Why the world can't get enough of actor Elyas M'Barek
Once relegated to minor roles, actor Elyas M'Barek has come into his own, playing parts that go beyond comedy and slapstick. Here's a look at the career of one of Germany's most popular actors.
A cinema and social media star
Undeniably, actor Elyas M'Barek (with camera in hand) is a star in Germany. The son of a Tunisian programmer and an Austrian nurse, the actor grew up in Munich and has become a big name in cinemas and on social media. His Instagram account boasts over 2.4 million followers. Here, he nabs a selfie with co-stars at the premiere of his latest film, "Das perfekte Geheimnis" ("The Perfect Secret").
Starting out as a lovable goofball
The TV series "Turkish for Beginners" (2006-2008) by director Bora Dagtekin made M'Barek famous. He played the role of adorable goofball Cem Öztürk. The series highlights culture clashes in a German-Turkish family, with the awkward romance between Cem and his neurotic stepsister drawing plenty of attention. A 2012 movie based on the series attracted around 2.4 million viewers.
Irreverent and in charge
In 2013 director and screenwriter Dagtekin and M'Barek collaborated once again on the film "Fack ju Göhte." In it, M'Barek plays a petty criminal who discovers his hidden stack of cash is hidden under a school in Munich. To infiltrate, he lands a job as a substitute teacher for a group of problematic pupils. Packed with punchlines and often politically incorrect, the film was a hit in Germany.
Fack ju Göhte - the trilogy
Two equally successful sequels followed the original film in 2015 and 2017 and an estimated 21 million visitors saw the Fack ju Göhte trilogy. It was even a hit in Mexico, where in 2016 a country specific remake called "No Manches Frida" was released.
An interest in drama
Comedy aside, M'Barek also sought out the challenges of acting in dramatic films early on in his career. In the 2008 film "The Wave" (above), he played a student who becomes part of a student experiment on anarchy and totalitarianism that gets out of hand.
An international hit
M'Barek has also worked on a variety of international projects. In 2013, he appeared alongside celebrities like Emma Rigby, Tom Payne and Oliver Martinez (pictured left to right) in the film "The Physician," based on the best-selling English-language book by American novelist Noah Gordon.
Romantic comedy, German-style
His popularity with female audiences has made him a shoe-in for roles in romantic comedies such as "What a Man" in 2011, "Heiter bis Wolkig" (literally "clear to cloudy") in 2012 and "Man of My Dreams" in 2015. He is pictured above in the latter alongside actress Hannah Herzsprung.
A serious turn?
In 2019 M'Barek impressed audiences in the political thriller "The Collini Case." In it, he plays a public defender who comes across a conspiracy and solves a seemingly baseless murder case that stretches back to the Nazi and post-WWII eras in Germany.