Jamel Debbouze

In 1995, Jamel Debbouze was noticed by Radio Nova‘s directors, Jacques Massadian and Jean-François Bizot and started his career in radio with his program Le Cinéma de Jamel. In 1996-1997, he starred on the French TV channel Paris Première with a broadcast produced by Radio Nova.

In 1996, he began his first one man show called C’est tout neuf. In 1998, he initiated the TV Version of Cinéma de Jamel on the TV Channel Canal +. He then featured in the film Zonzon directed by Laurent Bouhnik and a year later he was offered his first major role in a feature film called Le ciel, les oiseaux et .. ta mère by Djamel Bensalah.

In 1999, he was back on stage with his second one man show Jamel en scène. He also played Jamel Dridi, in the famous French hospital TV series H, alongside fellow the French comedians, Eric and Ramzy, for four seasons until 2002.

In 2000, he launched his new show Jamel Show in the French mythical theater L’Olympia, and the following year he took a part in the movie La Balle directed by Mathieu Kassovitz. He portrayed the role of Lucien in the highly successful Le Fabuleux destin d’Amélie Poulain directed by Jean-Pierre Jeunet, for which he was nominated for the César Award of Best Actor in a Supporting Role.

In 2002, he continued his cinematic career with two comedies Le Boulet by Alain Barberian, and the box office hit movie Astérix et Obélix, Mission Cléopatre directed by Alain Chabat.

In 2003, he returned on stage with his third one man show 100 % Debbouze. For three years this show played in the top Parisian theaters; Casino de Paris, Bataclan, Zenith and Olympia. He then went on tour throughout France. This tour did not stop him from continuing his acting career and he featured in Spike Lee’s She Hate Me in 2004, and in 2005 he had the leading role in Angel.A directed by Luc Besson.

In 2006, he played one of the most important parts of his career in the film Indigènes (Outside the Law). He shared the prize for the Best Male performance at the Cannes Film Festival with his costars Samy Naceri, Roschdy Zem, Sami Bouajila and Bernard Blancan. The film represented France at the Academy Awards®.

In July 2006, he became hosted a new TV program named Jamel Comedy Club which ran for three seasons. On this show, he offered 12 gifted comedians the opportunity to perform on stage every week. The troupe performed at the Casino de Paris and toured throughout France. In 2007, he featured in the film Parlez-moi de la pluie directed by Agnès Jaoui.

In 2009, he opened his own theater in Paris Le Comedy Club, for a new generation of French comedians and a new TV series Inside Jamel Comedy Club which was broadcast on Canal +. In the same year, he played the part of Saïd in Rachid Bouchared’s movie, Hors la loi, which presented in the official competition at the Cannes Film Festival the following year.

In 2010 he released a DVD, Made in Jamel, which featured guest stars such as Gad Elmaleh, Florence Foresti, Elie Semoun and Stromae. In 2011, after a 7 year absence, he made his return to the stage with a new show entitled Tout sur Jamel which he performed at the Casino de Paris, French Zenith Theater and the Palais des Sports.

Polaris Films