Omar Sy

A charismatic actor with a gift for physical comedy, Omar Sy became an overnight sensation after his career-making performance in the French film "The Intouchables" (2011). Sy launched his career doing skits on a local radio station, which eventually morphed into the television series "Omar et Fred" (Canal+, 2001- ), a weekly sketch-comedy show based on phony radio call-ins. He went on to land a string of featured roles in mostly French comedies, including "Nos jours heureux" ("Those Happy Days") (2006), "Tellement proches" (2009), and the arthouse film "Micmacs" (2009), a satire on the world arms trade. After several years playing supporting characters, Sy suddenly became the toast of European cinema after his scene-stealing performance in "The Intouchables," an unlikely hit film about a wealthy quadriplegic (François Cluzet) whose life is turned upside down when he hires a rambunctious young man, just out of prison, to take care of him. The tailor-made role transformed Sy into a marquee star who also made history by becoming the first black performer to win a César Award for Best Actor, all of which made him a bona fide celebrity even beyond his native France.