Tahar Rahim
| Tahar Rahim | |
|---|---|
 Rahim in 2012 | |
| Born |
4 July 1981 Belfort, France |
| Occupation | Actor |
| Years active | 2005–present |
| Spouse(s) | Leïla Bekhti (2010–present) |
Tahar Rahim (born 4 July 1981) is a French actor of Algerian descent. He is known for his starring role as Malik El Djebena in the 2009 award-winning French movie A Prophet by Jacques Audiard.
Rahim has demonstrated multilingual skills and an ear for accents, having played in Corsican and Arabic in addition to French in A Prophet, and in Scottish Gaelic for his role as the Seal Prince in Kevin Macdonald's The Eagle.
Early life
Born in Belfort, France, his family is originally from the region of Oran, Algeria.[1]
After earning a Baccalauréat at the Lycée Condorcet of Belfort, he enrolled first in Sports and then Computer Science programs. After two subsequent years of an unmotivated boredom with the subjects in Strasbourg and Marseille, Rahim decided to pursue his passion and began to study film at the Paul Valéry University of Montpellier. His life as a film student was chronicled in a documentary by Cyril Mennegun titled "Tahar, student", aired on French TV channel France 5 in 2006.
Following this, Rahim moved to Paris in 2005 and studied drama at the Laboratoire de l'Acteur under Hélène Zidi-Chéruy while working in a factory during the week, and in a night club on weekends to make ends meet.
Career
In mid-2006, after signing with an agent, Rahim won a part in the hit Canal+ television series La Commune written by Abdel Raouf Dafri. Dafri penned the first draft of the script to A Prophet. Rahim then met Audiard when the two coincidentally shared a cab while the two were leaving a set. Tahar introduced himself saying that "I knew it was Audiard and I said I was a fan but I think I was a bit silly" and was afterward very surprised that Audiard remembered him enough to contact him about A Prophet. After a two-line appearance in 2008 horror movie Inside starring Béatrice Dalle, he went through a gruelling three months of auditioning. After eight callbacks, he landed his breakthrough role.[2][3]
Rahim also starred in controversial Chinese director Lou Ye's movie Love and Bruises. The director, twice banned from making movies by the Chinese government, likely met Tahar at the 2009 Cannes Film Festival where they were each presenting Spring Fever and A Prophet respectively. Love Bruises is the adaptation of the banned biography of Jie Liu Falin.
Another project he starred in was Des hommes libres (Free men), the biopic on Si Kaddour Benghabrit, founder of the Great Mosque of Paris, directed by Ismaël Ferroukhi of Le Grand Voyage fame.[4]
Personal life
Rahim is married to French actress Leïla Bekhti, whom he met while filming A Prophet in 2007.[5][6][7]
Filmography
| Year | Title | Role | Director | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2006 | Tahar l'étudiant | Tahar | Cyril Mennegun | |
| 2007 | Inside | a policeman | Alexandre Bustillo and Julien Maury | |
| 2007 | La Commune | Yazid Fikry | Philippe Triboit | |
| 2009 | A Prophet | Malik | Jacques Audiard | Lumières Award for Best Actor Globes de Cristal Award for Best Actor César Award for Most Promising Actor César Award for Best Actor European Film Award for Best Actor Nominated—BAFTA Rising Star Award |
| 2011 | The Eagle | Prince of the Seal People | Kevin Macdonald | |
| 2011 | Les Hommes libres | Younes | Ismael Ferroukhi | |
| 2011 | Love and Bruises | Mathieu | Lou Ye | |
| 2011 | Black Gold | Prince Auda | Jean-Jacques Annaud | |
| 2012 | Our Children | Mounir | Joachim Lafosse | |
| 2013 | The Past | Samir | Asghar Farhadi | |
| 2013 | Grand Central | Gary | Rebecca Zlotowski | |
| 2013 | The Informant | Redjani Belimane | Julien Leclercq | |
| 2014 | The Cut | Nazaret Manoogian | Fatih Akın | |
| 2014 | Samba | Wilson | Olivier Nakache and Eric Toledano | |
| 2014 | Le Père Noël | Le Père Noël | Alexandre Coffre | |
| 2015 | The Last Panthers | Khalil | TV series | |
| 2015 | Les Anarchistes | Elie Wajeman | ||
Theatre
- 2007 - 2008: Libres sont les papillons in the role of the blind character Benjamin. The play was written by Leonard Gershe, directed by Hélène Zidi-Chéruy and staged at the Côté Court Theater, 11th arrondissement of Paris.
References
- ↑ "L'Expression - Le Quotidien - 110 km d’autoroute achevés". Lexpressiondz.com. 2009-05-19. Retrieved 2011-09-07.
- ↑ "Tahar Rahim: "Je m'étais donné dix ans pour y arriver" - L'EXPRESS". Lexpress.fr. Retrieved 2011-09-07.
- ↑
- ↑ Dang, Simon (2010-02-25). "The Playlist: Tahar Rahim To Team With Lou Ye For 'Bitch,' Also Shooting A Biopic On French-Muslim Icon Si Kaddour Benghabrit". Theplaylist.blogspot.com. Retrieved 2011-09-07.
- ↑ "Leïla Bekhti : Savoureusement métamorphosée en femme fatale..." (in French). Pure People. 8 June 2011. Retrieved 9 June 2011.
- ↑ Marouf, Fouzia (May 17, 2011). "Leïla Bekhti, aux sources de la joie". Le Soir (in French). Retrieved 8 June 2011.
- ↑ "Tahar Rahim, amoureux de Leïla Bekhti : Je crois au mariage à vie". Pure People (Paris). 18 June 2013. Retrieved 8 October 2013.
External links
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