotel to shoot a
video diary and commercial spot to promote the resort’s grand opening.
With the entire place to themselves, the young group live it up like
kings and queens. But strange things begin to happen. And what should be
the trip of a lifetime becomes a frantic struggle to survive…