At home with Firass Dirani

May 19, 2020
Photographs and words by Zi

Growing up in Australia, particularly in Western Sydney, people (including myself) idolised Firass for his enigmatic acting roles in shows like ‘Underbelly’ and the cult classic ‘The Combination’. I always loved his performances and I soon found out that his energy and charisma was definitely not a facade.

Firass has become a regular on Australian and international screens, I reached out late last year not knowing what to expect, asking if he would be open to having a suit tailor made for him by Umi Nori. He accepted my request, and we met at our Sydney atelier for what started as a conversation over afternoon coffee, into midnight negronis. We settled in to a rhythm and realised that we shared the same love of being the loudest person in the room… it took us a solid three hours of sharing stories about experiences growing up in Western Sydney and the reality of being a creative person in that environment before we got onto the topic of designing him a tailor made suit.

We decided on an Italian flannel made with Australian Merino wool for the fabric of Firass’ suit, crafted by our tailors in Hong Kong. It was the first experience that Firass had going through the process of making a tailor made suit. I sat down with him and explained the craftsmanship that goes into making an Umi Nori suit, choosing the right kind of buttons and lining that would compliment.

When Firass’ suit arrived, I decided to capture him in his own space, letting him style the suit whichever way he liked in his home. While we had a drink, we were just two boys playing dress up, excited to get every angle and combination possible, switching out accessories and turning the house upside down as we went from room to room. Once the camera flashed, the race was on to create the next scene.

The night rolled on and we maintained a constant level of energy with every shot, using anything and everything as a prop while HP Boyz blared through the house. I was surprised that the neighbours didn’t storm the house… perhaps they were used to it. Firass’ acting side would come out as a new track would come on and he would create a whole new scene to shoot accordingly.

Content creation is the next aspiration for Firass, his knowledge and skillset are not just in front of the camera but behind it also. During the time in isolation, he’s been writing for a number of collaborative short films as well as producing one man skits and honing his technical camera knowledge.

Since we met 6 months ago, it feels like we’ve known each other for years. Firass is a genuine and hilarious personality, already turning into a great friend. From the time I’ve spent with him, I’ve realised he is always trying to better understand himself and the world around him by diving head first in to everything he does; something I can definitely relate to.

Scroll down to check out the rest of the photos from our shoot.

- Zi