The Intouchables star Omar Sy stays true to his roots
French actor now based in LA has moved on from worldwide hit of 2011 to play the lead in a gritty drama about a Senegalese immigrant struggling to get by in France without proper papers
French actor Omar Sy has come a long way from the gritty Paris suburbs where he grew up. But sitting in a five-star Beverly Hills hotel, he has clearly not forgotten his immigrant roots.
And the same goes for his career - weeks after starring in the record-breaking Jurassic World blockbuster franchise, he will be on US cinema screens in his latest French film, Samba. "Last year was the perfect example: during the winter, I was shooting Samba, and during the summer, I was shooting Jurassic World. And for me that's the perfect year," he says.
"To travel to such different projects in the same year … If it can continue like that, it will be a dream," says Sy, who lives outside Los Angeles with his wife and four children.
The 37-year-old, whose parents were immigrants from West Africa, has long been known in his native France both for television and film work. But he was catapulted to international success by 2011's The Intouchables, about the relationship between a quadriplegic millionaire and a caretaker he hires from a poor Parisian suburb.