# Soufiane El Khalidy

Soufiane El Khalidy (born July 22, 1987) is a Moroccan actor, filmmaker, and writer. Born in Agadir, Morocco, he has acted in films and television series such as Ghosts of Beirut (2023), NCIS: Los Angeles (2017), Shockwave: Countdown to Disaster (2017), and the upcoming Netflix biopic Mary. He also played the role of Ridwan in the film Riley Parra (2017) and its sequel Riley Parra: Better Angels (2019).
Furthermore, Soufiane El Khalidy has starred alongside Lambert Wilson in the German film, Klandestin (2024) directed by Angelina Maccarone and the five times César Awards winner, Benoît Magimel in the upcoming big budget French diptych, De Gaulle, directed by Antonin Baudry. He starred as The Father in the commercial Heroic Girl (2017) directed by Aaron Weldon, the head of Layout at Blur Studios and the second unit director for David Fincher on the third season of Love, Death and Robots (2022). He played the character Youssef in the Shahid action series The Eight.
Soufiane El Khalidy is also a writer and filmmaker. He wrote the book Les Riffs d'un Moroccan Rebel (2022), and has received accolades for his short film Flags and Masks Down (2014) and his screenplays, Just Like You Imagined and Jukebox Zero.

## Early life and education

El Khalidy was born in Agadir, Morocco to the general practitioner and former lieutenant in the Royal Moroccan Army, Larbi El Khalidy and nurse Malika El Kaddouri. As a child, he was involved in amateur theatre at his primary school, Al Hanane. El Khalidy is a 2005 French College in Agadir graduate in mathematics, and later attended Bordeaux Segalen University in France, where he majored in medical education.In 2008, he abruptly stopped his medical studies, as he decided to come back to Morocco, where he studied business and later earned his bachelor degree in Marketing from Al Akhawayn University. According to the newspaper Libération, El Khalidy was during his studies at Al Akhawayn, the reporter for the Moroccan web magazine Fashion Maroc and its partner Elite Model Look for three consecutive years.
Soon after his graduation, El Khalidy moved to the United States thanks to a "Global Achievement Scholarship" offered by Full Sail University in Winterpark,Florida, where he'd graduate with a Master of Fine Arts in film production.

## Acting career

In 2016, El Khalidy started his movie career in Los Angeles after a recommendation from his professor at Full Sail University, Bill W. Benton. In 2017, The Actors Studio in New York invited Soufiane El Khalidy for its preliminary auditions in order to become a lifetime member.
El Khalidy has been described by Medi 1 as "the new face of Moroccan cinema". Like Youssef Kerkour and Said Taghmaoui, El Khalidy is one of the few Moroccan actors who have succeeded in international film productions and Hollywood.
During his career, El Khalidy appeared in various music videos by rock bands like Train, One Ok Rock and BRMC. In 2024, he is the lead in the music video Tatooine/ Maintenance by the French rapper, JXSH.
He is slated to play the lead alongside Sveva Alviti in the Italian movie Le Chemin du Retour by Fabio Zito.

## Personal life

On 15 October 2022, El Khalidy married the French actress Nadia Benzakour ( Seneca: On The Creation of Earthquakes, Zodi & Tehu: Princes of The Desert, Killing Jesus, Deep State) in Tangier. The couple is often referred by the media as the Moroccan Brangelina.
Soufiane El Khalidy identifies himself as a liberal in a political and spiritual sense.

## Artistry
### Selective filmography
#### As an actor

* 2017: NCIS: Los Angeles (TV series), as Sayid Lajani
* 2017: Shockwave: Countdown To Disaster (Film), as the Young Militant
* 2017: Riley Parra (TV series), as Ridwan
* 2017: Gulag Magadan(Movie), as Commissar Yagoda
* 2017: Heroic Girl (TV commercial), as The Father
* 2019: Riley Parra: Better Angels (Movie), as Ridwan
* 2022: The Eight(TV series), as Youssef
* 2022: Colosseum (TV series), as Centurion
* 2023: Ghosts of Beirut(TV series), as Kerem
* 2024: Klandestin (Movie), as the Coast Guard
* 2024: JXSH-Tatooine/Maintenance (Music video), as Alfred
* 2025: Mary (Movie), as Frustrated Pilgrim
* 2025: De Gaulle: Part 1 (Movie), as Koenig Soldier

#### As a director /writer

* 2014: Flags and Masks Down(Short Movie)
* 2015: Colonized Mind (Short Movie)