Taking leaps of faith has paid off in spades for the Canadian heartthrob. According to him, it's all been coming up roses since he set foot off the plane. Then I came, and I had my own experience. And I think I realized, you can find shitty people everywhere. And so far, knock on wood," he gingerly taps the table in front of him, "everyone I've met has been fucking amazing.
If it weren't for a fateful drunken night in Sweden during a semester abroad, Salem's life might look a whole lot different today. He was a nursing student doing his final clinicals at a Swedish hospital when one fateful night, he got drunk with his friends and confessed a secret desire to try out acting.
His friends all agreed he would be a natural, and encouraged him to take a class when he got back to Canada. And why didn't he? And it's too bad, because even if I did get picked on, my soul would've been so fucking happy. But fear of bullying wasn't the only thing holding him back. Salem, whose parents immigrated from Lebanon, had big dreams for their son. I remember thinking a lot, 'how am I going to make the family look? Once Salem landed back in Canada, he was ready to take the bull by the horns.
He went to Vancouver and enrolled in his first acting class, and never looked back. He laughs as he remembers telling his parents about the career change. But acting wasn't the only closet Salem had to come out of. I said no," he smiles. And my agent said, 'Oh, thank God. Gay doesn't work. Salem recalls another early experience working with a director who kept saying his name wrong.
It's a fucking name. Say my name properly. So I don't have any horror stories, really, besides the small ones. These are the people you've hired to work for you, and they've been in the industry for a long time. I think about the agent who told me to change my name and told me 'gay doesn't work.
