Youssef Kerkour

Kerkour grew up in Rabat, Morocco.[1] His father was a Moroccan mathematics professor and his mother an English schoolteacher; they had met in France in the 1960s and moved together to Morocco.[2] As a child, Kerkour loved to sing and dance,[2] and idolised Bruce Lee after his father took him to a screening of the film Enter the Dragon.[2] In his early teens, Kerkour took a school trip to Stratford-upon-Avon, England, the home town of William Shakespeare, and attended a production of Henry V; he credits this experience with inspiring his love of acting.[2] Kerkour moved to the United States to study psychology at Bard College, but spent much of his time taking dance and acting classes instead.[2] He began pursuing an acting career at the encouragement of a university professor.[3][2]

In 2001, Kerkour played The Visitor in a production of the Steve Martin play Picasso at the Lapin Agile.[4] Unable to obtain a visa to remain in the United States, Kerkour moved to England and continue his acting career.[2] He spent two years at the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art, and five years with the Royal Shakespeare Company.[2]

Kerkour starred in the comedy-drama series Home, which debuted in March 2019 and lasted two series.[1] In the series, he played Sami Ibrahim, a Syrian asylum seeker who moves in with a middle-class English family. The role was based on the experiences of real-ife Syrian refugee Hassan Akkad.[1] Kerkour had not expected to be cast as Sami, since it was such a departure from the typecast violent characters he would usually play.[1] In 2020, he said:

"I spent my life playing terrorists. That’s my USP, that's why I grew my beard. I'm a very big guy. I speak Arabic, so a big bearded Arabic man, there’s really one kind of part, traditionally. [Playing] Sami is the first time somebody has taken the chance and given me something more."[1]

For his role as Sami, Kerkour was nominated for Best Male Comedy Performance at the 2020 British Academy Television Awards, losing the award to Jamie Demetriou (for Stath Lets Flats).[5] Kerkour is slated to appear in a film adaptation of The Alchemist, alongside Sebastian de Souza and Tom Hollander.[2]

In 2021, Kerkour starred in Ridley Scott film House of Gucci, playing the role of Iraqi Turkmen financier Nemir Kirdar.[6] He is also set to appear in Scott's upcoming historical drama Napoleon, alongside Joaquin Phoenix.[7]

As of 2021, Kerkour is married and has a two-year-old daughter.[2] He has lived in London for two decades, and describes himself as a "notorious coffee drinker" in the cafes of Soho.[2]

• Youssef Kerkour at IMDb