Cannes, France – Now that Jamel Debbouze is a movie star, he finally thinks people accept him as French. Born in France to Moroccan parents, he sometimes felt like a foreigner in his own country.
“Here, they call us ‘the immigrants,’ and in Morocco, ‘the emigrants,”‘ Debbouze said Friday at the Cannes Film Festival. He’s promoting “Days of Glory,” a story of the forgotten colonial soldiers who fought to free France during World War II.
The diminutive, snub-nosed stand-up comic and actor – best known abroad for playing a doorman in “She Hate Me” and a simple-minded grocer’s assistant in “Amelie” – is a superstar in France. He jokingly describes himself as “part Superman, part Eddie Murphy, part Bugs Bunny, with a touch of Martin Luther King Jr.”
Debbouze, 30, is also an outspoken advocate for children of immigrants who live in France’s troubled suburbs. “I know I represent hope for a lot of people who live in the suburbs, who have felt excluded their whole lives,” he said.
Debbouze worries that France’s politicians are fanning xenophobia since last fall’s riots. “Maybe this is a bit utopian, but I sincerely think that if France realizes its true colors and accepts them, we will all be happier,” he said.
Though most of Debbouze’s roles are comic, “Days of Glory” is serious. The film is about Muslim North Africans recruited to help free France from the Nazis.
Debbouze, a co-producer on the film, said it is not meant to inspire bitterness against France but to make minorities aware of the contributions of their ancestors.
