Leïla Bekhti (born 6 March 1984) is a French film and television actress of Algerian descent. She is best known for her roles in Tout ce qui brille (2007) and, in 2006, Paris, je t'aime and Sheitan. Bekhti was born in 1984 in Issy-les-Moulineaux to an Algerian family from Sidi Bel-Abbes. She is the youngest of three children. She also has heritage from Kabylie. Bekhti went to a theater school in Paris (18e) before entering the program of Stéphane Gildas (fr) in Tolbiac. She next studied in the program of Bérengère Basty at the Art’aire studio. To live and pay for her acting studies, she worked odd jobs (clothes, telemarketing). She has self identified as Muslim and speaks Algerian Arabic as well, because of her grandmother. In 2005, Bekhti's friends convinced her to go to the casting of Sheitan, where she was selected for the role of Yasmin, a young beurette. Released on 1 February 2006, Sheitan spent thirteen weeks in theaters, selling around 300,000 tickets. That same year, she acted opposite Smaïn in Alain Tasma's telefilm Harkis. The film told the story of an Algerian family who suffers persecution from French military forces, despite having fought on their side in the Algerian War. Bekhti was interested in the film's subject as several members of her family, including her grandfather, fought in the ranks of the FLN during the war. That year, she also played Zarka in Paris, je t'aime (2006) (segment "Quais de Seine", directed by Gurinder Chadha) and Mounia in Mauvaise Foi, playing the sister of Roschdy Zem. On television, she had a small role in an episode of the series Madame le Proviseur and in the series Les Tricheurs alongside Pascal Légitimus. In 2008 she won a Best Actress Award at the Silhouette Festival for her role in Rachid Hami's Choisir d'aimer. She followed this with Pour l'amour de Dieu, an Arte telefilm by Bouchaala Ahmed and Zakia Tahri. Bekhti starred in Ali Baba alongside Gérard Jugnot and appeared in Des poupées et des anges by Nora Hamdi. For her role as Lya in the film, she was shortlisted for the César Award for Best Actress, although she did not make the final list of nominees. Bekhti is married to Algerian-French actor Tahar Rahim, whom she met while filming A Prophet in 2007.

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