Saïd Taghmaoui
| Saïd Taghmaoui | |
|---|---|
 Taghmaoui at the Cannes Film Festival. |
|
| Born | July 19, 1973 Villepinte, Seine-Saint-Denis, France |
| Occupation | Actor/Screenwriter |
| Years active | 1994–present |
Saïd Taghmaoui (born July 19, 1973) is a French actor and screenwriter. One of his defining screen roles was that of Saïd in the award-winning 1995 French film La Haine directed by Mathieu Kassovitz. Saïd has also appeared in a number of English-language films, with roles such as the Iraqi interrogator Captain 'My Main Man' Saïd in Three Kings, and as "Omar" in the 2008 thriller Traitor.
Contents |
Life and career [edit]
Taghmaoui was born in the Parisian suburb of Sevran, into a large family of nine siblings.[1] His parents were Moroccan immigrants of Berber ancestry.[1] Taghmaoui grew up in Aulnay-sous-Bois,[2] in the quartier Rose des Vents. He dropped out of school to become a boxer and rose as high as number 2 in his weight class in France.
He later met Mathieu Kassovitz and together, they acted in the award-winning film La Haine (about race and violence in the suburban ghettos of Paris), created by Kassovitz. Taghmaoui also played one of the main characters in the film and was nominated for a César Award in 1996 (Most Promising Actor) for his performance. He has performed in many films since then. He has pursued an international career, making films in Italy, Germany, Morocco and the United States. He divides his time between Los Angeles, France and Morocco.
Taghmaoui starred in the 2008 film Vantage Point playing the leader of a terrorist group that plotted to kidnap the U.S. president. Taghmaoui worked with Matthew Fox again as a guest star in the ABC television series Lost. In 2013, he appeared as Guillermo Ortiz during the second season of the Fox television series, Touch.
In Morocco, he acted in Djinns, a film about the Algerian War alongside Thierry Fremont.[3]
Taghmaoui is fluent in French, Arabic, Berber and English.
Filmography [edit]
- La Haine (1995)
- Hideous Kinky (1998)
- Three Kings (1999)
- Ali Zaoua (2000)
- G@mer (2001)
- Confession d'un dragueur (2001)
- The Good Thief (2002)
- Crime Spree (2003)
- From Justin to Kelly (2003)
- Spartan (2004)
- Hidalgo (2004)
- I ♥ Huckabees (2004)
- Five Fingers (2006)
- O Jerusalem (2006)
- The Kite Runner (2007)
- Traitor (2008)
- Vantage Point (2008)
- House of Saddam (2008 BBC miniseries)
- Mogadishu (2008)
- G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra (2009)
- Lost (2009)[4]
- Linear (2009)
- Kandisha (2010)
- Djinns (2010)
- Conan the Barbarian (2011)
- My Brother the Devil (2012)
- Touch (2013)
References [edit]
- ^ a b Wrathall, John (4 February 1999). "Film: The human volcano". London: The Independent. Retrieved 2009-09-29.
- ^ Paris Match 19-25 Feb 2009 3118
- ^ Paris Match 3118 19-25 Feb 2009
- ^ Jensen, Jeff "Doc", (September 10, 2008) "Lost exclusive: The second half of season 5's new mystery duo ", Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved on September 10, 2008.
External links [edit]
|
