CAIRO — For budding actors in Egypt, the Hollywood of the Middle East, being discovered no longer means endless auditions or cruising the cafes where they hope to meet a director or producer. In our days, they may try their luck at cyberspace — YouTube or TikTok — hoping that their widely followed clips or prank shows can catch the eye of a producer and land them a cushy film deal.

This is exactly what happened to Ekramy Hagras, a widely followed influencer whose shows on YouTube, Facebook and TikTok attract hundreds of thousands viewers. Hagras' short clips and sarcastic prank shows have about 1.7 million followers on YouTube, and his Facebook account is followed by about 459,000 people.

In January, this fast-talking, widely gesticulating young man was cast in "Global," a political drama that largely resembles “Joker.” He will play the title role, played by Joaquin Phoenix in the original version.

The cast of the film, which is to be produced by Egypt’s Global Media, includes a number of activists and influencers on TikTok, Instagram and Facebook, or YouTubers such as Samir Sobhi and Eslam Shendy, a pop singer who has more than 62,000 followers on Facebook.