'Aladdin' star Mena Massoud opens up about 'ups and downs' in Hollywood industry

Mena Massoud has dished on his "ups and downs" in the film industry.

In an interview with People, the Hollywood actor candidly talked about his role in his recently released movie Wish You Were Here.

"I think it's a mentality shift more than anything," he began by saying. "I think we can get stuck in looking at things in a negative way or a positive way."

Recalling when he was filming at the age of 25 in Aladdin, Massoud continued, “At that time, I was younger. I filmed Aladdin in 2017, so it's been almost eight years now.”

“And, I think you mature as you go through this industry and you realize like, I mean, look, we're pretty lucky to do what we're doing.”

“There's ups and downs in everything, and I think as long as you keep that passion for what you're doing, that's the most important thing."

Referring to Julia Stiles’ directorial movie which released on January 17, he said that, "these kinds of movies aren't really made that often anymore."

Wish You Were Here in which Charlotte, played by Isabelle Fuhrman, is a character that searches for the meaning of life and one night she encounters a stranger, Mena Massoud. Later, she uncovered a secret that changed her life.

Before concluding, the 33-year-old actor shared, "I really wanted to play this arc, you know, about this character who finds out something devastating about his life and has to find the joy in it, has to find the beauty in it and that really attracted me to the role."