In its debut weekend, the French film Rogue City was the second most-streamed film on Netflix. The intense thriller aims to balance between raw violence and demonstrating that all those involved are still human, despite their actions.
This is where French-Algerian actor Moussa Maaskri comes in. Maaskri is no stranger to playing dark, gritty characters. However, he specializes in preserving the humanity and relatability of his characters.
“You know, the bad guys are interesting roles,” Maaskri tells La Provence. “you have to look for humanity in them, without that you can’t play them.”
Despite some typecasting, Moussa Maaskri has had a varied career
“We all have dirt deep inside, it’s an outlet,” says Maaskri. “…That’s why my bad guys are human. The worst of men is human and you try to understand what he’s doing that he ended up where he is.”
Maaskri often gets the role of the villain, which Jeune Afrique credits to his demeanor. But Maaskri embraces this.
“It’s anything but reductive,” he explains. Maaskri has played alongside some big names, including Robert DeNiro in The Family, Guy Pearce in Two Brothers, and parkour pioneer David Belle in District 13: Ultimatum. His career spans various genres, from drama to comedy to thriller.
Coming up, he will join Matt Damon in the feature film Stillwater. He recently starred in his childhood friend Bania Medjbar’s The Crime of the Angels. But he also finds time to support his community and connect to his roots.
“We are part of the second generation…We campaigned to open up the horizons to young people,” he says. “At the time, it was difficult, it is even more so today.” He holds masterclasses and workshops in Marseilles, and often plays in small local productions, including web series and rap videos made by those with a similar background to his own.
Moussa Maaskri began acting to cope with trauma
Algerian-born Maaskri arrived in Marseille, France, at age 8 with his mother. “There was a shantytown and behind a wall a woman who made skewers, a sheep, and I said to myself, ‘They are too cool, the French, they made us a small village so that we do not feel disoriented,’” he remembers. “But in fact, it was a slum that I lived in until the 70s.”
Maaskri’s first role was in a theatre troupe that he started with 6 of his friends when he was just 18. After his friend, Lahouari Ben Mohamed, was shot by Marseille law enforcement during an identity check in 1980, Maaskri and his friends felt that theatre was the only way to express the pain they felt.
“My mother encouraged me to follow the artistic path,” he says, and he slowly worked his way up the ranks from short films to full features. Despite his flourishing film career, Maaskri still plays with the Theatre de la Carriere.
“Rogue City”: Moussa Maskri’s raw, intense performance
Like Ladj Ly’s re-imagining of Les Misérables, Rogue City takes place in a modern Marseille. It focuses on the complex relationship between criminals and the law. Many reviews state that it does not waver much from its predecessors in the cop-drama sphere.
Nevertheless, the direction of former policeman Olivier Marchal provides enough catching dialogues and interesting subplots to capture and retain attention.
Watch Rogue City on Netflix here.
