Interview by Sohaib Al-Hadid
Carla Boutros is a name that has been in the limelight, since the late eighties.
Yet the multi-talented artist who has caught Arab audiences attention in remarkable on-screen roles has recently started her own jewelry line. About this new project and many other aspects of her, this is an albawaba interview with the Lebanese beauty that does not seem to age.
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Your career started as a model, today after all these years, are you think of owning a business related to the fashion industry?
Actually, my career started in 1986 as an actress in the TV series "Al Ustaz Mandor" (Mr. Mandor) written by Lebanese writer Marwan Najar. The series was screened on Lebanon TV and it has a starstudded cast.
In 1987 and 1988 I worked as a fashion model and in 1991 I was nominated for Miss Model of Lebanon and Arab Countries. I was hoping to become a fashion designer, actually, I had lots of dreams related to Fashion design and singing yet I only started recently with jewelry design and had the full support of my children.
My children are my inspiration for "Star Fish" jewelry collection and I love the collection's idea because it’s a luxury product for Arab women. My youngest daughter Ivana loves the fashion design world and she is helping me in selecting the diamonds and Precious stones for the jewelry collections, and even in the acting field both my daughters, Adriana and Ivana, help me in choosing the characters' outfits according to the characters' backstories.
I am a mom who loves to spend all her time with her daughters, we do lots of activities together like cooking, fishing, sports, traveling and it is always quality time with them which is really important to me and being beside them makes me feel safe.
Your daughters seem to have a good taste in fashion, will you encourage them to join the fashion industry?
Actually, yes I will and my daughter is planning to study fashion.
What about encouraging them in the acting and singing fields?
I prefer they focus on their education and getting certificates so that they would be able to depend on themselves as women in this bad society. They are talented in singing and acting but I prefer they keep those talents as a hobby.
Despite your great artistic career, we never heard that there is disagreement between you and someone else in the field, how did you manage to achieve that?
I don’t like to talk about myself, but I have never faced a dispute situation in the field, I actually have an intuition that warns me from problematic situations or people. I am a social and flexible person, but once I feel that something bad will happen I prefer to withdraw from the atmosphere.
After your success in the role you portrayed in "Al Hayba" (The Prestige) series, Did you sign for any Ramadan 2020 season projects?
I didn’t sign anything yet for the upcoming Ramadan season, yet currently, we are filming the second season of the TV series "Ma Fiyi" (I Can’t), and I will also embark on my role in a family comedy film at the end of this month. Personally, I love family films since they are an opportunity to spend quality time with family. As for the new jewelry collection, I heard a lot of positive feedback and got a lot of support, and is currently preparing for a Christmas collection.
After Elissa's statement about the music industry being a "Mafia", do you agree with her?
Mafia-like mentalities are everywhere and in all fields including Journalism, the Medical field, the Educational field, and other domains But one has to be smart and choose a group of professionals around him/her who have the same way of thinking and who know how to treat others properly and you have to find a place that you fit in and that makes you comfortable.
Will we see Carla in a historic or a political role?
I hope to portray those types of roles one day, and I am certain I would work hard on excelling in them. I actually prefer to play a complex role than a simple one because they encourage me to show my acting skills.
Who are the closest voices to your heart in the singing field?
I listen to Sabah, Faiuz and Souad Mohammed a lot. As for foreign voices, I like Mariah Carey, Whitney Houston, Elvis Presley, Shirley Bassey and from the singers that are still active I love Najwa Karam so much, Wael Kfoury, Saber Robai, and definitely my best friend Carole Samaha.
According to your experience in the fashion industry, who is the singer that you think has the best fashion taste?
The elegant Najwa Karam always impresses me with her outfits. We all hope to be as elegant as her. I also like many looks for Carole Samaha, especially the white dress she recently wore in Al Taef, and the red dress she chose for Cannes Festival. I also love the classic look that Majida Al-Roumi adopts, and the original outfits that Maya Diab wears, in addition to Haifa Wehbe's unique style.
What would you like to say to your fans?
I hope I always to take part in projects that meet their expectations and I would like to thank them for their constant support. And as a fan for many artists myself, I hope that the public respect all artists and not to give attention to those who don’t deserve it or untalented individuals, in addition to respecting the private and personal lives of artists and just give opinions on their work. Recently, I am noticing the online wars between fans, this is not who we are, we are more classy than that and shall be following good and classy artists who offer work of good quality.
