Personal details
Born:
- Birthday: 1978-11-21
- Born Place: Lebanon
Also Known As:
Yasmine Elmasri
Yasmine Al Massri
Yasmine Al Massri is an acclaimed Palestinian-French actress, dancer, and human rights advocate who has successfully bridged the gap between Middle Eastern arthouse cinema and American primetime television. Born on November 21, 1978, in Beirut, Lebanon, to a Palestinian refugee father and an Egyptian mother, she was raised amidst the Lebanese Civil War before moving to Paris at age 20. She graduated from the prestigious École Nationale Supérieure des Beaux-Arts in 2007, specializing in multimedia and live performance. Her artistic career began in dance with the Souraya Baghdadi company, where she developed a unique performance style that blended classical Arab repertoire with contemporary folklore. She made her cinematic debut in Nadine Labaki’s 2007 hit Caramel, a role that earned her the Best Actress Award at the Abu Dhabi Film Festival and established her as a rising star in international cinema. Her transition to American media was marked by significant milestones, as she became one of the first Arab actresses to secure regular series roles on major U.S. networks. She starred opposite John Malkovich in the pirate drama Crossbones (2014) before achieving widespread fame for her dual role as identical twins Nimah and Raina Amin in the ABC thriller Quantico (2015–2017). Beyond her television success, she has continued to lead powerful independent films such as Julian Schnabel’s Miral (2010) and Najwa Najjar’s Pomegranates and Myrrh. In the 2026 drama I Was a Stranger, she takes on the central role of Amira Homsi, a Syrian pediatric surgeon fleeing Aleppo. Drawing on her own history as the daughter of a refugee, she has described the role as a deeply personal exploration of survival and identity. Off-screen, Al Massri is a passionate activist and U.S. citizen who frequently collaborates with the United Nations on humanitarian causes. She is married to actor and producer Michael Desante, with whom she has a son.
