Tahar Rahim facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Tahar Rahim
Rahim in 2014
Born	(1981-07-04) 4 July 1981 (age 44) Belfort, France
Occupation	Actor
Years active	2005–present
Spouse(s)	Leïla Bekhti ​ (m. 2010)​
Children	4

Tahar Rahim (born 4 July 1981) is a French actor. He became famous for his role in the 2009 French movie A Prophet. For this movie, he won two big awards: the Best Actor award and the Most Promising Actor award.

Later, he played an FBI agent named Ali Soufan in the TV series The Looming Tower and Judas in the movie Mary Magdalene (both in 2018).

Tahar Rahim was highly praised for his role as Mohamedou Ould Salahi in the 2021 movie The Mauritanian. He was nominated for a Golden Globe Award and a BAFTA Award for this role. He also received another Golden Globe Award nomination for playing Charles Sobhraj in the TV series The Serpent (2021).

More recently, Rahim played Paul Barras in the movie Napoleon (2023). He also appeared as Ezekiel Sims in the Sony's Spider-Man Universe movie Madame Web (2024).

Early Life and Education

Tahar Rahim was born in Belfort, France. His family originally came from Oran, Algeria.

After finishing high school in Belfort, Rahim first tried studying sports. Then he switched to computer science. He found both subjects boring after two years of studying in Strasbourg and Marseille. So, he decided to follow his dream and study film at the Paul Valéry University in Montpellier.

His time as a film student was even shown in a special TV show. A filmmaker from his hometown, Cyril Mennegun, made a documentary-style film about him. It was called "Tahar, student" and aired on the French TV channel France 5 in 2006.

In 2005, Rahim moved to Paris. There, he studied acting at the Laboratoire de l'Acteur with Hélène Zidi-Chéruy. To support himself, he worked in a factory during the week and at a nightclub on weekends.

Acting Career Highlights

In mid-2006, Tahar Rahim found an agent to help him get acting jobs. He soon got a part in a popular TV series called La Commune on Canal+.

After a very small role in the 2007 horror movie Inside, he spent three tough months auditioning. After eight tryouts, he finally got his big breakthrough role.

Rahim in 2012

Rahim also starred in the movie Love and Bruises by Chinese director Lou Ye. This director had been banned from making movies by the Chinese government twice. It's thought that Lou Ye met Rahim at the 2009 Cannes Film Festival. They were both there presenting their movies, Spring Fever and A Prophet. Love and Bruises is based on a biography that was not allowed to be published.

Tahar Rahim also acted in Free Men. This movie tells the true story of Si Kaddour Benghabrit. He was a French-Muslim who founded the Great Mosque of Paris. The movie was directed by Ismaël Ferroukhi.

In 2015, Rahim was chosen to be a judge for the Un Certain Regard section at the 2015 Cannes Film Festival. Later, he starred in a European crime TV series called The Last Panthers.

In 2018, he played Judas in the movie Mary Magdalene. In the U.S. that same year, he had a main role as FBI agent Ali Soufan in the TV series The Looming Tower.

In 2021, he was nominated for a Golden Globe award. This was for his role as Mohamedou Ould Salahi in The Mauritanian. This movie is about people held at the US camp in Guantanamo. Rahim also served as a judge at the 74th Cannes Film Festival.

Rahim played Paul Barras in Ridley Scott's movie Napoleon (2023). In this film, he starred alongside Joaquin Phoenix. He also played Ezekiel Sims in the Sony's Spider-Man Universe movie Madame Web. In 2023, it was announced that Rahim would play the famous French singer Charles Aznavour in a movie called Monsieur Aznavour.

Personal Life

Tahar Rahim is married to another French actress, Leïla Bekhti. They met in 2007 while they were filming A Prophet. They have four children together.

In June 2024, Rahim signed a petition. This petition asked French President Emmanuel Macron to officially recognize the State of Palestine.

Film and Television Roles

Movies

Year	Title	Role	Notes
2006	Tahar l'étudiant	Tahar	Docufiction
2007	Inside	A policeman
2009	A Prophet	Malik El Djebena
2011	The Eagle	Prince of the Seal People	Lines in Pictish language
2011	Les Hommes libres	Younes
2011	Love and Bruises	Mathieu
2011	Black Gold	Prince Auda
2012	Our Children	Mounir
2013	The Past	Samir
2013	Grand Central	Gary
2013	The Informant	Redjani Belimane
2014	The Cut	Nazaret Manoogian
2014	Samba	Wilson
2014	Le Père Noël	Le Père Noël
2015	The Anarchists	Jean Albertini
2016	Daguerrotype	Jean	Also known as The Woman in the Silver Plate
2016	Heal the Living	Thomas Rémige
2017	The Price of Success	Brahim Mecheri
2018	Mary Magdalene	Judas
2018	Treat Me Like Fire	Abel
2019	The Kindness of Strangers	Marc
2021	The Mauritanian	Mohamedou Ould Salahi
2023	Napoleon	Paul Barras
2024	Madame Web	Ezekiel Sims
2024	Monsieur Aznavour	Charles Aznavour
2024	Smiling Hacker	Hamza Bendelladj
2025	Alpha	Amin

Key

Denotes works that have not yet been released

Television Shows

Theatre Plays

• 2007 – 2008: Libres sont les papillons (Butterflies are Free). Tahar played the blind character Benjamin. This play was adapted from English into French by Hélène Zidi-Chéruy. She also directed it at the Côté Court Theater in Paris.

Awards and Nominations

Tahar Rahim has won many awards for his acting. Here are some of the most important ones:

See also

In Spanish: Tahar Rahim para niños