Saïd Taghmaoui (; born 19 July 1973) is a<!--Do not add "Moroccan". See MOS:ETHNICITY and talk page discussion. He was born and raised in France, moved to the United States in 1999, and is most notable for appearing in European and American productions.--> French actor. One of his major screen roles was that of Saïd in the 1995 French film La Haine, directed by Mathieu Kassovitz. Taghmaoui has also appeared in a number of English-language films, with roles such as Captain Said in Three Kings (1999), Breaker in G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra (2009), Sameer in Wonder Woman (2017), and The Elder in John Wick: Chapter 3 - Parabellum (2019).
Early life
Saïd Taghmaoui was born in Villepinte, Seine-Saint-Denis, into a large family comprising eight children; he had four brothers and three sisters. Taghmaoui grew up in the Rose des Vents quartier of the Aulnay-sous-Bois commune. He dropped out of school to become a boxer, rising as high as No. 2 in his weight class in France.
Career
France
He later met actor and director Mathieu Kassovitz; together, they appeared in Kassovitz's film La Haine (1995), whose plot concerns race and violence in the ghettoized banlieues of Paris. The following year, Taghmaoui was nominated for a César Award (in the Most Promising Actor category) for his performance.
Morocco
Taghmaoui acted in several Moroccan films, most notably playing Dib, the leader of a street boy gang in the movie Ali Zaoua: The Prince of the Streets (2000).
United States
He has since pursued an international career, appearing in films in Germany, Italy, Morocco and the United States (Three Kings, 1999). Taghmaoui starred in Vantage Point (2008) as Suarez, the leader of a terrorist group plotting to kidnap the United States President. In Morocco, he appeared in Djinns (2010), a film about the Algerian War, alongside Thierry Fremont. He moved to the United States in 1999, and in 2008, obtained American citizenship.
| Patty Jenkins
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| 2018
| At First Light
| Cal
| Jason Stone
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| 2019
| John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum
| The Elder
| Chad Stahelski
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| 2020
| Embattled
| Claude Yaurek
| Nick Sarkisov
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| 2021
| The Forgiven
| Anouar
| John Michael McDonagh
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| 2023
| The Family Plan
| Augie
| Simon Cellan Jones
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| 2024
| The Killer
| Prince Majeb Bin Abdul Faheem
| John Woo
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| 2025
| Tin Soldier
| Atlas
| Brad Furman
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See also
- Maghrebian community of Paris