Samir Guesmi (born 7 October 1967) is a French actor of stage and screen and film director. He is known for his television roles in Spiral (2008) and The Returned (2012-15).
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Early life and education
Samir Guesmi was born in Paris, France, in on 7 October 1967, His father was a construction worker and his mother a childcare worker, and he had eight siblings. He is of North African (Algerian?) descent.
He did not excel academically at school, but he found a love of theatre, and trained in drama. As a young man, he joined Studio Pygmalion, and then Tania Balachova's Theatre School, and undertook many stage performances. He also studied at at the Belle de mai theatre school in Marseille.
Career
Guesmi has performed on stage as well as on screen, in movies and television series.
Screen
Guesmi's first role on the big screen was in 1987, when he appeared in Jaune revolver, directed by Olivier Langlois. For his lead role as Malik in the 1996 comedy film Malik le maudit, which centres on a young beur who dreams of leaving his suburbs for Canada, he won the Best Actor award at Amiens International Film Festival, as well as the Michel Simon Prize.
In 2001, he starred in L'Afrance (As a Man), directed by Alain Gomis, which won the Silver Leopard at 2002 Locarno Film Festival. In 2003 (often cited as 2005) he appeared in Mathieu Vadepied's short film Le Souffle.
His performances in mainstream movies include La Mentale /The Code (2002) by Manuel Boursinhac; Banlieue 13 (2004) by Pierre Morel; Ne le dis à personne / Tell No One (2006) by Guillaume Canet. His less commercial, auteur cinema films include Betty Fisher et autres histoires / Alias Betty (2001) by Claude Miller; and Selon Charlie / Charlie Says (2006) by Nicole Garcia. Also in 2006 he played Ahmed the receptionist in Philippe Pollet-Villard's short film Le Mozart des pickpockets, which won the 2007 Academy Award for Best Live Action Short Film. and the César Award for Best Short Film in 2008.
For his performance in Alain Gomis' feature Andalucía, in his first major role, he was awarded the Best Actor Award at the 2007 Montecatini International Short Film Festival as well as the Golden Bayard for Best Actor at the 2007 Namur Film Festival.
Guesmi wrote and directed (for the first time) the short film C'est Dimanche! (2008), which won at least six prizes at various international film festivals, including the Be TV award at the Brussels Short Film Festival, and the Special Prize of the Ecumenical Jury, at the 38th Molodist International Film Festival in Kyiv in 2008, second place at the Chicago International Film Festival, and the 2008 Grand Prix Award at the Grenoble Outdoor Short Film Festival (Festival du film court en plein air de Grenoble).
Also in 2008, he appeared on television as feared drug dealer Farouk Larbi in three episodes of the long-running and internationally renowned police and legal drama series Spiral (Engrenages). He also had a major role as Thomas Mézache in the supernatural drama series The Returned / Les Revenants in from 2012 to 2015.
Stage
Guesmi acted on stage in several performances under the direction of Frédéric Bélier-Garcia. He also performed in the title role in Éric Vigner's production of Othello at the Théâtre de l'Odéon in Paris in November–December 2008.
