Leïla Bekhti

Leïla Bekhti
Bekhti in 2018
Born	Yasmine Leïla Bekhti (1984-03-06) 6 March 1984 (age 40) Issy-les-Moulineaux, France
Occupation	Actress
Years active	2005–present
Spouse	Tahar Rahim ​ (m. 2010)​
Children	4

Yasmine Leïla Bekhti (born 6 March 1984) is a French film and television actress. She is best known for her roles in Tout ce qui brille (2007) and, in 2006, Paris, je t'aime and Sheitan.

Early life

Bekhti was born in 1984 in Issy-les-Moulineaux to an Algerian family from Sidi Bel-Abbes. She is the youngest of three children.^[1][2]

Bekhti went to drama school in Paris (18^e) before entering the programme of Stéphane Gildas [fr] in Tolbiac. She next studied in the programme of Bérengère Basty at the Art’aire studio. To live and pay for her acting studies, she worked odd jobs in clothing and telemarketing.^{[citation needed]}

She has self-identified as a Muslim and speaks Algerian Arabic as well, because of her grandmother.^[3]

Career

Leïla Bekhti in 2009.

In 2005, Bekhti's friends convinced her to go to the casting of Sheitan, where she was selected for the role of Yasmin, a young beurette. Released on 1 February 2006, Sheitan spent 13 weeks in cinemas, selling around 300,000 tickets.^[4]

That same year, she acted opposite Smaïn in Alain Tasma's telefilm Harkis. The film told the story of an Algerian family who suffers persecution by French military forces, despite having fought on their side in the Algerian War. Bekhti was interested in the film's subject as several members of her family, including her grandfather, fought in the ranks of the FLN during the war.

That year, she also played Zarka in Paris, je t'aime (2006) (segment "Quais de Seine", directed by Gurinder Chadha)^[5] and Mounia in Mauvaise Foi, playing the sister of Roschdy Zem.^[6] On television, she had a small role in an episode of the series Madame le Proviseur and in the series Les Tricheurs alongside Pascal Légitimus.

In 2008 she won a Best Actress Award at the Silhouette Festival for her role in Rachid Hami's Choisir d'aimer. She followed this with Pour l'amour de Dieu, an Arte telefilm by Ahmed Bouchaala and Zakia Tahri. Bekhti starred in Ali Baba alongside Gérard Jugnot and appeared in Des poupées et des anges by Nora Hamdi. For her role as Lya in the film, she was shortlisted for the César Award for Best Actress, although she did not make the final list of nominees.

That same year, two supporting roles helped increase her visibility: one in Mesrine: Killer Instinct by Jean-Francois Richet, and especially that of Djamila in A Prophet directed by Jacques Audiard. She played the only female role in the latter film, which won nine César Awards and the Grand Prix at Cannes.^[7]

Meanwhile, Bekhti returned to television with Conte de la frustration, starring Nicolas Cazalé and Roschdy Zem^[8] and a new episode of Tricheurs. She also participated in the web-series Twenty Show, the result of a unique partnership between Arte and MySpace, which was released as a documentary film a year later.^[9][10]

In 2009, besides a third appearance in Tricheurs, she played the role of Myriam in the two-part mini-series Le choix de Myriam, which portrayed the saga of an Algerian family's arrival in France.

After seeing Bekhti's performance in Mauvaise foi, actress Géraldine Nakache offered Bekhti a role in Tout ce qui brille, Nakache's debut film as a director. Released on 24 March 2010, Tout ce qui brille was a critical and commercial success with over 1.3 million tickets sold. Bekhti went on to win a Golden Swan Award at the Cabourg Film Festival^[11] and the César Award for Most Promising Actress for her role as Lila.

In 2010 she worked in a wide variety of projects. She worked with Alain Tasma again in the telefilm Vous êtes leur crainte, based on the novel of the same name by Thierry Jonquet. She also appeared in Jean-Luc Perréard's Itinéraire bis, in the musical Toi, moi, les autres... directed by Audrey Estrougo and in Anne De Petrini's debut film Il reste du jambon?.^[12]

She starred in the French-Moroccan co-production The Source, which competed at the 2011 Cannes Film Festival.^[13]

In 2011 she was signed as the new face of L'Oréal, the cosmetic firm.^[14]

In 2016 she played the French police officer Kahina Zadi in the Swedish television series Midnattssol opposite Peter Stormare.^[15]

Bekhti was featured in a biopic of Maria Montessori starring Jasmine Trinca; it achieved distribution deals in 2024.^[16]

Personal life

Bekhti is married to fellow French-Algerian actor Tahar Rahim, whom she met while filming A Prophet in 2007.^[14][17][18] They have four children together, a son born in 2017 then a daughter in 2020, with an unexpected third child in 2021^[19] and a 4th child in March 2024.

In June 2024, along with her husband, Bekthi signed a petition addressed to French President Emmanuel Macron demanding France to officially recognize the State of Palestine.^[20]

Filmography

Year	Title	Role	Notes
2006	Sheitan	Yasmin
	Madame le proviseur	Djamila Kadi	"Chacun sa chance"
	Paris, je t'aime	Zarka	"Quais de Seine" segment
	Cheaters (Tricheurs)	Vally	1 episode
	Harkis	Leïla
	Pour l'amour de Dieu	Meriem
	Mauvaise foi	Mounia
2007	Ali Baba et les 40 voleurs	Morgiane
2008	Choisir d'aimer	Sarah
	Des poupées et des anges	Lya	Nominated—Lumières Award for Most Promising Actress
	Mesrine: Killer Instinct	La fille du Fellagah
2009	La bête
	A Prophet	Djamila
2010	Tout ce qui brille	Lila	César Award for Most Promising Actress Nominated—Globes de Cristal Award for Best Actress
	Le cose che restano	Alina
	Histoires de vies	Sofia	"Conte de la frustration"
	Fracture	Zora
	Bacon on the Side	Anissa Boudaoud
	Toi, moi, les autres	Leïla
	L'Or rouge
2011	The Source	Leila	Nominated—César Award for Best Actress Nominated—Globes de Cristal Award for Best Actress
	Itinéraire bis	Nora
	Une vie meilleure	Nadia	A better life
2012	Nous York	Samia
2013	Before the Winter Chill	Lou
2014	Maintenant ou jamais
2015	L'Astragale	Albertine Damien
	All Three of Us	Fereshteh
2016	The Jungle Book	Kaa	French voice
	Midnight Sun	Kahina Zadi	Main cast 8 episodes Nominated - ACS Award for Best Actress
2018	Beirut	Nadia
	A Man in a Hurry	Jeanne
	Sink or Swim	Amanda
	La lutte des classes	Sofia Belkacem
2019	J'irai où tu iras	Mina
	The Bears' Famous Invasion of Sicily	Almerina (voice)
	Perfect Nanny	Myriam
2020	The Eddy	Amira	Main cast 8 episodes Nominated - ACS Award for Best Actress
	La Flamme	Alexandra	Main cast 9 episodes
2021	Comment je suis devenu super-héros	Calista
	The Restless	Leila
	La Vengeance au Triple Galop	Crystal Clear	TV film
2022	Loving Memories	Julie Delaunay
2023	All Your Faces	Nawelle

Discography

Singles

Year	Single	Peak positions	Notes
		FR [21]
2010	"Chanson sur une drôle de vie" (Géraldine Nakache & Leïla Bekhti)	6	From soundtrack of film Tout ce qui brille. A remake of a Véronique Sanson hit.

Awards and nominations

Bekhti with her César Award for Most Promising Actress for Tout ce qui brille.

Year	Award	Category	Nominated work	Result
2008	Silhouette Film Festival	Best Actress Award	Choisir d'aimer	Won
2010	Cabourg Film Festival	Most Promising Actress Award	Tout ce qui brille	Won
2011	César Award	Most Promising Actress	Tout ce qui brille	Won
	Golden stars of French cinema	Most Promising Actress		Won
	Globe de Cristal Awards	Best Actress		Nominated
2012	César Award	Best Actress	The Source	Nominated
	Globe de Cristal Awards	Best Actress		Nominated
2017	Golden Nymph Award	Best Actress in a Dramatic Series	Midnattssol	Nominated
2019	César Award	Best Supporting Actress	Sink or Swim	Nominated

See also

• Maghrebian community of Paris

References

1. Didier Verdurand (17 February 2006). "Leïla Bekhti (Sheitan)" (in French). SARL Digiside. Retrieved 25 July 2010.
2. "Leila Bekhti, une jeune actrice qui promet". Dziriya. Archived from the original on 2 December 2007. Retrieved 14 June 2017.
3. "French Cinema: Profile of Actress Leïla Bekhti". France Today. 2020-01-07. Retrieved 2024-03-04.
4. "Sheitan" (in French). CBO. Retrieved 25 July 2010.
5. "'Paris, Je T'aime' shows city through varying vignettes". Danbury News Times. 7 June 2007. Retrieved 9 June 2011.
6. Nayeri, Farah (11 January 2007). "Arab-Jewish Couple Battle Odds in French Romance 'Mauvaise Foi'". Bloomberg. Retrieved 9 June 2011.
7. "Aux Césars, "Un prophète" triomphe en son pays" (in French). Libération. Retrieved 26 July 2010.
8. "Conte de la frustration" (in French). Télé-Première. 21 July 2010. Retrieved 27 July 2010.
9. "Avec Twenty Show, Arte a lancé une série... sur le web" (in French). PaperBlog. 8 October 2008. Retrieved 29 July 2010.
10. "Twenty Show, le film" (in French). L'Express. 11 May 2009. Retrieved 29 July 2010.
11. "Festival du Film Journées Romantiques, Journées Russes 2010" (in French). Cabourg Film Festival. Archived from the original on 30 July 2012. Retrieved 8 June 2011.
12. "Leïla Bekhti multiplie les projets" (in French). AlloCiné. 9 March 2010. Retrieved 27 July 2010.
13. Mintzer, Jordan (21 May 2011). "The Source (La Source des femmes): Cannes 2011 Review". Hollywood Reporter. 21. Retrieved 9 June 2011.
14. "Leïla Bekhti : Savoureusement métamorphosée en femme fatale..." (in French). Pure People. 8 June 2011. Retrieved 9 June 2011.
15. Leïla Bekhti: ”Jag blev verkligen min rollfigur i tv-serien” aftonbladet.se Retrieved 23 October 2016
16. Keslassy, Elsa (2024-01-31). "Maria Montessori Biopic Starring Jasmine Trinca, Leila Bekhti Finds Distribution Nearly Worldwide (EXCLUSIVE)". Variety. Retrieved 2024-02-17.
17. Marouf, Fouzia (May 17, 2011). "Leïla Bekhti, aux sources de la joie". Le Soir (in French). Archived from the original on 24 May 2011. Retrieved 8 June 2011.
18. "Tahar Rahim, amoureux de Leïla Bekhti : Je crois au mariage à vie". Pure People. Paris. 18 June 2013. Retrieved 8 October 2013.
19. ""3 children", "10 films" and "27 extra pounds": Leïla Bekhti takes stock of her last four years". archyworldys. Retrieved 20 November 2021.
20. "Reconnaissance de l'Etat palestinien : qu'attendez-vous monsieur Macron ? 230 artistes lancent un appel". Libération (in French). 4 June 2024.
21. LesCharts.com: Leïla Bekhti page

External links

• Leïla Bekhti at IMDb
• (in French) Interview, Écran Large