Arab Stars of Tomorrow 2023: Noor Taher, actor (Jordan)

A Jordanian actress, dancer, model and social-media influencer, Noor Taher gained widespread recognition in the Middle East and beyond for her role in Netflix’s 2021 Arabic original AlRawabi School For Girls. Taher gave a nuanced performance as Layan, the talented and beautiful leader of a bullying clique that terrorises the school. The New Yorker magazine described her as giving “soul and depth” to Layan, an instantly hateable character who becomes more sympathetic over the show’s six episodes.

In her early years, Taher was brought up on film sets in Jordan. She enjoyed acting at school, and her performing arts teacher was also a casting agent. From the age of six she started appearing in films, including Rowan Joffe’s The Shooting Of Thomas Hurndall and Cyrus Nowrasteh’s The Stoning Of Soraya M (both 2008). “I was basically raised in the industry — I used to miss a lot of school,” she recalls.

Taher loved the experience —meeting people from different backgrounds and getting to know all the departments on a production. “It is important to educate yourself about acting in the film industry,” she says. “But nothing helps you more than actually experiencing it. I learned so much.” She speaks fluent English with an authentic US accent — despite having never set foot in the country.

By the time she was in middle school, however, Taher had put acting on hold to focus on her studies. Her next role came soon after graduating high school, reuniting the actress with director Nowrasteh in 2019 thriller Infidel starring Jim Caviezel. Then came AlRawabi School For Girls, which marked a radical break for Taher. Not only was it the first Arabic production she had worked on, but she had deliberately chosen to audition for the part of the school bully.

“Until that point, a lot of my roles were super-sweet and I didn’t have to completely transform myself. But I love to challenge myself when it comes to acting.”

Now 24, Taher says that experience has changed her thinking about the craft. Having been something she did primarily for enjoyment, she now wants to portray more characters people can truly connect to.

“I’m open to any type of genre, just as long as I make people feel,” Taher says. She is also “curious” about writing and producing, but remains tight-lipped about her next project. “It’s going to be very different from how people are used to seeing me.”

Contact: Niveen Bahloul, Ego & East

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