Omar Sharif says future, past useless at my age

For Omar Sharif, the future and the past are useless. The only thing that counts for the Egyptian actor is the present.

"I think that thinking about the future is something for young people, and thinking about the past is useless when you are old," Sharif, 77, told reporters in Venice, where his latest movie "The Traveler," an Egyptian film by first-time feature director Ahmed Maher, is vying for the festival's Golden Lion award.

"In life I have already wiped out everything that has already gone," he said through an interpreter, switching languages with each question.

"Every moment is like that for me now and that is how it should be. To live well at my age you always have to think about concentrating your attention on the moment that is now and the moment you are living because you don't know how much longer you may live."

Sharif, whose devilishly handsome looks delighted female fans decades ago, plays the old Hassan in The Traveler (al-Musafer), which follows Hassan on three pivotal days in his life -- the first in 1948, the second in 1973 and the third in 2001.

The story explores time and the past, as an elderly Hassan seeks to reconnect with his own personal history through the young Ali who he is convinced is his grandson.

Only Arab in Hollywood

Despite becoming a major Hollywood star, appearing in classics like "Lawrence of Arabia" in 1962 and "Doctor Zhivago" three years later, Sharif recalled how his early days in the U.S. movie business were not easy.

Being the "only Arab" working in Hollywood, "I had to be very careful."

"For example, Columbia Pictures signed a five-year contract with me when I had made Lawrence of Arabia but they didn't pay me anything," he said.

"When I made Doctor Zhivago they sold me to MGM for $15,000. I made the film for $15,000. My American lawyer said 'I can sue them', and I said no, leave it, I don't want them to think of me as someone who only wants money."

I accepted the films they wanted me to do and even films I didn't want to do and I didn't like because I was afraid of saying no

Omar Sharif

"I lived very humbly, in fear, I accepted the films they wanted me to do and even films I didn't want to do and I didn't like because I was afraid of saying no."

Sharif also explained how his marriage, to Egyptian actress Faten Hamama, did not survive because of the constant travelling involved in his job.

"Since 1966 I have never lived with a woman, I have only lived in hotels and eaten in restaurants. Mine was a very happy life, I am not complaining," he said.

"I had a couple of adventures with women, but not the great love. I had a great love once with my wife that has to be said," said the Egyptian actor.