Starting as a refugee and rising all the way to award-winning film star and now into the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Zain Al Rafeea has done a lot at 17 years old. With only two acting roles under his belt, Zain has managed to catapult himself and his family into a new life.

While every actor in Hollywood seems to be gunning for a part in the MCU, Zain secured one for only his second ever acting job, appearing in Eternals, the MCU’s mythic story of a band of immortal superheroes that have been secretly protecting Earth for thousands of years. His first film – as well as his first experience of acting – was the lead role in the critically acclaimed, Golden Globe-nominated Capernaum.

The young talent was discovered on the streets of Lebanon, where he and his family had settled after leaving their homes in Syria, by Jennifer Haddad, assistant to writer, director and actress Nadine Labaki who was looking for “realist” actors – untrained non-professional performers – to appear in Labaki’s upcoming project.

“I was working in delivery and raising birds and poultry at the same time,” Zain remembers. “I went to the street and I saw many children standing in a circle. Jennifer was in the middle asking them questions. I joined them to find out what was happening.”

He was cast as the film’s main character Zain, a street-smart 12-year-old suing his parents for neglect while serving a five-year prison sentence. The film and Zain’s performance were lauded, and he became an overnight sensation.

“I did not imagine that we would reach a level where we would win awards,” he confides.

He recalls the feelings when the film received a standing ovation at the 2018 Cannes Film Festival, and again when it was nominated for a Golden Globe, an Oscar, and the Cannes’ Palm d’Or and Jury prize.

“At that moment I was confused because it was the first time I saw a huge crowd clapping for me. I felt a bit shy, and this was the reason why we got tears in our eyes.”

Capernaum set the record for the highest-grossing Arabic language film and Middle Eastern-produced film in history. Zain’s success caught the eye of award-winning director Chloe Zhao as she prepared for Eternals.

“[Zhao] talked to Nadine. We did a call where we talked for a while and set a deal, and everything worked out well.”

Zain traveled to the Canary Islands to join a cast that was already critically lauded for its diversity and began work on his first Hollywood film. Though his role was small – a young man in 5,000 BC Mesopotamia who is saved from the monsters known as Deviants in the Eternals’ first outing as a superhero team – he managed to meet some of Hollywood’s hottest stars.

“We didn’t have many scenes together, but I did meet Angelina Jolie and Salma Hayek. They invited me to lunch after shooting,” he says. “They were frankly very nice to me. We had been on a boat trip and my phone fell down in the water, so [Hayek] gave me a new phone.”

Currently living with his family in Norway, Zain is continuing to pursue acting, with his father managing his career and multiple films in the works. While shooting on the first of his projects – the details of which are so far unannounced – begins in April 2022, he will also be applying to go to university to study his craft.

“At first acting was a normal thing for me. I thought that 90 – 99% I wanted to move forward in this field, but I should have a degree, so I need time to study it,” he says. “Experience will not be beneficial without a degree,”

Looking forward, Zain hopes to work again with Zhao, Jolie, and Hayek. He also remains in touch with Labaki and Haddad. After Capernaum was nominated but did not take home the Golden Globe or the Oscar for Best Foreign Film, Zain’s goal has become to win one of these prestigious awards. With this, he hopes to prove to both the fans and the detractors of Arabic filmmaking the level of talent coming from the Arab World.