Biography - Zain Al Rafeea

Who is Zain Al Rafeea?

Zain Al Rafeea is an actor well known for starring in the Lebanese film Capernaum as Zain El Hajj and in Marvel’s Eternals. He is Syrian-born, grew up in the slums of Beirut, Lebanon, and now has a Norwegian passport.

Zain Al Rafeea – Age, Parents, Siblings

Zain Al Rafeea’s birth took place on 10 October 2004 in Daraa, Syria. His father’s name is Ali al-Rafeea while the name of his mother is not known. His parents raised him alongside his four siblings- an older brother and three younger sisters.

War victim, Childhood

As a victim of the war in Syria, the Al Rafeea left their home country in 2012 and took refuge in the outskirts of Beirut, Lebanon. As his father struggled to make ends meet, he too had to work as an impoverished delivery boy. As Lebanese officials were wary of Syrian refugees settling permanently in the country, they did not allow official refugee camps and allowed Syrian refugees to only work in construction, agriculture, and cleaning.

Education, Ethnicity

As Zain Al Rafeea had left Syria at an early age, he did not have a chance to study and was illiterate. However, after starring in the film Capernaum, he has a second chance in life. The family has since resettled in Hammerfest, northern Norway, and has Norwegian passports, Zain Al Rafeea and his siblings have begun to attend school.

His ethnicity is Syrian.

Zain Al Rafeea – Girlfriend, Relationship

Zain Al Rafeea is currently believed to be single, sans girlfriend. There are no mentions of his romantic relationships.

Zain Al Rafeea – Career

Life-Changing day

In late 2017, Jennifer Haddad, a casting director and collaborator of actress, activist, and director Nadine Labaki saw the then 12-year-old Zain Al Rafeea playing in the street with some friends in Beirut’s Corniche al Mazraa neighborhood.  

Haddad asked him if he would like to act to which  Al Rafeea agreed. So she shot a video of the child and sent it to Labaki who then cast him as Zain El-Hajj in the 2018 Lebanese drama film Capernaum.

Breakthrough

In the film, the protagonist character Zain is Lebanese but legally stateless because his parents didn’t have the money to register his birth. Zain sues his parents for giving birth to him even though they could not take care of him.

The film went on to be nominated for around 33 international and national awards including Academy Awards - Best Foreign Language Film, British Academy Film Awards - Best Film Not in the English Language, Golden Globes - Best Foreign Language Film, etc.

Films, TV Series

Zain Al Rafeea, the budding actor, is set to star in the 2021 Marvel film Eternals with stars Kit Harington, Gemma Chan, Gil Birmingham, and Brian Tyree Henry. He is yet to work in any TV series.

Co-stars

On the set of Eternals, Zain Al Rafeea has worked with MA Dong-seok, Barry Keoghan, Lia McHugh, Lucia Efstathiou, Haaz Sleiman, and Lauren Ridloff.

Zain Al Rafeea – Awards, Nominations

For his work in Capernaum, Zain Al Rafeea has won Antalya Golden Orange Film Festival (2018), New Mexico Film Critics (2018), FEST International Film Festival (2019), 40th Annual Young Artist Awards (2019), and has earned nominated for Asia Pacific Screen Awards (2018), and The Lebanese Movie Awards (2019).

Zain Al Rafeea – Net Worth, Salary

The figure on the net worth and annual salary of Al Rafeea is under review.

Zain Al Rafeea – Instagram, Twitter, Facebook

On Instagram, Zain Al Rafeea is followed by thousands of followers but seems to be absent from Twitter and Facebook.