The actor who plays Dodi Fayed on Netflix’sThe Crown called attention to the ongoing war between Israel and Hamas at the show’s Hollywood premiere.
While walking the red carpet at the season six premiere in Los Angeles, California on Sunday (12 November), Khalid Abdalla, 43, held up his left hand to reveal the words “Ceasfire now” written on it.
His message comes as the war in Gaza enters its 38th day, amid growing calls for a humanitarian ceasefire in the Strip.
After the premiere, Abdalla shared the following statement on X/Twitter: “Because all lives are sacred. Because I believe in the power of the human heart.
“Because we need to be clear and open and do everything we can for a better world.”
Abdalla joined the cast of Netflix’s royal drama in season five as Dodi, the son of billionaire businessman Mohammed Al Fayed and Princess Diana’s late boyfriend.
He will also appear in the sixth and final season of The Crown, which promises to sensitively cover the tragic death of Diana in 1997.
Dodi, who began dating the former Princess of Wales after they were introduced by his father, died with Diana following a car crash in Paris on 31 August 1997.
Photographs from the season six production released last month include pictures of Abdalla with Elizabeth Debicki (the actor who portrays Diana) on a yacht belonging to Mohammed (played by Salim Daw), the Egyptian business tycoon who died earlier this year.
Last November, Abdalla similarly campaigned for the release of British-Egyptian pro-democracy activist Alaa Abd el-Fattah at the season five premiere of The Crown.
“#FreeAla,” that message on his hand read, with the actor later saying he wanted to be “on the right side of history” in speaking up for el-Fattah amid the then-ongoing Cop27 summit in Egypt’s Sharm El-Sheikh.
One of Egypt’s most prominent pro-democracy voices, el-Fattah has spent much of the last decade behind bars.
The 40-year-old is currently serving a five-year sentence for sharing a social media post that was critical of prison conditions in the country.
“Right now we’re facing the possibility of his death in the coming days before COP27 ends. It’s a terrifying prospect,” Abdalla said, during an aappearance on ITV’s Good Morning Britain, referring to el-Fattah’s partial hunger strike.
He added: “All 120 world leaders are descending on Sharm el-Sheikh right now. If all of them can’t result in Alaa being released from prison, then what hope have we got of saving the climate?”
