Saïd Taghmaoui born 19 July 1973 is a French-American actor and screenwriter. 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), Sameer in Wonder Woman (2017), and The Elder in John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum (2019).
Early life and education
Taghmaoui was born in Villepinte, Seine-Saint-Denis, into a large family comprising eight children; he had four brothers and three sisters. His parents were Moroccan immigrants of Berber ancestry from Essaouira. 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
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.
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 the leader of a terrorist group plotting to kidnap the U.S. president. In Morocco, he appeared in Djinns (2010), a film about the Algerian War, alongside Thierry Fremont. Taghmaoui’s television work includes Lost, House of Saddam and Touch. He appeared in the British film My Brother the Devil, which was released globally in 2013.
Personal life
Taghmaoui is a practicing Muslim. He moved to the United States in 1999, and in 2008, obtained American citizenship.
Filmography
| Year | Title | Role | Director | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1994 | Putain de porte | Jean-Claude Flamand & Delphine Quentin | Short | |
| Tous les garçons et les filles de leur âge… | Paul | Olivier Dahan | TV series (1 episode) | |
| 1995 | La Haine | Saïd | Mathieu Kassovitz | Nominated – César Award for Most Promising Actor |
| J’aime beaucoup ce que vous faites | Xavier Giannoli | Short | ||
| C’est mon histoire | Dominique Tabuteau | TV series (1 episode) | ||
| L’éducateur | Momo | Dominique Tabuteau (2) | TV series (1 episode) | |
| 1996 | La bougeotte | Jean-Claude Morin | TV movie | |
| Elvis Aziz | Elvis Aziz | Frédéric Compain | TV movie | |
| 1997 | Go for Gold ! | Moussa | Lucian Segura | |
| Héroïnes | JP | Gérard Krawczyk | ||
| Les fantômes du samedi soir | Olivier Dahan (2) | Short | ||
| L’albero dei destini sospesi | Samir | Rachid Benhadj | TV movie | |
| 1998 | Onorevoli detenuti | Omar | Giancarlo Planta | |
| The Garden of Eden | Aziz | Alessandro D’Alatri | ||
| Hideous Kinky | Bilal | Gillies MacKinnon | ||
| Lascars | Voice | Laurent Nicolas | TV series (1 episode) | |
| 1999 | Prima del tramonto | Alì Ben Sellam | Stefano Incerti | |
| Three Kings | Captain Said | David O. Russell | ||
| Urlaub im Orient | Raschid | Michael Wenning | TV movie | |
| 2000 | La taule | The Innocent | Alain Robak | |
| Nationale 7 | Rabah | Jean-Pierre Sinapi | ||
| Ali Zaoua | Dib | Nabil Ayouch | ||
| Room to Rent | Ali | Khalid Al-Haggar | ||
| 2001 | Gamer | Tony | Patrick Levy | |
| Confession d’un dragueur | Fabio | Alain Soral | ||
| Absolument fabuleux | Manu | Gabriel Aghion | ||
| Le petit poucet | The Chief | Olivier Dahan (3) | ||
| 2002 | Vivante | DJ | Sandrine Ray | |
| The Good Thief | Paulo | Neil Jordan | ||
| Entre chiens et loups | Werner | Alexandre Arcady | ||
| 2003 | Crime Spree | Sami | Brad Mirman | |
| The West Wing | Ambassador Umar Usef | Christopher Misiano | TV series (1 episode) | |
| 2004 | Spartan | Tariq Asani | David Mamet | |
| Hidalgo | Prince Bin Al Reeh | Joe Johnston | ||
| I Heart Huckabees | The Translator | David O. Russell (2) | Central Ohio Film Critics Association – Best Ensemble | |
| 2005 | El khoubz el hafi | Rachid Benhadj (2) | ||
| 2006 | Five Fingers | Dark Eyes | Laurence Malkin | |
| O Jerusalem | Saïd Chahine | Élie Chouraqui | ||
| Djihad ! | Youssef | Felix Olivier | TV movie | |
| Sleeper Cell | Hamid | Charles S. Dutton, Nick Gomez & Leslie Libman | TV series (3 episodes) | |
| 2007 | The Kite Runner | Farid | Marc Forster | |
| Suspectes | Stanislas Lamérat | Laurent Dussaux | TV miniseries | |
| 2008 | Vantage Point | Suarez | Pete Travis | |
| Traitor | Omar | Jeffrey Nachmanoff | Nominated – Black Reel Award for Best Breakthrough Performance | |
| Kandisha | Dakir Nesri | Jerome Cohen-Olivar | ||
| Mogadischu | Kapitän Mahmud | Roland Suso Richter | TV movie | |
| House of Saddam | Barzan Ibrahim | Alex Holmes | TV miniseries | |
| Duval et Moretti | Tarek | Dominique Guillo | TV series (1 episode) | |
| 2009 | G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra | Abel Shaz / Breaker | Stephen Sommers | |
| Linear | Biker | Anton Corbijn | ||
| Lost | Caesar | Stephen Williams & Jack Bender | TV series (4 episodes) | |
| 2010 | Djinns | Aroui | Hugues & Sandra Martin | |
| The Killers | Abazar Khayami | Short | ||
| 2011 | Conan the Barbarian | Ela-Shan | Marcus Nispel | |
| 2012 | My Brother the Devil | Sayyid | Sally El Hosaini | |
| Strike Back | Othmani | Paul Wilmshurst | TV series (2 episodes) | |
| 2013 | American Hustle | Irv’s Sheik Plant | David O. Russell (3) | |
| Touch | Guillermo Ortiz | Various | TV series (10 episodes) | |
| 2014 | The Missing | Khalid Ziane | Tom Shankland | TV series (8 episodes) |
| 2015 | For All Eyes Always | Iskandar Yasin | Rob Gordon Bralver | |
| La nuit est faite pour dormir | Hassan | Adrien Costello | Short | |
| 2016 | The Infiltrator | Amjad Awan | Brad Furman | |
| 2017 | Wonder Woman | Sameer | Patty Jenkins | |
| 2018 | At First Light | Cal | Jason Stone | |
| 2019 | John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum | The Elder | Chad Stahelski | |
| TBA | The Forgiven | Anouar | John Michael McDonagh | Post-production |
| 2020 | Wonder Woman 1984 | Sameer | Patty Jenkins | Photograph Cameo |