Biography

Elyas M’Barek is an Austrian actor. M’Barek made his first feature film appearance while still in school, playing the character "Blaubart" in Dennis Gansel’s *Mädchen, Mädchen*. In the ARD early-evening series *Türkisch für Anfänger* (Turkish for Beginners), he played Cemil (Cem) Öztürk—a macho character of Turkish descent whose father moves in with a German woman and her children. In 2006, he was awarded the German Television Prize in the category "Best Lead Actor in a Series" for this role. That same year, the series itself received the German Television Prize in the category "Best Series." M’Barek played one of the lead roles in the film *Wholetrain*, which is set within the graffiti scene. In 2008, he portrayed the Turkish teenager Sinan in the film adaptation of the novel *Die Welle* (The Wave). From 2009 to 2011, he appeared in the medical series *Doctor’s Diary*, and in 2010, he played the young Bushido in *Zeiten ändern dich*. He also appeared as Flo in the film *Teufelskicker*. Filming began on September 21, 2010, for the movie *What a Man*, which was released in German cinemas in August 2011. Also in 2011, he appeared in the film *Biss zur großen Pause – Das Highschool Vampir Grusical* (Bite Until the Big Break – The High School Vampire Musical), a production of ProSieben's *Funny Movie* series. In 2012, M’Barek could be seen in the feature films *Türkisch für Anfänger*, *Fünf Freunde* (Five Friends), *Offroad*, and *Heiter bis wolkig*. On October 25, 2012, the animated feature *Hotel Transylvania* was released, in which he—alongside Josefine Preuß—lent his voice to one of the lead roles. In September 2012, M’Barek’s role in the film adaptations of *The Mortal Instruments* book series was confirmed. In November 2013, the comedy *Fack ju Göhte* was released, in which he took on the role of Zeki Müller. He reprised this role in the sequel *Fack ju Göhte 2*, which hit theaters in September 2015. In the film adaptation *The Physician*, M’Barek starred alongside Tom Payne and Ben Kingsley. In February 2015, he appeared on the big screen as Joseph in the comedy *Traumfrauen*, in which he played a leading role alongside Hannah Herzsprung, Karoline Herfurth, Palina Rojinski, and Iris Berben. In November 2016, the comedy *Welcome to Germany*—in which M’Barek appears as the doctor Tarek Berger—was released in theaters.