Mehdi Dehbi–star of Netflix’s hit show Messiah–has landed a lead role in “Prisoners of Paradise”. The Belgian actor will play a lovestruck laborer in this coming-of-age love story, set on the beautiful Indian Ocean island of Mauritius.
Starring alongside Nocturnal Animals actress Ellie Bamber, expect dazzling performances among stunning scenery. Dehbi is no stranger to romantic drama, having previously appeared on stage in Shakespeare’s Romeo + Juliet.
Prisoners of Paradise will be Mehdi’s first major role since stirring controversy with his highly lauded performance in Netflix’s Messiah.
Mehdi Dehbi in Messiah
Mehdi Dehbi: actor, director, Messiah…
Dehbi’s first lead role came at the age of 3 where he played Jesus in his school play. Fast forward three decades and Dehbi has made a name for himself portraying another kind of religious savior.
“Al Masih”, Dehbi’s character in Messiah, straddles a line between con artist and bona fide prophet. For the role, Dehbi prepared himself with deep spiritual work. Determined to avoid a clichéd performance, Dehbi says “to be genuine and authentic, it had to come from within me.” It took a year of method acting for Dehbi to achieve this level of performance.
Dehbi has also appeared in Mary Queen of Scots and a Most Wanted Man, where he starred alongside the late great Philip Seymour Hoffman. But his talents stretch beyond acting; Dehbi is also a theatre director. In 2012, he directed his first play–a classic of French theatre–Les Justes by Albert Camus. The production was first put on at the prestigious Theatre de Liege, before touring France and Germany. Dehbi was nominated for a prize at the 2014 Prix de la Critique Awards for his work.
A dramatic career for Mehdi Dehbi
Born in Liege, Belgium, Dehbi is of Tunisian descent. He speaks four languages fluently: Arabic, English, French and Spanish. He also had to learn some Hebrew for his role in Messiah. Such a range of languages in his arsenal makes Dehbi especially versatile for casting.
And for a man of 35 years, Dehbi has an impressive amount of acting experience. Enrolling at the Academie Gretry at the age of 10, he landed his first lead role in a feature film at 16 in Le Soleil Assassiné in 2002. With a constant stream of high profile work since then, Dehbi is worth over $2 million and is now repped by both Kuranda Management and Paradigm Talent Agency.
Outside of his acting, Dehbi leads a very private life, forgoing social media to keep the focus on his craft: “for me, acting is a spiritual thing, and it has been throughout my whole life,” he says.
Mehdi Dehbi in Prisoners of Paradise
Set in 1925, Prisoners of Paradise follows Lucy, a 17 year old English orphan. Sent to the island of Mauritius to stay with her uncle, Lucy finds herself at odds with his ways.
Uncomfortable at the prospect of an arranged marriage, Lucy–played by English actress Ellie Bamber–finds solace in Dehbi’s character Krishna. Krishna, a labourer on a local plantation, dreams of one day owning his own land. The two fall madly in love with each other, as the coming-of-age story unfolds…
Directed by Mitch Jenkins and written by Alan Govinden and Jason Wingard, completing the film over the pandemic was a “challenge of a lifetime,” according to Govinden.
That challenge is now complete. Follow Prisoners of Paradise on Instagram @prisonersofparadisemovie for upcoming news on trailers and release date.
