From Spring Issue 65
Glass Man sits down with French screen star Tahar Rahim, a one-time bored kid who loved going to the movies, dreamed of becoming an actor and is now at the top of his game
Tahar Rahim comes into the interview with a huge smile on his face, bursting with warmth. He is easy company, gracefully appreciative of compliments and quick to compliment others. His persona, combined with enormous talent, might explain why Rahim has had the kind of rise through the film industry that most could only dream of. He is, however, an unlikely star.
Born to Algerian parents in a working-class suburb in Belfort, northeast France, he had no elite drama school training, no artistic family connections and wasn’t from Paris – three of the usual requirements for access into the French film world.
Photographer: Jason Hetherington
A lover of the cinema, he studied film at university before taking acting classes, subsequently landing a part in a TV series. His breakthrough came two years later, in 2009, when he made history by winning two Césars (France’s equivalent of the Oscars) for his lead role in A Prophet as a petty crook of Algerian origin who rises through a prison’s mobster ranks. The recognition was significant, not just because it marked him out as one to watch, but also because his heritage brought to the fore the debate around the marginalisation of France’s North African communities, not least in the film industry.
It was on set for A Prophet that Rahim met his future wife, Leila Bekhti, also an influential figure in French cinema, and the couple now have four children together.
Photographer: Jason Hetherington
Since that remarkable launching, Rahim has shared the screen with some of the finest actors of our generation including Jodie Foster, Joaquin Phoenix (twice) and Chiwetel Ejiofor (also a former Glass cover star), and flits seamlessly from Ridley Scott epics and British crime dramas to independent French cinema.
At only 44, it is exciting to see what great works will come from someone so fully adept at their craft, with so many areas still to explore and yet still imbued with an undiminished, child-like enthusiasm.
Photographer: Jason Hetherington
What made you want to become an actor?
Boredom! As a kid there was not a lot of things to do so my friends and I used to go to the cinema. But we didn’t have enough money to go all the time and we found a way to sneak in through the back door. At a certain point it wasn’t enough for my mates – they wanted to do something else – but I fell in love with the movie theatre. And little by little, I started to dream and the dream turned out to be a need. I felt connected to the screen, to the stories.
Added to this was the fact that back in the day we had, sort of, appointments with movies because there weren’t any streaming platforms then. We had to be in front of the TV at eight o’clock or we had to go to the video store. So movies were part of my education. That’s how I fell into them and wanted to be an actor.
Photographer: Jason Hetherington
What has the journey been like for you from having that dream to where you are now –starring opposite Hollywood stars and working with famous directors?
It’s been a beautiful journey. I took advantage of every second and I know how lucky I am. I studied movies at university and then moved to Paris. I was 24 and I took some drama classes. I had my first lead in a TV series and the guy who wrote it is the same scriptwriter who wrote A Prophet. One day, Jacques Audiard [director and co-writer of A Prophet] came on set to visit him. We went back in the same production car and I vividly remember him looking at me. I desperately wanted to work with him but I said to myself, “You know, the best thing you could do right now is just to shut up.”
And I did, but I felt something. Then later on, there was the screening of the two first episodes of the series and he showed up, congratulating me. I was really happy about it. I called my agent and said, “Listen, I think I can have an audition with him, keep your ears open.” I was the first to be auditioned and I got the part. The rest all followed from there.
Photographer: Jason Hetherington
What has been your most challenging role so far?
I’d say Charles Aznavour [from the 2024 movie Monsieur Aznavour about the iconic French-Armenian singer]. I had to learn how to sing, how to move like him, talk like him, how to play piano. It was such an amount of work and you cannot imagine how hard it was for me. I had to practice singing for maybe eight hours a week and learn piano as well. And I did that for about eight months and I got so scared. During the preparation I wanted to quit many times, but I didn’t tell the directors. It was the most demanding part I’ve ever had. In terms of a physical challenge, it was Alpha [a 2025 film for which Rahim had to lose 20 kilos to play an addict in the terminal stages of a wasting disease].
When you’re filming, do you need to stay away from your family and friends in order to stay in the role?
I don’t have the right to impose the way I work on my family and friends. So what I try to do is, for the first week be on my own more, then little by little I get into the character. When I go back home I’m still in it somehow but I can manage to not annoy anybody or put that burden on somebody else’s shoulders.
Photographer: Jason Hetherington
In 2021 you starred in The Mauritanian, the harrowing true story of Mohamedou Ould Slahi who was detained at Guantanamo Bay without trial for 14 years. How important was it for you to tell Mohamedou’s story and did your own background have any bearing on the role?
For me, taking on this part was beyond movies, beyond cinema itself. When I got the script, I was happy about the story, about the character and to work again with Kevin [Macdonald, who directed Rahim in The Eagle in 2009]. When I read the script, I cried and I felt like I wanted to be a part of helping this man. I wanted to be in the line of the people who were helping him have a better life, helping him to be a normal man after being through such an ordeal.
When I talked to Mohamedou for the first time, I remember him being very bright and happy and I almost couldn’t believe that he’d been through this. And then I felt I needed to be the serious actor and ask him some questions about what happened in Guantanamo. When I asked those stupid questions, all of a sudden he changed and I could see the trauma in his face. His eyes started to go here and there. It was hard for him to talk. And I said to myself, “Who am I to take him back there?”
So I stopped asking questions. What I did was just spend time with him and try to catch his soul. And I’m really happy with what we’ve done. Not the movie – I know people liked it and I’m glad – but about what happened next for him. As a result of the movie, he is now allowed to enter other countries and he’s living in the Netherlands. He’s got his passport, he’s writing plays, so I feel like we helped him a little. The film was connected to my faith, to my religion – it was the first time in American movie history that a positive Muslim character was at the core of a story. I felt a responsibility.
Photographer: Jason Hetherington
In The Mauritanian you played opposite the queen of the screen, Jodie Foster. Did you enjoy it or were you too wrapped up in the trauma of your character?
No. You can be both. So, every single moment with Jodie on and off set was a real pleasure. She’s a big part of my inspiration. I used to watch a lot of movies starring her and one of my favourites is Taxi Driver. So, being right in front of her and doing the same job was like a dream come true. We shared a beautiful, very beautiful experience and had a great relationship.
Photographer: Jason Hetherington
Your upcoming release, the TV series Prisoner, is a high-energy action role. Depending on the role, do you have a different process for how you get into the character?
This question leads us to talk about a method. I think that the method is dictated by the movie or the series itself. Sometimes you have to go method and to compose a character and sometimes you’d better not, because if you do and the movie doesn’t go towards this direction, there will be a difference that you can read on screen. So it really depends on the character, on the story and the movie itself. Sometimes you really have to compose something to transform into somebody else, and sometimes you’ve got to put yourself in a certain state to feel like the character, as if you were him, as if Tahar would have lived the same life. So it depends.
Photographer: Jason Hetherington
Who has been your greatest teacher?
My first school was the streets – looking at people, studying them, watching them, listening to them. It goes back to my childhood because I grew up in a suburb and we were from all over the world – Africans, French, Gypsies, Asians, North Africans, everybody. And I would learn about different cultures, different music, different movies, different food. That was my first school. I truly believe that [being exposed to different] cultures is one of the best things you can get because it makes you more open-minded. You understand better.
My second school is everything that was shot in the ‘70s, in the New Hollywood era. For me, every single New Hollywood movie reached a certain level that’s unmatchable nowadays. It feels like acting evolved from the silent movies, to talking movies and then the golden era. And when we reached the ‘70s, the New Hollywood, movies touched something that hasn’t been changed since. It feels like we’re just trying to do the same thing.
My most recent inspiration is my kids. Watching a kid playing Spider Man, for example, when he jumps from a little chair and it feels like he’s jumping from a building. When he throws the web, you can see that they really believe – they have such strong beliefs in what they’re doing and that’s really inspiring.
Photographer: Jason Hetherington
What has been the biggest lesson that you’ve learned?
(Grinning) To not have any certainty.
by Nicola Kavanagh
Photographer: Jason Hetherington
Stylist: Guy Louis Miller
Grooming: Petra Sellge using KINGHAM SKINCARE for skin and MURDOCK LONDON for hair
Photography assistant: Alfie Bungay
Styling assistant: Louis Boyagis
Talent: Tahar Rahim
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