Soumaya Akaaboune

Soumaya Akaaboune, a Moroccan actress and former model, has been active in the industry since the late 1980s. Born in Tangier, Morocco, she trained in acting at the Loft Studio and later made her mark in international cinema. In 2010, she starred opposite Matt Damon in the war thriller Green Zone. She followed that with roles in the romantic comedy Playing for Keeps (2012) and the biopic Lovelace (2013). Akaaboune also appeared on the 2013 French show Les Vraies Housewives, which profiled five housewives.

On television, Akaaboune gained wide recognition in Morocco for her role as Fettouma in the soap opera Wadii, which aired from 2015 to 2016. The show was directed by Yassine Ferhanne and drew seven million views per episode. Her character, a bourgeois woman who refuses to accept injustice, resonated with audiences. In 2019, she played Marcelle in the spy series The Spy.

Akaaboune's personal life has been marked by both family and tragedy. She met film producer Peter Rodger in 1999, and the couple married and had a son named Jazz. She was also the stepmother of Elliot Rodger, the perpetrator of the 2014 Isla Vista killings. The relationship was strained, and Elliot had planned to harm her as well. She returned to Morocco at the end of 2014. She speaks French, Arabic, English, and Spanish. At 52, she has an average build, with brown hair and brown eyes, and stands 5'6".