Mehdi Dehbi

Mehdi Dehbi
Dehbi in 2013
Born (1985-12-05) December 5, 1985 (age 39)
Liège, Wallonia, Belgium
Occupation(s)Actor, director
Years active2004 – present
Notable work

Mehdi Dehbi (born 5 December 1985) is a Belgian actor and theatre director, known for his roles in La Folle Histoire d'amour de Simon Eskenazy [fr] (2009, English title: He is My Girl), L'Infiltré [fr] (2011), Le Fils de l'Autre (2012, English title: The Other Son), Mary Queen of Scots (2013), and A Most Wanted Man (2014).[1] In 2020, he played the title role in the Netflix series Messiah.

Early life

Mehdi Dehbi was born on 5 December 1985 in the Hôpital de Bavière [fr] in Liège, to a family of Tunisian origin. From the age of ten, Dehbi attended the Académie Grétry [fr] theater and music school, which had been established in the hospital building where he had been born.[2][3]

At the age of sixteen his first lead role in a feature film was in Le Soleil assassiné [fr], directed by Abdelkrim Bahloul and produced by the Dardenne brothers, for which he was nominated as Best Actor at the Joseph Plateau Awards.[2]

After studying drama and music at the Royal Conservatory of Brussels, then at the CNSAD in Paris, and finally at the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art, he pursued his career in film and theater.[2]

In 2012 Mehdi directed his first play, Les Justes by Albert Camus at the Théâtre de Liège. The show toured in France and Germany in 2013 and in 2014 Mehdi Dehbi was nominated for the Découverte (Discovery) Prize at the 2014 Prix de la critique [fr] awards as a director.[4]

Film

Year Title Role Director Notes
2004 Le Soleil assassiné [fr] Hamid Abdelkrim Bahloul Nominated – Joseph Plateau Award for Best Belgian Actor
2006 Bourreau Le Suicidé Frédérick Vin Short
2009 La Folle Histoire d'amour
de Simon Eskenazy 		Naïm Jean-Jacques Zilbermann
2010 Sweet Valentine Pierre Emma Luchini
2011 Looking for Simon Jalil Jan Krüger
2012 The Other Son Yacine Al Bezaaz Lorraine Lévy International Film Festival of Boulogne-Billancourt - Best Actor[5]
2013 Le sac de farine Nari Kadija Leclere Nominated – Magritte Award for Most Promising Actor
Je ne suis pas mort Yacine Mehdi Ben Attia
2014 Lili Rose Samir Bruno Ballouard
A Most Wanted Man Jamal Abdullah Anton Corbijn
Mary Queen of Scots David Rizzio Thomas Imbach
2015 Another South Khaleed Gianluca Maria Tavarelli
2016 London Has Fallen Sultan Mansoor Babak Najafi
2018 Mescaline Mehdi Clarisse Hahn [fr] Short
2022 Boy from Heaven Zizo Tarik Saleh Nominated - Magritte Award for Best Supporting Actor
2023 Animalia Amine Sofia Alaoui
TBA Prisoners of Paradise Mitch Jenkins Post-Production
Baron Day Barracks Muhammad Joah Jordan Filming

Television

Year Title Role Director Notes
2007 Septième Ciel Belgique [fr] Guillaume Luc Boland,
André Chandelle, ... 		TV series (10 episodes)
2011 L'Infiltré [fr] Issam Mourad Giacomo Battiato TV Movie
Biarritz Film Festival - Golden Fipa for Best Actor
2014-15 Tyrant Abdul Gwyneth Horder-Payton,
Michael Lehmann, ... 		TV series (11 episodes)
2020 Messiah Al-Masih James McTeigue & Kate Woods TV series (10 episodes)

Theatre

Year Title Author Director
2007 Romeo and Juliet William Shakespeare John Baxter
2009 Terre Sainte Mohamed Kacimi Sophie Akrich
2009-10 Baïbars le mamelouk qui devint sultan Marcel Bozonnet Marcel Bozonnet
2010 Splendid's Jean Genet Cristèle Alves Meira
2011 Gare de l'Est Sophie Akrich Sophie Akrich
2012 Romeo and Juliet William Shakespeare David Bobée [fr]

Theatre directing

Year Title Author Notes
2012-14 Les Justes Albert Camus Théâtre de Liège, Théâtre des Tanneurs [fr] (Brussels), Théâtre du Jeu de Paume [fr] (Aix-en-Provence), Fast Forward Theater Festival (Braunschweig)[6]
Nominated for the Découverte Prize at the 2014 Prix de la critique awards [fr][4]

References

  1. ^ "Mehdi Dehbi". IMDb. Retrieved 2015-10-01.
  2. ^ a b c Roussel, Virginie (25 March 2011). "Mehdi Dehbi, l'étoile éclairée". La Libre (in French). Retrieved 1 November 2014.
  3. ^ AlloCiné. "Mehdi Dehbi - AlloCiné". Allocine.fr. Retrieved 2020-01-16.
  4. ^ a b "Les nominés aux Prix de la critique 2014". Le Soir (in French). 16 June 2014.
  5. ^ "Palmarès et compte-rendu de jurée au Festival International du film de Boulogne-Billancourt 2012 | IN THE MOOD LE MAGAZINE". Inthemoodlemag.com. 2014-12-26. Retrieved 2020-01-16.
  6. ^ "4. Fast Forward Europäisches Festival für junge Regie - In Braunschweig ziehen sich die Jungen in den Theaterraum zurück". Nachtkritik.de. 2014-12-01. Retrieved 2020-01-16.
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