Everyone's favorite street rat-turned-prince will be played by Egyptian actor Mena Massoud in Disney's upcoming live action version of Aladdin. The new casting choices were announced at the D23 Expo on Saturday, Variety reported. Naomi Scott (British, of Gujarti Indian descent) will play Princess Jasmine, and Will Smith has been cast as Genie.
It would be impossible to cast any actors from Agrabah, the fictional country where Disney sets its story. Although no Arabic source has been located of the original tale, it appears as if its earliest written form was a french translation from a Syrian story-teller.Meet your newly announced live-action Aladdin and Jasmine, played by Mena Massoud and Naomi Scott. https://t.co/0Tfs9quhhf pic.twitter.com/JJV5XZoqxE
— Julia Reinstein (@juliareinstein) July 15, 2017
![Mice [Illustrative]](https://images.jpost.com/image/upload/f_auto,fl_lossy/t_JD_MostReadFaceDetect/280576 "Mice [Illustrative]")
