Photo: Fede Delibes

It all started when…

Born in 1985 in Liège in the maternity ward that would become his first drama school just nine years later, Mehdi Dehbi developed a passion for music and theater from a very young age. At eight, he won a national songwriting competition, and at sixteen, landed his first leading role in the film THE ASSASSINATED SUN, produced by the Dardenne brothers. He received his first nomination for Best Actor at the Joseph Plateau Awards for that role. After his first film, he pursued his acting training at the Royal Conservatory of Brussels, then at the CNSAD in Paris, before completing his studies in London at LAMDA. Upon graduating, he immediately continued working.

On stage he will appear in TERRE SAINTE at the Théâtre de la Tempête, and Gare de l’Est at the Palais de la Porte Dorée, directed by Sophie Akrich. Then will go on tour throughout France with Marcel Bozonnet’s BAÏBARS, LE MAMELOUK QUI DEVINT SULTAN. And it’s at the Théâtre National de Chaillot that he takes center stage by playing Romeo in David Bobée’s adaptation of Shakespeare’s ROMEO AND JULIET. He also interprets Pierrot in Genet’s SPLENDID’S, directed by Cristèle Alves Meira.

In film, he works all over Europe with acclaimed directors such as Anton Corbijn, Giacomo Battiato, Sofia Alaoui, Tarek Saleh, Gianluca Maria Tavarelli, Thomas Imbach, Lorraine Lévy… But it’s in Battiato’s L’INFILTRÉ (nominated at the Emmy Awards), that Mehdi is awarded Best actor at the French equivalent of the Emmys at the time, the FIPA. He’s also nominated twice as Révélation at the César Awards for THE OTHER SON and HE’S MY GIRL, where he plays four characters in one, including two women and a transvestite. Mehdi’s work is also recognised in his birth country, where he’s nominated twice at the Magritte Awards for his roles in LE SAC DE FARINE, and later in CAIRO CONSPIRACY (winner of Best Screenplay Award at Cannes).

He also stars alongside Philip Seymour Hoffman and Willem Dafoe in A MOST WANTED MAN, and has been developing since a career in the US where he is represented by Paradigm Talent Agency, under the recommendation of Philip Seymour Hoffman himself.  He has appeared in the American series TYRANT on FX, and in the Hollywood blockbuster LONDON HAS FALLEN. Most notably, Mehdi was tapped by producers and approved at the highest level after a world-wide talent search to portray the title character in the Netflix series MESSIAH where he led an all-star cast. MESSIAH became an international sensation, with Mehdi front and center in all the promotional activities.

More recently, we can see him on the ARTE documentary JESUS GOES TO HOLLYWOOD, where he talks about his work in MESSIAH. He is also the lead in AMBLESIDE that swept up 6 awards at the Boston Film Festival in 2025, including Best Ensemble Cast.

Dehbi’s just finished wrapping an intense leading role on an International production in Athens. He is preparing for his next shoot.

As a theater director, his career began in 2012 with Camus's powerful play THE JUST ASSASSINS, which toured France, Germany and Belgium, where he received a nomination for Best Newcomer for his work as a director. In 2021, he acquired the exclusive rights from Albin Michel to adapt SOIF by Amélie Nothomb, which he produced and directed in Morocco. In 2024, he embarked on the creation of a multi-chapter project on identity, *id chapter I: construction*, at Cloud Seven in Brussels, featuring installations on two levels and performances with dancer and performer Shamel Pitts.

Mehdi Dehbi is an international multidisciplinary artist, who’s also passionate about transmission through his ACT OF PRESENCE workshops, that he has been giving in Paris, Brussels and Madrid.