Is he the second coming? Is he the Messiah or Al-Masih? Or, is he an imposter, a faker, a circus illusionist with the name Payam Golshiri? Well, this question has gotten the best of all of us with one man in its center, the Belgian actor, Mehdi Dehbi.
Well, the man has been a part of the entertainment world since 2002 when he portrayed Hamid in Le Soleil Assassine at 16 years of age. Besides, he also appeared in movies, A Most Wanted Man, The Godmother, and London Has Fallen among others.
With 18 years of service to the entertainment industry and 18 acting credits under his name, Mehdi has become a household name. Well, there are a lot of things people want to know about him so, here you go, five fast facts about Mehdi Dehbi AKA Al-Masih.
5. Mehdi Dehbi’ Net Worth is $2 million
Let’s start with the most common one! We all know the actor started his journey at the age of 16 with Le Soleil Assassine. Well, since then, he has already appeared in as many as 18 movies and tv shows. Not to mention, a plethora of his stage shows.
Source: Celebs In Depth
Dehbi’s fortune is not only the result of his acting career as he is also involved in directing, photography, music, and poems. Here’s more to Mehdi Dehbi’ net worth if you want to find out about his career endeavors.
4. Still Away from Dating Affairs
The handsome hunk of the entertainment world is still single. Yes, we were shocked too! The 34 years old actor likes to keep his private life out of the media’s rich and so, not much is known about his personal relationships.
Source: Messiah Wiki Fandom
Dehbi hates to share the details of his private life with the people. This might also be the reason why the actor stays away from social media. Yes, you won’t find him on Instagram, Twitter, and even Facebook. But, hold your horses, as you will be able to see him on his own website and not to forget about his YouTube Channel with over 116,602 video views till 20th January 2020.
3. Played Baby Jesus at age 3
Co-incidence or say whatever you want but at just the age of three, Mehdi Dehbi played the role of baby Jesus in a school play in Belgium. After over three decades, Mehdi again appears to be portraying Jesus but this time in quite a controversial manner.
While talking about his previous role as Jesus, Mehdi revealed to The Wrap, that he was raised in a Catholic School and that he had to partake in scenes from the Bible.
When I was 3 years old — I grew up in Belgium, and I was raised in a Catholic school — every Thursday we went in the church playing scenes from the Bible. And the first role I ever played was Jesus.
Well, it seems as if the man was destined to play this role. What do you guys think?
2. Real Hair in Messiah
Whenever we think of Jesus, we see a man with shoulder-length hair, thanks to the media. Well, Messiah also wanted to show the same portrayal of Jesus and hence, showed Mehdi with long hair, which fans thought was a wig. But, the actor didn’t really wear a wig, it was actually his original hair.
According to Dehbi, he let his hair grow out of intuition two years prior to filming the show. Even during the audition for the role, Mehdi already had long hair. Though he grew his hair, the whole process was quite alien to him.
I didn’t want to do it. That was very strange. You let your hair grow for spiritual reasons because hair is an extension of yourself. I know that yogis let their hair grow for spiritual growth. I felt called to do that, and I felt like it was the right thing, spiritually.
But, the actor also stresses that it was never his intention to look like Jesus. He said,
It was never a goal to look like him or anybody else.
As we’ve already said in the third point, it could’ve been destiny that called Mehdi to play the role. Could this really be just a coincidence?
1. Knows Four Languages
At 34, Mehdi Dehbi is fluent in four languages (some also say SIX). He very well speaks English, French, Spanish, and Arabic as well. But in Messiah, the lead cast also appeared to have spoken Hebrew while his cast, Messiah is in Israel.
The Belgian actor has lived in a number of countries to date and so he learned the languages. This helped him open up to the world. While talking to Express during the promotion of Lili Rose, he revealed,
I don’t want to participate in a cinema that pits people against each other. Neither to play in naive films. Just interpret characters who refuse the stereotype.
Well, this describes why he knows four languages!
Bonus
- Amelie Nothom’s Thirst was the last book he read.
- For relaxation, Mehdi listens to classical music.
- Netflix’s Messiah took Mehdi a total of one year to complete. It took him six months to prepare for the role and another six months to finish shooting.
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