A Warwick man at the battle of Troy

By Joe Kernan (Lifebeats)

Thursday May 27, 2004 — While Brad Pitt is strumming the heartstrings of countless fans in the epic movie about the battles of Troy, The History Channel once again has reread “The True Story of Troy” and aired it on Sunday night.

“The True Story,” produced by Providence Pictures, a Rhode Island production company that has done a number of History Channel projects, has been positioned as the antidote to the historic liberties taken by Hollywood.

Virtually all we know about Troy is the “Iliad,” which was written by the Greek poet Homer at least 500 years after the events it describes and the archaeological evidence collected since a German paleontologist unearthed the remains more than a century ago: not leak-proof evidence to establish the “real” story of Troy on but at least it offers more reasonable fuel for speculation.

So, it is not entirely unreasonable for the producers to hire a Lebanese-born Christian to play the non-speaking part of Hector, the son of the king of Troy.

“It’s not a speaking part, but I really enjoyed doing it and I would really like to do more work in movies,” said Sayem Najem, a martial arts champion with a school in Cranston and a home in Warwick. “They also had me choreograph some of the fight scenes with the other actors and that was fun, too, but I would really like to get more into acting.”

Considering that the cast of the Hollywood production of “Troy” uses a number of nationalities, including American, German and British actors, Najem’s international background should be right at home on a movie set. He was born in Lebanon, lived in Korea and Canada and speaks French, Korean, Arabic and English. With looks that are not overwhelmingly ethnic-specific, he could play any number of roles. Although he has qualms about playing Arabic-looking villains, he hasn’t ruled it out and hopes that a wide variety of characters would lessen any stereotyping associated with what sounds like a very Arabic name.

“Actually, I’m not an Arab at all,” he said. “My people are descended from the ancient Phoenicians and my family has been Christian for many generations.”

Nevertheless, Najem said he hasn’t been getting many new pupils, in spite of his extraordinary championship career in the ancient martial art of Tae Kwon Do. He said his studio, the Superior Tae Kwon Do Academy at 845 Oaklawn Ave. in Cranston, has enrolled about seven new pupils this year.

“Typically, a school will get around 30 new pupils a year,” he said. “I’m afraid that my name may have something to do with that and that is unfortunate. If people knew me, the name would mean nothing to them.”

Najem said he is intensely grateful to a core group of students and their parents for their loyalty, but the uncertainty of sustaining his school has made at least part-time work in films almost necessary. He said his experience doing “The Real Story of Troy” was most encouraging.

“It was pretty apparent I was enjoying myself and the producers and directors said they enjoyed working with me and would like to do it again,” he said. “It wasn’t a speaking part, but you still have to have some talent to get up in front of a camera. I want to learn as much as I can about the business, to make me more of an asset around the set.”

As far as acting careers are concerned, Najem is starting a little late in the game, in spite of the fact that he looks at least 10 years younger than he is. He said he took an acting course in Edmonton, Canada, but didn’t follow up on it. He is currently studying acting with Barbara Tannenbaum at Brown to be ready if and when his big break comes.

Now 35, Najem grew up in Canada, where his family moved when he was six years old to escape the religious unrest of Lebanon in the 1970s. He said he was frequently picked on as a child. An older boy once hit him on the head and caused him to bleed. His father told him he was not happy about his boy coming home injured and told him he would face more punishment at home if it happened again.

“I decided I would rather take care of myself than face punishment at home,” he said. “The next time one of the older kids hit me… I don’t remember what I actually did, but I dropped the guy and decided I might be good at this.”

At the age of 10, Najem started studying Tae Kwon Do in earnest. By 1988 Najem was a competitor in the Summer Olympics in Seoul. He got there by winning the gold in Canada’s Olympic Team Trials and a gold medal in the Canadian National Championship. In 1990 Najem won the gold in the Pan Am Games in Puerto Rico, a bronze in the World University Games and again was Canada’s National Champion. In fact, Najem was the Canadian gold medal winner for virtually all of the 1990s and had the silver in Barcelona in 1992.

When actor Hayden Christenen, who played Anakin Skywalker in the “Star Wars: Episode II” movie, was looking to sharpen his warrior image for the role a few years back, he called Najem.

“He worked very hard,” said Najem at the time, “almost too hard. But he was in very good shape and a good student. If he wasn’t an actor, I think he could be a serious martial artist.”

Now the tables have turned, so to speak. Najem admits the Hollywood bug has bitten him and that an actor he met while doing an interview show in New Jersey is a great inspiration to him.

Images from the article:

Taking a stance Jordan Cabral and Amanda Bedard of Cranston get ready to show their stuff to Tae Kwon Do Master Sayed Najem at the Superior Tae Kwon Do Academy on Oaklawn Avenue. The world class martial artist and aspiring actor lives in Warwick and played the part of Hector in the History Channel's The True Story of Troy, which was broadcast recently. (Beacon Commu nications photo)

Limbering up International Tae Kwon Do champion Sayed Najem does some stretching before he hits the .mats in his Superior Tae Kwon Do Academy on Oaklawn Avenue in Cranston. He hopes to apply his martial arts skills to an acting career. (BeEJ.con Communications photo)

Original Article: http://www.warwickonline.com/lifebeat/searchnews.asp?ID=6047