Thanks to her character of inès that she embodies in Indefensible, actress Nour Belkhiria is one of the public’s recent favourites. In real life, the young woman of Tunisian origin left her job as a lawyer to play a law intern in this series: the perfect example of reality meeting fiction!
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The chances that Nour Belkhiria’s acting career would take off in Quebec were very slim. She was born in Tunisia and lived there until she was 18 before her parents decided to move to Quebec. Already very disciplined and focused on her studies, Nour enrolled in law at the University of Montreal with the goal of becoming a lawyer. “My parents are both doctors, so education in my family is very important. They were somewhat disappointed that I didn’t choose medicine, but I sucked in science! So I decided to do my law. (laughs)»
Like a top of the class, Nour devoted herself to her law studies with a view to becoming a lawyer. But the dream of being an actress, of embodying characters and letting her creativity live remained firmly rooted in her heart. “Even though I was pursuing my studies in law, I also wanted to do theater when I arrived in Quebec. But making a career out of it seemed impossible to me. All my life, theater has been an extracurricular activity; I was even part of the law school theater troupe. In fact, I’ve been playing since I was very young. My parents knew that I dreamed of making it my job and they liked coming to see me in the theater, except that they really didn’t take it seriously.
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FROM DREAM TO REALITY
Being herself very pragmatic and adhering to the concept of having a very solid plan B, Nour keeps in mind to be an actress one day while becoming a lawyer. After a few years in Quebec, her parents and her two sisters went back to live in Tunisia. Nour, who is the eldest in the family, decides to stay on Quebec soil, because she really likes her new life. It was during her third year of law school at university that she auditioned and landed her very first role in the film. Antigone, by Sophie Deraspe. Her dream of acting is coming true and her talent is so great that she won the award for Best Actress in a Supporting Role on Canadian Screens in 2020.
Along with her law career which is also taking off, she continues to audition, gets a role in A reasonable doubtto finally win that of Inès in Indefensible, TVA’s first daily series, while she was working as a lawyer for an e-commerce company. “I had been working as a lawyer for regarding six months when I auditioned for Inès. When I told the production team that I was really a lawyer in life, I saw that it provoked some very positive reactions. (laughs) As an actress, it’s a dream come true for me, to play in such a series with incredible actors. And as a lawyer, I can say that I think it’s great that viewers have access to so much popular legal language. They will learn a lot; it is even very close to reality and it is fascinating.”
TAMING YOUR NEW LIFE
Today, Nour loves her life in Quebec. It takes root there and has adapted well to our culture. Her beginnings, however, were more complex than she anticipated, even though she didn’t have the language barrier. “I admit that my first months in Quebec were quite difficult, because I experienced a shock of cultures. Admittedly, it was reassuring that it was a French-speaking place, but often I didn’t really understand the expressions and references, and I really felt like I was in another world. (laughs) Gradually, I got used to it. I now have my circle of friends in Montreal and I realize my dreams there. My life is here and I am very happy!”
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