In the apartment in the 18th arrondissement, in Paris, where Souheila Yacoub gave us an appointment, the two cats Zoé and Rivaille reign supreme.
Hanging bridges, scratching posts and hammocks adorn the beams of the studio and give the living room the appearance of an animal playground.
In the midst of this feline fauna sits Souheila Yacoub, 29, a Swiss actress of Flemish and Tunisian origin, whose name means "shepherd's star".
She impresses with her wild beauty and intrigues with her conquering yet timid personality.
The young woman only tasted freedom very late.
Between the ages of 12 and 20, she distinguished herself as a high-level gymnast, trained by Russian and Bulgarian coaches, and scoured competitions with the aim of reaching the 2012 London Olympics.
Souheila Yacoub, the Cover Story
Souheila Yacoub, the Cover Story
Texto jacket in silk velvet, Alexandre Vauthier Haute Couture and pleated silk top embroidered with tin foil, Ronald Van der Kemp.
Bojana Tatarska
Souheila Yacoub, the Cover Story
Ostrich feather dress and silk trousers, Ashi Studio.
Bojana Tatarska
Souheila Yacoub, the Cover Story Azzaro Ateliers
Suit embroidered with a constellation of iridescent pearls, sequins, blades and crystals, and vinyl high-neck sweater, Azzaro Ateliers.
Manolo Blahnik boots.
Bojana Tatarska
Souheila Yacoub, the Chanel Haute Couture Cover Story
Silk tulle top embroidered with hand-painted ribbons, rhinestones and pearls, and bow skirt in silk radzimir, Chanel Haute Couture.
Bojana Tatarska
Souheila Yacoub, the Dior Haute Couture Cover Story
Souheila Yacoub, the Fendi couture Cover Story
Souheila Yacoub, the Cover Story - Giorgio Armani Private
Souheila Yacoub, the Cover Story - Maison Rabih Kayrouz
Schiaparelli Haute Couture
Stephane Rolland
Souheila Yacoub, the Cover Story - Valentino Haute Couture
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Discipline and Restrictions
From this difficult period, she keeps the taste for work and the collective, the discipline, but also a relationship to the body distorted by years of restrictions, prohibitions and twists.
She also remembers her stays with host families (which the federations call upon for minor athletes), which were not always easy to live with: "An evangelist couple absolutely wanted me to read the Bible every evening, recalls- she, but luckily they weren't all like that..." After eight years spent following intense training, the fiasco of the Olympics (his team was ultimately not selected) appears in retrospect as a liberation: "Everyone was crying in despair as I collapsed with happiness,” she confesses.
At 20, his life began.
Everyone cried in despair as I collapsed in happiness
She returns to Geneva alongside her parents and her sister Inès, her eldest, but the reunion is short-lived.
A year later, she set out to conquer Paris.
The goal?
Integrate the Cours Florent to become an actress and "tear everything up", without knowing anything about cinema.
“In Switzerland, seeing a film costs 32 francs (about 30 euros).
Coming from a modest background, I did not go on cultural outings with my family.
She enters the famous theater school without ever having heard of François Truffaut, with
Titanic
and
Gossip Girl as main references.
But Souheila Yacoub embarks on this jungle driven by a vital desire to play: “I loved telling myself stories, inventing lovers… I also lied a lot at the time.”
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Free and intense talent
The main thing is that she knows she has found her place.
After three years at Cours Florent, she entered the National Conservatory of Dramatic Art.
It was there that she made unfailing friendships: Benjamin Voisin, Stefan Crepon and even Nadia Tereszkiewicz… A generation of young, ambitious people who, perhaps more than their elders, seem united by unfailing solidarity.
She is extraordinary.
Souheila has a side that is both technical and wild.
In that, she reminds me of Romain Duris Cédric Klapisch
Very quickly spotted in the theater (
Tous des oiseaux ,
by Wajdi Mouawad), then in the cinema (
Climax ,
by Gaspar Noé,
Le Sel des tears ,
by Philippe Garrel), she was revealed on television in
Les Sauvages,
by Rebecca Zlotowski.
His next goal?
The comedy.
Allowing herself (finally) to let go that she envies in others.
Cédric Klapisch, who directed her in
En corps
, defines her as follows: “She is extraordinary.
Souheila has a side that is both technical and wild.
In that, she reminds me of Romain Duris.
She is not aware of her talent and as she does not fit into any box, she will be able to play everything.
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As she approaches her thirties, the one whose leitmotif is now “No more competition!”, Also learns to taste the joys of private life: “With confinement, I understood that happiness was also elsewhere than in work."
In a relationship for three years with the famous rapper Lomepal, she takes full advantage of her new life: "I who was deprived of everything as a sportswoman, I start cooking after years of scarcity."
Souheila Yacoub or the art of living...
Souheila Yacoub is on the bill of
Between the waves,
by Anaïs Volpé, released on March 16, and
En corps,
by Cédric Klapisch, released on March 30.
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