Biography
Nadia Benzakour is a French-Moroccan actress whose work bridges European auteur cinema, American television, and internationally acclaimed productions. Known for her magnetic screen presence, physical intensity, and multilingual versatility, she represents a new generation of globally minded performers redefining contemporary storytelling across borders.
Born and raised in Paris, Benzakour trained extensively in both classical and modern acting techniques. She began her formation at Les Enfants Terribles before deepening her physical approach to performance at L’École Jacques Lecoq, one of the world’s most prestigious schools for movement and theatrical expression. She later continued her training in the United States, studying at the Richard Lawson Studio in Los Angeles and MTB Studio in New York, where she refined a screen-focused methodology blending emotional truth with strong physical embodiment.
Her career spans a wide range of international productions. On television, she has appeared in major series including Deep State, The Bureau des Légendes, Exit, and No Man’s Land, where her commitment to authenticity led her to perform in Kurdish following intensive preparation. In cinema, she has collaborated on globally recognized projects such as Sofia, Looking for Oum Kulthum, and Seneca, in which she portrayed Poppea opposite John Malkovich.
Benzakour gained further recognition with a lead role in the French adventure feature Zodi et Tehu, frères du désert, demonstrating her ability to anchor large-scale productions while maintaining emotional depth and screen authority.
She continues her international ascent with her role as Shadiya in the HBO drama series Privilèges, a Paris-set thriller exploring power, class, and influence within elite environments. Portrayed as a composed, highly skilled, and enigmatic bodyguard, Shadiya embodies both physical command and psychological restraint, a performance that signals Benzakour’s move toward more commanding, globally visible roles.
Beyond film and television, Benzakour is also an accomplished voice artist, having narrated Loin de la fureur du monde by Jérôme Camut and Nathalie Hug, and a multidisciplinary performer with a strong presence in theater and music, notably through her project Arrivée par avion, which explores identity, movement, and cultural hybridity.
Her work and perspective have been featured in international media, where she speaks on identity, artistic independence, and navigating multiple cultural landscapes, positioning her as a distinctive voice among contemporary Franco-Moroccan artists.
She is married to Soufiane El Khalidy, with whom she forms a dynamic creative duo at the crossroads of European, Arab, and American storytelling. Together, they embody a new wave of international talent: blending performance, authorship, and cross-cultural narratives, and are increasingly positioned as collaborators both on screen and in the development of original projects, bringing a shared artistic vision rooted in identity, movement, and global cinema.
With a rare combination of physical precision, emotional intelligence, and cross-cultural fluency, Nadia Benzakour stands out as a compelling presence in today’s global screen landscape.
