Tahar Rahim is a French actor of Algerian descent who made his name in the industry through his praiseworthy performances in movies like The Prophet, The looming tower, and The Mauritian. The golden globe award nominee actor recently appeared in the Netflix crime series The Serpent in the lead role. He is probably the breakout star from Netflix after his fierce portrayal of the role in this movie.
Early life
Tahar was born on the 4th of July 1981 in the city of Belfort, France. The city is his hometown and he grew up there with his family. He is 39 years old and holds French citizenship. His family is of Algerian descent who immigrated from the region of Oran to France. Other than this, there is not much information available about his parents and family. Tahar is known to have completed his secondary school education also called Baccalauréat in French at Lycée Condorcet of Belfort. Later to pursue higher studies he went on to join sports and computer science programs. Although the name of the university has not been shared he studied there for two years. Due to boredom, he left the university and decided to pursue his career in acting.
He joined the Paul Valéry University of Montpellier to study film. His experiences and life as a film student at the university were documented by Cyril Mennegun who is also from Belfort. The documentary “Tahar, student” was aired on the French television channel France 5 in 2006. After studying film in Montpellier, he moved to Paris in 2005 and joined Laboratoire de l’Acteur to study drama under Hélène Zidi-Chéruy. Living in Paris was not easy and he had to work at a factory during the week and at a nightclub on weekends to continue his studies and make ends meet.
Tahar Rahim Career
Rahim’s career started in the year 2006 when the documentary “Tahar, student” was released on television documenting his life at college. Immediately after graduating in 2006, he got a part in the hit Canal+television series La Commune written by Abdel Raouf Dafri. The same year, he made a minor appearance in the horror film, Inside starring Beatrice Dalle. He went through a number of auditions the following year and got eight callbacks.
However, his first breakthrough came in the year 2009 when he was offered a role in The prophet directed by Jacques Audiard. He had met the director earlier out of coincidence when they shared a cab. The brief meeting was enough for Jacques to approach Tahar when he decided to film The prophet. Tahar was starred in the main role of Malik, a petty criminal of Algerian descent, and delivered a highly praiseworthy performance. He won several awards for this role.
Recently this year he appeared in the movie The Mauritanian in the role of Mohamedou ould Salahi and received a very positive response. His exceptional performance in the movie won him various nominations including the Golden Globe Award nomination for best actor. This year has been marked as the most successful year for his career as his performance in the TV series made him reach a large audience. The BBC one -Netflix production starred him in the roles of Charles Sobhraj, a serial killer. The series has been trending and constantly gaining an audience.
Controversies
Rahim has never been directly involved in any controversy but his name started surfacing when he starred in the controversial Chinese director Lou Ye’s film Love and Bruises. The director has been controversial and banned twice by the Chinese government from making movies. He is believed to have met Rahim in 2009 when he presented his movie The prophet at the Cannes Film Festival. The director was there to present his movie Spring Fever.
Rahim says that he almost did not do the movie as it was intense and agonizing. The fact that Love Bruises is the adaptation of the banned biography of Jie Liu Falin got more and more media attention. He often talked about the problem faced by Arab minorities in the French cinema while being interviewed for his role in The prophet. He pinpointed that Arabs and Muslims are mainly shown as terrorists or in negative roles and he always refuses to do such roles.
Social media
On his Instagram account, he has 158k followers and is highly active. He likes to share about his work experiences, behind the scenes from shoots, his roles, and recognitions, etc. he does not share much about his family and personal life on his account and has kept it professional. He does not have an account on any social media platform other than Instagram.
Tahar Rahim Biography |
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| Real Name | Tahar Rahim |
| Birth Date | 4 July 1981 |
| Age | 39 Years |
| Birth Place | Belfort, France |
| Nationality | French |
| Profession | Actor |
| Religion | Christianity |
| Sun sign | Cancer |
Physical Statistics |
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| Height | in feet inches – 5’ 8” – in Centimetres – 172 cm |
| Weight | in Kilograms – 75 kg – in Pounds – 165 lbs |
| Chest Size | 40 inches |
| Waist Size | 34 inches |
| Biceps Size | 16 inches |
| Shoe Size | 9 (U.S.) |
| Hair Color | Black |
| Eye Color | Dark Brown |
| Body Type | Athletic |
Family |
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| Father | Not Known |
| Mother | Not Known |
| Sister | Not Known |
| Brother | Ahmed Rahim |
Qualification/Education |
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| School | Not Known |
| College | Not Known |
Relationship Status |
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| Marital Status | Married |
| Affair | No |
| Is he a Gay? | No |
| Wife? | Leïla Bekhti |
| Children | One (Souleymane Rahim) |
Personal life
Tahar is married to actress Leila Bekhti. She is also French and belongs to a family of Algerian descent like Tahar. They both met in 2007 on the sets of The Prophet, dated for a while, and later got married in 2010. However, the couple has not shared much about their relationship. They are parents to two children. Their elder son Souleymane was born in 2017 and they recently had a daughter in 2020. Tahar is close friends with fellow actor Alain Delon also born and brought up in France.
Tahar Rahim Net worth
He has been active in the entertainment industry as an actor since 2006 and has constantly been part of various movies and TV shows. He has a stable and prosperous career in acting which sources for the majority of his income. His movies have been highly successful at the box office. His wife also earns her income from her career in acting. Both have gained huge popularity and a fortune of wealth. The estimated net worth of Rahim is around $ 6million. He has not shared much about their assets, properties, and cars.
Trivia
- He is talented at catching up on accents and languages and is fluent in Arab and Scottish, English and French.
- The script for The prophet written by Abdel Raouf Dafri who was also the writer of La commune, Rahim’s first-ever role.
- He won five awards and for his role in The prophet in the best actor category at the 2009 European film awards, 2010 Lumières Award, Globe de crystal award, and Cesar awards.
- Rahim also got a nomination for BAFTA rising star award in 2010.
- He was selected to be on the jury for the Un Certain Regard section of the 2015 Cannes Film Festival.
- As per the magazine Entertainment weekly, Rahim is a possible contender for Oscar awards 2021.
