“Extra’s” Tanika Ray sat down with Mena Massoud at Universal Studios Hollywood, where he promoted his new film “Aladdin.”

Mena dished on the tough audition process he went through before he was cast as Aladdin, revealing, “When I first saw the audition notice [online], I put in the tape. I didn’t hear anything back for four months, so I was quite devastated and disappointed.”

“Then, out of nowhere, we started hearing back and things started moving quickly,” the 27-year-old said. “When I didn’t hear back, I thought it was dead in the water.”