- Source: Soufiane El Khalidy
Soufiane El Khalidy (born July 22, 1987) is a Moroccan actor, filmmaker, and writer. Born in Agadir, Morocco, he has appeared in various films and Tv series including Ghosts of Beirut (2023), NCIS: Los Angeles (2017), Shockwave: Countdown to Disaster (2017), and the upcoming Netflix feature film Mary. He has also portrayed the role of Ridwan in both the movie and television series Riley Parra (2017) and Riley Parra: Better Angels (2019) and starred in Colosseum (2022), directed by Roel Reiné.
Furthermore, Soufiane El Khalidy has played alongside notable actors such as Lambert Wilson in the German film, Klandestin (2024) directed by Angelina Maccarone and the five times César Awards winner, Benoît Magimel in the upcoming big budget French diptych, De Gaulle, directed by Antonin Baudry. He starred as The Father in the commercial Heroic Girl (2017) directed by Aaron Weldon, the head of Layout at Blur Studios and the second unit director for David Fincher on the third season of Love, Death and Robots (2022). He has also performed his own risky stunts for his character Youssef in Shahid action series The Eight alongside Asser Yassine.
Soufiane El Khalidy is also a writer and filmmaker. He wrote the book Les Riffs d'un Moroccan Rebel (2022), and has been nominated for numerous awards at international film festivals for his short movie Flags and Masks Down (2014) and his screenplays, Just Like You Imagined and Jukebox Zero.
Early life and education
El Khalidy was born in Agadir, Morocco to the general practitioner and former lieutenant in the Royal Moroccan Army, Larbi El Khalidyand nurse Malika El Kaddouri. As a child, he was involved in amateur theatre at his primary school, Al Hanane. El Khalidy is a 2005 French College in Agadir graduate in mathematics, and later attended Bordeaux Segalen University in France, where he majored in medical education.In 2008, he abruptly stopped his medical studies, as he decided to come back to Morocco, where he studied business and later earned his bachelor degree in Marketing from Al Akhawayn University. According to the newspaper Libération, El Khalidy was during his studies at Al Akhawayn, the reporter for the Moroccan web magazine Fashion Maroc and its partner Elite Model Look for three consecutive years.
Soon after his graduation, El Khalidy moved to the United States thanks to a "Global Achievement Scholarship" offered by Full Sail University in Winterpark,Florida, where he'd graduate with a Master of Fine Arts in film production.
Acting career
In 2016, El Khalidy started his movie career in Los Angeles after a recommendation from his professor at Full Sail University, Bill W. Benton. In 2017, The Actors Studio in New York invited Soufiane El Khalidy for its preliminary auditions in order to become a lifetime member.
El Khalidy has been described by Medi 1 as "the new face of Moroccan cinema". Like Youssef Kerkour and Said Taghmaoui, El Khalidy is one of the few Moroccan actors who have succeeded in international film productions and Hollywood.
During his career, El Khalidy appeared in various music videos by rock bands like Train, One Ok Rock and BRMC. In 2024, he is the lead in the music video Tatooine/ Maintenance by the French rapper, JXSH.
He is slated to play the lead alongside Sveva Alviti in the Italian movie Le Chemin du Retour by Fabio Zito.
Personal life
On 15 October 2022, El Khalidy married the French actress Nadia Benzakour ( Seneca: On The Creation of Earthquakes, Zodi & Tehu: Princes of The Desert, Killing Jesus, Deep State) in Tangier. The couple is often referred by the media as the Moroccan Brangelina.
Soufiane El Khalidy identifies himself as a liberal in a political and spiritual sense.
Artistry
= Selective filmography
=As an actor
2017: NCIS: Los Angeles (TV series), as Sayid Lajani
2017: Shockwave: Countdown To Disaster (Film), as the Young Militant
2017: Riley Parra (TV series), as Ridwan
2017: Gulag Magadan(Movie), as Commissar Yagoda
2017: Heroic Girl (TV commercial), as The Father
2019: Riley Parra: Better Angels (Movie), as Ridwan
2022: The Eight(TV series), as Youssef
2022: Colosseum (TV series), as Centurion
2023: Ghosts of Beirut(TV series), as Kerem
2024: Klandestin (Movie), as the Coast Guard
2024: JXSH-Tatooine/Maintenance (Music video), as Alfred
2025: Mary (Movie), as Frustrated Pilgrim
2025: De Gaulle: Part 1 (Movie), as Koenig Soldier
As a director /writer
2014: Flags and Masks Down(Short Movie)
2015: Colonized Mind (Short Movie)
= Bibliography
=Soufiane El Khalidy has authored one book: Les Riffs d'un Moroccan Rebel (Editions Amalthée. ISBN 978-2310050425). Its preserved at the National Library of France in Paris and at the King Abdul Aziz Foundation for Human Sciences and Islamic Studies in Casablanca.
Les Riffs d'un Moroccan Rebel includes modern poems with both personal and political themes. His poetry depicts his childhood in Agadir, his life as a student in Al Akhawayn, in the United States, France and Spain, filming in Hollywood as an actor, racism in the film industry, his view of Moroccan and American societies as well as the rest of the world, as well as personal details.
Awards and nominations
References
External links
Soufiane El Khalidy at IMDb
Soufiane El Khalidy at AllMovie
Soufiane El Khalidy at Rotten Tomatoes
Soufiane El Khalidy on WorldCat (libraries)
Soufiane El Khalidy on Instagram
Kata Kunci Pencarian:
- Soufiane El Khalidy
- Mary (2024 film)
- Full Sail University
- Ghosts of Beirut
- Al Akhawayn University
- List of notable Moroccans
- NCIS: Los Angeles season 8
- Cinema of Morocco
