Best of Q: Syrian actor Jay Abdo on starting from scratch after stardom

Until recently, Jay Abdo was Syria's top movie actor, watched and admired by millions across the Arab world. But after he criticized the Assad regime in an interview with a foreign newspaper, his real-life story took a dramatic twist. 

In a conversation from the Best of Q, the prolific actor joins guest host Piya Chattopadhyay to explain how he went from autograph-signing star to struggling refugee in Los Angeles, delivering pizzas and flowers for a living. 

An actor set adrift 

In one of the interview's most poignant moments, Abdo describes what it feels like to come from a place where everyone smiles at you, to a place where "nobody, nobody, knows anything about you." 

More recently, Abdo has been able to work his way back into the acting world, with roles in films starring the likes of Nicole Kidman, James Franco and Tom Hanks. But although his career is back on track, he's not done soul-searching. 

"My concern is to be a better person," he says. "I can say now, 'I am a survivor'."