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Studio 21.22 Madame Figaro
If he was one of the César nominees for best male hope for the role of Ahmed in
A story of love and desire
, and that he plays in the highly anticipated
November
, by Cédric Jimenez (in theaters in the fall next), it's no coincidence: Sami Outalbali is a valuable actor.
It is with the role of Ilyes, a teenager who discovered his homosexuality in
Les Grands (
by Vianney Lebasque for OCS), that he began to make a name for himself before exploding in broad daylight by playing Rahim in Sex Education – a gay high school student very sure of his feelings.
If Sami is certain of his vocation, he is nonetheless a young man who is both warm and reserved, aware that he is experiencing a magical moment in his career.
He is also a series aficionado, who explains to us how the small screen has changed his life.
In video, the trailer for season 2 of
Sex education
Madame Figaro.-
In what way has
Sex Education
been decisive in your career?
Sami Outalbali.-
It was my first project in England, where I dreamed of working.
If I had been filming for a long time, it was in projects that not everyone saw,
Sex Education
changed the situation because it allowed me to gain a wider audience.
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On the set of
Sex Education
Sami Outalbali
Because you've been playing in series for more than ten years… I've
always liked this format.
While filming the
Les Grands
series , I had the feeling of being able to tell a story over time.
Playing the same role over several seasons is an opportunity to see someone live and evolve.
We concentrate on details, precise moments of life… We dig in places where we don't necessarily dig usually.
In the third season of Les
Grands
, this character I watched out of the corner of my eye was part of me!
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Sami Outalbali in the series
Les Grands
OCS
What was your artistic education?
My mother loves reading, art, music, and introduced me to different artistic forms very early on.
She took me to museums, to concerts, without ever forcing me, which aroused my curiosity.
My first concert was Prince, at the Stade de France!
I have been very lucky…
In video, “Lost in Translation”, excerpt
“This job and nothing else”
How did you become an actor?
As a child, I posed for advertising campaigns.
I must have been 5 years old when a photographer, seeing me clowning around on the set, suggested to my mother that I do comedy.
We found an agent, I did my first casting and I got the role.
It was for a soap opera of France 3,
It is necessary to save Saïd
.
I was 6 !
I continued to shoot, about once a year… It was when I was a teenager, when
I
was growing up, that it clicked: it was this job and nothing else.
No one in my family worked in this environment and could help me, so I had to work very seriously.
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Sami Outalbali child Sami Outalbali
What you never stopped doing!
And what allowed me, perhaps, to grow faster.
You shouldn't feel too comfortable, or jaded.
I wasn't raised that way, and I'm way too enthusiastic about my job.
Sometimes, when I spend a little too much time with friends, I feel guilty for not working!
What I find beautiful in my generation of actors and actresses is this shared energy.
This happiness of being there.
We understand each other, we recognize ourselves in this perpetual motivation, because a large part of us are here because we have worked hard.
Do you evolve in a group of actors?
Yes, I am close to Benjamin Voisin, Théo Christine and Stefan Crepon.
All four of us see each other very often, every week or even every day, we go on vacation together.
We have lunch, we have dinner, we talk on the phone, by SMS… For five years, it has been my hard core in the cinema.
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Sami Outalbali and his group of friends Sami Outalbali
What are your favorite series?
I'm finishing season 5 of
Gomorrah
, which I'm a big fan of.
After being discouraged by the first episode of Game of Thrones, I went back to it and was hooked.
When I like a series, I rewatch it regularly.
Peaky Blinders
also helped me work on my English!
Finally, I love
Hercule Poirot
, whom I discovered as a child.
The costumes, the sets, the script, everything is perfect… and yet, nothing is deliberately impressive.
In video, “La Grande Bellezza”, the trailer
Who are your cinematographic role models?
I really like Paolo Sorrentino and Sofia Coppola, for
Lost in Translation
.
I saw it very young, when I was filming a little… And the anguish of the hotel room, we all had it when we are an actor.
We feel this taste, almost this smell, of being far from home, without our bearings.
Even if today, I appreciate this solitude.
I really liked the elegance of Jean Rochefort.
And the genius of Gaspard Ulliel.
If I drew fashion at one time, it was thanks to his interpretation of Yves Saint Laurent.
He inspired me a lot...
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Studio 21.22 Madame Figaro
