| Sami Outalbali | |
| Birth Date: | 19 March 1999 |
| Birth Place: | Poissy, Yvelines, France |
| Nationality: | French |
| Occupation: | Actor |
| Yearsactive: | 2006–present |
Sami Outalbali (born 19 March 1999) is a French actor. He rose to prominence for portraying Ilyes on the OCS drama series (2016–2019) and gained international recognition for his role as Rahim in the Netflix comedy-drama series Sex Education (2020–2021). He is also known for his roles in the supernatural series Mortel (2019–2021) and the drama film A Tale of Love and Desire (2021).
Sami Outalbali was born in Poissy, Yvelines, on 19 March 1999.[1] He has Moroccan and Guadeloupean ancestry.[2] At the age of 3, he appeared in a Disney advertisement.[3]
Outalbali first appeared on screen in the France 3 television film Il faut sauver Saïd in 2006.[4] In 2011, he played a minor role in the comedy film Les Tuche.[5]
He had his breakout role in the OCS teen drama series (fr|Les Grands; 2016–2019), created by, in which he portrays Ilyes, a gay high school student coming to terms with his sexuality.[6] In 2018, he appeared in the first part of the Arte miniseries (fr|Fiertés), created by Philippe Faucon. In 2019, he starred in Laurent Micheli's Lola and Benjamin Parent's . That same year, he also appeared in the Netflix supernatural series Mortel as a missing teenager called Reda, the older brother of Sofiane (Carl Malapa).[7] [8]
In 2019, he joined the cast of the second series of the Netflix comedy-drama Sex Education in a recurring role.[9] On the show, which marks his English-speaking debut, he portrays Rahim Harrack, a French exchange student who becomes a love interest of Eric Effiong (Ncuti Gatwa). He also returned for the show's third series.[10] In August 2020, he starred in the music video for the single "Coup de Blues/Soleil" by Bigflo & Oli.[11]
In 2019, he was cast in Leyla Bouzid's romantic drama film A Tale of Love and Desire as Ahmad Ouannas, a young French man of Algerian origin, who experiences a sexual awakening after meeting a Tunisian woman .[12] The film premiered in the Critics' Week section of the 2021 Cannes Film Festival.[13] For this role, Outalbali was nominated for Best Male Revelation at the 27th Lumières Awards[14] and Most Promising Actor at the 47th César Awards.[15] [16]
In April 2022, he served as a member of the jury at the 5th Canneseries festival in Cannes.[17] [18] He appeared in Cédric Jimenez's 2022 film Novembre.[19] [20]
As of 2020, Outalbali resides in Paris.
| Year | Title | Role | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2011 | Les Tuche | Jean-Wa | ||
| 2019 | Lola | Samir | ||
| Sonnie | ||||
| 2021 | A Tale of Love and Desire | Ahmed Ouannas | ||
| 2022 | Novembre | Kader | ||
| Year | Title | Role | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2006 | Il faut sauver Saïd | Television film | ||
| 2012 | Vive la colo ! | Sami | [21] | |
| 2016–2019 | Ilyes | [22] | ||
| 2018 | Sélim | Miniseries | ||
| Sofiane | Television film | |||
| 2019–2021 | Mortel | Reda Kada | 9 episodes | |
| 2020–2021 | Sex Education | Rahim Harrack | Recurring role; 15 episodes | |
| Year | Award | Category | Nominated work | Result | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | Angoulême Francophone Film Festival | Valois for Best Actor | A Tale of Love and Desire | [23] | |
| 2022 | Lumières Awards | Best Male Revelation | |||
| César Awards | Most Promising Actor |