His name made headlines across the country after the mysterious ‘Mustafa’ earned a mention during Waleed Aly’s Gold Logies speech.
The question – who was the man who felt like he had no choice but to change his name?
After dedicating his win to all those people with an “unpronounceable name”, Aly went on to tell:
“Not so long ago actually, someone who is in this room, and I’m not going to use the name they use in the industry, came up to me, introduced themselves and said to me, ‘I really hope you win. My name is Mustafa. But I can’t use that name because I won’t get a job’.”
Well we know now. The mysterious ‘Mustafa’ is Here Come The Habibs star, Tyler De Nawi (pictured in the centre below).
Congratulations! 8 years in the making #9TheHabibs
What did we think Australia? Wasn’t that fun! Wanna see more? 😂😀 pic.twitter.com/YGPqfaBHmv— Tyler De Nawi (@tylerdenawi) February 10, 2016
The 26-year-old’s real name was confirmed by his Acting Manager, Anthony Kidd.
Known for playing Elias Habib, De Nawi took to Twitter following Aly’s speech, hinting at his real identity.
Will the real Mustafa please stand up #whoismustafa
— Tyler De Nawi (@tylerdenawi) May 9, 2016
Mustafa = The Chosen One #freemustafa
— Tyler De Nawi (@tylerdenawi) May 9, 2016
I’m the real batman @tylerdenawi #whoismustafa pic.twitter.com/bXElnQZaUR
— Tyler De Nawi (@tylerdenawi) May 9, 2016
Congratulations Waleed on the gold Logie well deserved! The press is hunting down Mustafa, send help lol @theprojecttv #TVWEEKLogies
— Tyler De Nawi (@tylerdenawi) May 9, 2016
#whoismustafa 😂 pic.twitter.com/9Xf9QQBwMu
— Tyler De Nawi (@tylerdenawi) May 9, 2016
Talking to News.com.au, Kidd said it was common practice for actors to change their names and he’d leave it to De Nawi to explain.
“That’s something Tyler felt he needed to do,” he said.
“The positive of it all is that casting directors over the past few years have become much more open and diverse (in their casting choices).”
