Nelly Karim facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Nelly Karim
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Nelly Karim
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| Born |
Nelly Mohamed El-Sayed Atallah
18 December 1974 |
| Occupation | Actress, Singer, model, ballerina |
| Years active | 1995–present |
| Spouse(s) |
Hani Abuelnaga
(m. 2004; div. 2015)Hisham Mohd Ashour
(m. 2021; div. 2024) |
| Children | 4 |
Nelly Karim (Arabic: نيللي كريم) is a famous Egyptian actress, singer, model, and a former ballet dancer. She was born on December 18, 1974.
Contents
Early Life and Ballet
Nelly Karim was born in Alexandria, Egypt. Her mother was from Leningrad (now St. Petersburg) in Russia, and her father was Egyptian.
She spent a lot of her childhood in Russia, visiting Alexandria during summer breaks. When she was 16, her family moved back to Egypt permanently after her father passed away.
Nelly started dancing ballet when she was very young in Russia. She joined a professional dance school there and performed at the Odessa Opera House.
When she returned to Egypt in 1991, she joined the Cairo Ballet Institute and the Cairo Opera Ballet Company. She quickly won the Cairo Ballet Competition.
In 2000, while performing as a lead dancer at the Cairo Opera, she got a chance to appear on Fawazeer Ramadan. This was a popular Egyptian TV show that featured dance routines.
Starting Her Acting Career
First Roles in the 2000s
In 2000, Nelly Karim got her first acting role. Faten Hamama, a very famous Egyptian actress, saw Nelly on Fawazeer Ramadan. Hamama chose Nelly to play her daughter in the TV series, Wageh El Amar (Face of the Moon).
This TV series became very popular because Faten Hamama was returning to acting after seven years. It won the Best Series award in 2001.
In 2002, Nelly got her first movie role in Youth on Air. She starred alongside Hanan Tork, another Egyptian ballet dancer who also became an actress.
Nelly got a big opportunity in a film directed by Youssef Chahine, one of Egypt's most celebrated filmmakers. In his 2004 film Alexandria... New York, she played the role of Rita Hayworth. This movie was shown at the 2004 Cannes Film Festival.
In 2004, Nelly played a ballerina in the movie You're My Life. She won the Best Actress award at the Cairo International Film Festival for this role. That same year, she also starred in Your Love's Fire, a musical drama inspired by Romeo & Juliet.
Her 2009 film One-Zero was her first time working with director Kamla Abou Zekri and writer Mariam Naoum. Nelly considers them some of her favorite people to work with. The movie was well-liked by critics both in Egypt and around the world.
One-Zero was special because it had an all-female crew, including the director, writer, and camera person. The film won several awards, and Nelly received a Special Award for her acting. Nelly said that during this time, she was "gradually getting into acting" but was still dancing professionally. She stopped ballet around 2012 to focus completely on acting.
Success in the 2010s
In 2010, Nelly Karim starred in Cairo 678, which was Mohamed Diab’s first feature film. This movie told the stories of three Egyptian women from different backgrounds who stood up against people who bothered them.
The film was a big success in Egypt and was shown in over 60 countries. It started important conversations about harassment. Nelly won the Best Actress award for her role at the Arab Film Festival in 2011.
A Girl Named Zaat (2013) is one of Nelly's most popular TV series. It was her second time working with director Kamla Abou Zekry and writer Mariam Naoum. The series followed the life of a woman named Zaat from 1952 through the 2011 Egyptian uprising. It showed her challenges as Egypt changed politically and socially.
The series was very popular and received good reviews. In 2014, she worked with Zekry and Naoum again on Women’s Prison, another successful series. Nelly mentioned that filming Women's Prison was very challenging emotionally. This series also had an all-female crew.
In 2015, Nelly appeared in Under Control, a Ramadan series that got a lot of attention. It talked about the issue of struggling with a difficult challenge, which was rarely shown on Egyptian TV. Nelly's character was trying to recover from this challenge.
In Free Fall (2016), Nelly played a woman accused of murder who was struggling with mental health. She spent two months in a special facility to prepare for this role.
In 2016, Nelly worked with Mohamed Diab again on the film Clash. This movie was set after a big political event in Egypt in 2013. The entire story takes place inside a police truck filled with different people who were detained. The tensions among them showed the real-life conflicts happening in the country.
The film was highly praised at the 2016 Cannes Film Festival and was Egypt's submission for the 89th Academy Awards. In September 2016, Nelly was a jury member at the Venice Film Festival. By 2019, Nelly Karim had acted in 17 Egyptian films and 9 television series.
Recent Work in the 2020s
The comedy series Rose and Layla was released in January 2024. In this show, Nelly Karim teamed up with Yousra for the first time. They played two detectives who were not very good at their job.
In March 2025, Nelly Karim starred in the Ramadan series My Sisters. This 15-episode murder mystery brought Nelly back together with Ruby, her co-star from Women’s Prison.
Personal Life
Nelly Karim got married young and became a mother at 18. She has two sons from her first marriage. She married her second husband, Hani Abuelnaga, in 2004, and they had two daughters together. They divorced in 2015.
In August 2021, she married squash player Hisham Mohd Ashour. Their marriage ended in 2024. Nelly has an older brother named Ashraf, who is a doctor and lives in the United States.
Filmography
Film
- (2001) Youth on Air (as Sahar)
- (2002) Runaway Mummy (as Dalia)
- (2004) Alexandria... New York (as Carmen / Rita Haweri)
- (2004) Your Love Is Fire (as Salma as Juliet)
- (2004) Stupid From Him In Him (as Samia)
- (2004) You're My Life (as Shams)
- (2005) Italia's War (as Hana)
- (2006) Open Your Eyes (as Yasmin)
- (2006) To End Of The World (as Salma)
- (2007) Rash Boy Dreams (as herself)
- (2008) Have We Met Before? (as Sarah)
- (2009) One-Zero (as Riham)
- (2010) 678 (as Seba)
- (2010) Alzheimer's (as Mona the nurse)
- (2010) Mysterious Man By His Wow (as Lamis)
- (2014) The Blue Elephant
- (2016) Clash
- (2017) I Buy A man (as Shams)
- (2019) The Blue Elephant 2
- (2020) Blood Line (as Lamia)
- (2021) Tuesday 12 (as Mariam)
- (2021) 30 Days
Television
- (2000) Face of the Moon
- (2001) Speech Of Morning And Evening
- (2005) Agent 1001
- (2009) Relative Quietness
- (2013) Zat (as Zat)
- (2014) Women’s Prison
- (2014) Abdin Palace
- (2015) Under Control
- (2016) Free Fall
- (2017) For Highest Price
- (2018) Disappearance
- (2020) Multifaceted
- (2021) Against Breakup
- (2022) The Bridge
- (2022) Faten Amal Harby
Awards and Recognition
- Best Actress at the Cairo International Film Festival (2004, for You're My Life)
- Special Award at the Cairo National Festival for Egyptian Cinema (2010, for One-Zero)
- Jury Grand Prize at the Asia Pacific Screen Awards (2011, shared with Nahed El Sebaï and Bushra for 678)
- Best Actress at the Arab Film Festival (2012, for 678)
- Honourary award at the 37th Cairo International Film Festival (2015)
- Golden Tanit Award, the Carthage Film Festival (2021)
See also
In Spanish: Nelly Karim para niños
