Moroccan actor Youssef Kerkour has gone from being typecast as a terrorist to acting opposite Adam Driver and Al Pacino in House of Gucci. And it seems there’s more to come, as Kerkour tells us he will once again be working with iconic director Ridley Scott on the Napoleon Bonaparte drama Kitbag, alongside Joaquin Phoenix.

“When you work with iconic names like that, it’s very much what you expect,” Kerkour tells us. “Every actor can imagine what it feels like to sit opposite Al Pacino in a scene for example. My expectations were met and it left room to relax and enjoy it.”

Kerkour discovered an early affinity and passion for performance, starting in school plays and going on to study at Bard College in New York City. It was here that he began getting professional work. While his career started with small background roles, typical of actors just beginning their career, he quickly found that as a six-foot, bearded, Arab man, the film industry only seemed interested in seeing him play villains.

“I feel that clichè and stereotype is the way into the industry for all of us from an ethnic or minority background,” he says. “It shouldn’t be so, and we are trying hard to change. But if you want to get your foot in the door, that’s the way in.”

This experience was made all the worse when, after the September 11 World Trade Center attacks, Kerkour’s visa was denied and he was advised that “for a few years, Arabs would simply not have a chance” in the US. 

“I left with a touring show and instead of returning home with them, I went to the UK and started over. It was the worst time of my life,” he confides.

It was in the UK however that Kerkour landed the role that would turn his career around. Created in response to the growing anti-immigrant sentiment during the UK’s lead up to the Brexit vote, Home was a sitcom following a loveable Syrian refugee as he seeks asylum in England, works to reunite with his wife and son, and becomes fast friends with the family that unknowingly smuggled him into the country. The lead role of Sami found perfect casting with Kerkour.

“Home was one of the first times a mainstream outlet let me play against my casting type and it very much opened the door for other roles where I’m not killing people or getting killed!” he says.

From there, things changed for the actor. After being nominated for a BAFTA for Home and receiving the BAFTA Breakthrough Award highlighting him as a talent on the rise, Kerkour was cast in House of Gucci, the star-studded crime drama chronicling the real-life murder of Maurizio Gucci by his wife Patrizia Reggiani. 

To prepare for the role of Investcorp founder Nemir Kirdar, Kerkour went above and beyond, reading all of Kirdar’s books, studying his autobiography, and even memorizing 15 years’ worth of Investcorp financial information leading up to the year the film takes place.

“I wanted to understand where I would be coming from,” he explains. “It was incredible to walk on set with that information. I felt like I could just settle back into my role because I’d already done the work. That’s how I like to do things.” 

The effort paid off as Kerkour found himself in scenes with a number of major stars who matched the level of commitment he demonstrated.

“I saw first hand what makes Adam Driver so special. I was enormously impressed with him. He is the real deal and one of the best actors I’ve ever worked with.”

The person around whom Kerkour was most star-struck wasn’t any of his castmates, but the film’s director Ridley Scott. While receiving the BAFTA Breakthrough, Kerkour had named the Hollywood legend as the person he would most want to have as a mentor. Only a few months later, that dream was a reality.

“Ridley is a master of his craft and it is high time he received all the awards,” Kerkour raved. “I’ve never ever experienced a set like his before. In a pandemic, when productions were going over, he wrapped a month early. He is so efficient, trusting, and commanding at the same time.”

Kerkour is excited to once again be working with Ridley Scott as Kitbag begins production. Where he once was forced to take roles he hated, now he has achieved the freedom to choose the types of characters he portrays.

“I never turn down work unless there is a scheduling problem or I know the production company won’t treat me fairly or respectfully,” he says, declining to share the names of those he will no longer work with. “I also turn down terrorists and anything that denigrates my culture or background.”

Even as he has escaped the cycle of typecasting, Kerkour recognizes that it is still the reality the upcoming generation of Arab performers will face as they enter Hollywood. According to him, every time Arab actors step into an audition, they have to carry the weight of all the preconceived notions of “angry Arabs” in the mind of the Western world.

“While everyone else is knocking on their door, you’ll have to scramble up a steep hill made of mud and quicksand. It can take years to get to the top of the hill. And at the top is where you’ll find your door. That’s how stacked against us the deck is,” he says.

“Think about how to be the best you that you can be. Have loving conversations with the artist inside of you. So that when you walk into a room, they are overwhelmed by the artist in you and not the ‘Arab’ in them. Then there is no hill, there is no door. You’re already through the door.”