Nour El Refai (born 14 November 1987) is a

Swedish Swedish or ' may refer to: Anything from or related to Sweden, a country in Northern Europe. Or, specifically: * Swedish language, a North Germanic language spoken primarily in Sweden and Finland ** Swedish alphabet, the official alphabet used by ...

actress and comedian. She became known for her participation in the candid-camera show ''Raj Raj'' in 2007 and hosted

Melodifestivalen 2014 Melodifestivalen 2014 was the Swedish music competition which selected Sweden's 54th entry for the Eurovision Song Contest 2014. Sanna Nielsen won the competition with the song "Undo". This was one of the closest results in Melodifestivalen histo ...

. El Refai has also appeared in several movies such as '' Kronjuvelerna'' and ''Johan Falk: Spelets regler''.

Early life

El Refai was born in Tripoli, Lebanon and her family moved to Sweden to live in

Eslöv Eslöv (; older da, Eslev) is a town and the seat of Eslöv Municipality, Skåne County, Sweden with 19,598 inhabitants as of 2018. Eslöv is part of the Öresund Region. History According to a map from 1717, Eslöv village was originally l ...

just a few months after her birth. She is of Syrian and Lebanese heritage. Her family moved a few years later to Norra Fäladen in

Lund Lund (, , ) is a city in the southern Swedish provinces of Sweden, province of Scania, across the Øresund, Öresund strait from Copenhagen. The town had 91,940 inhabitants out of a municipal total of 121,510 . It is the seat of Lund Municipali ...

. She grew up in a single parent family with her mother, as her father left after a divorce just weeks after the arrival of the El Refai family in Sweden. Nour has had no contact with her father since.

Personal life

El Refai lives in Traneberg, Stockholm. El Refai was the victim of a

sexual assault Sexual assault is an act in which one intentionally sexually touches another person without that person's consent, or coerces or physically forces a person to engage in a sexual act against their will. It is a form of sexual violence, which ...

just before the start of her television career. The man who assaulted her was later sentenced to four months imprisonment. El Refai has

dysthymia Dysthymia ( ), also known as persistent depressive disorder (PDD), is a mental and behavioral disorder, specifically a disorder primarily of mood, consisting of similar cognitive and physical problems as major depressive disorder, but with lo ...

, a chronic form of depression. She has talked about her condition in two works: in her stand-up show ''En komisk depression'' ("''A comical depression''") in 2016–2017 and later in her late-2019 self-scripted and self-led four-part two-hour mini-documentary series "Livet lyckopiller" ("The happiness-pill life") which aired on

Sveriges Television Sveriges Television AB ("Sweden's Television Stock Company"), shortened to SVT (), is the Sweden, Swedish national public broadcasting, public television broadcaster, funded by a public service tax on personal income set by the Riksdag (national ...

, Sweden's national public television channel, in November–December 2019. In the mini-documentary she talks about her depression and showcases her attempts to get help and improve it, meets other Swedes with depression, and seeks and tells statistics and scientific facts about depression, mainly in Sweden.

Career

El Refai first came into prominence in 2006, when she had a role in the crime drama movie ''

Beck – Det tysta skriket ''Beck'' is a Swedish crime drama movie series, based on characters featured in the Martin Beck novels of Maj Sjöwall and Per Wahlöö, starring Peter Haber as the titular character. The first three series and two specials were released direc ...

''. Along with Cecilia Forss she hosted the candid-camera show, ''Raj Raj'', which was broadcast on

TV400 Kanal 11 (formerly TV11 and before that TV400) is a conditional access, entertainment channel owned by Warner Bros. Discovery EMEA. Its target audience is younger people and it almost solely broadcasts entertainment programmes. The channel was l ...

during 2007. In one notorious segment, she flashed her breasts to a man in

Humlegården Humlegården is a major park in the district of Östermalm in Stockholm, Sweden. The park borders on Karlavägen in the north, Sturegatan in the east, Humlegårdsgatan in the south and Engelbrektsgatan in the west. It is the location of the Swe ...

, which is famed for male flashers, and she was reported to the police. Charges were pressed and later she was sentenced to pay a fine for

indecent exposure Indecent exposure is the deliberate public exposure by a person of a portion of their body in a manner contrary to local standards of appropriate behavior. Laws and social attitudes regarding indecent exposure vary significantly in different ...

. El Refai and Forss had cooperated previously in the TV3 humour show ''Hus i helvete''. In 2008, El Refai was assigned as a reporter on stage for the ''

Melodifestivalen 2008 Melodifestivalen 2008 was the 47th Melodifestivalen, and the selection process for the 48th song to represent Sweden at the Eurovision Song Contest. A new rule—''Lex Agnes''—went into effect in 2008 calling for each submitted entry to inclu ...

''; the Swedish national selection for the

Eurovision Song Contest The Eurovision Song Contest (), sometimes abbreviated to ESC and often known simply as Eurovision, is an international songwriting competition organised annually by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU), featuring participants representing pr ...

. She interviewed the singers after they went off stage following their performances. During the same year, she acted in the ''Morgonsoffan'' television show also on SVT. She acted in the

Henrik Schyffert Per Henrik Schyffert (born 23 February 1968) is a Swedish comedian, actor, musician and radio and television personality. Career Schyffert was a VJ for MTV Europe in the late 1980s. In 1992 he hosted the comedy TV show ''I Manegen Med Glenn K ...

comedy show ''Sverige Pussas och Kramas'' on

Kanal5 Kanal 5 (''Channel 5'') is a Swedish television channel that was launched in 1989. It is owned by the US-based media company Warner Bros. Discovery, changing its ownership from ProSiebenSat.1 Media in April 2013. After a troublesome 1990s, Kanal ...

. Nour has also been a radio talk show host on ''Morgonpasset'' at

Sveriges Radio P3 P3 (''Sveriges Radio P3'' or ''pe tre'') is a mainstream CHR-formatted station operated by Sweden's national publicly funded radio broadcasting organization Sveriges Radio. The P in P3 originally stood for Program (''Programme'') but today has no ...

. During 2009, El Refai acted as the character "Bitterfittan" (English: "The bitter cunt") on the comedy show, ''Ballar av stål'', the Swedish version of '' Balls of Steel''. She also took part in '' Wipeout'' as a contestant; both shows were broadcast on the Swedish Kanal 5. In 2011, she appeared in the movie '' Kronjuvelerna'', and in 2012 had a role in another movie, ''Johan Falk: Spelets regler''. During late 2009 she was one of the characters on the comedy show ''Cirkus Möller'' on

TV4 TV4 or TV 4 may refer to: *TV4 (Poland), a private Polish television station *TV4 (Sweden), a Swedish television network **TV4 Group, owners of the Swedish television station *South African Broadcasting Corporation TV4, a channel operated by the st ...

. During 2010, she was on stage with a Swedish production of '' Grease'' at

Göta Lejon Göta Lejon is a theatre located at 55 Götgatan in the district of Södermalm in Stockholm, Sweden. History Göta Lejon was built in the years 1926–1928 according to drawings by architect Birger Borgström. (1890–1964). Architecturally, the ...

in Stockholm. In late 2010, she worked again as a radio talk show host, and was part of the show's special, where stars including El Refai were locked inside a glass house for a whole week to raise money for

Musikhjälpen ''Musikhjälpen'' (; "Music Aid") is the Swedish version of the Dutch '' Serious Request'' radio and television campaign. The annual show is an appeal for money which each year helps a certain cause. Three radio/television personalities are locke ...

Sveriges Radio Sveriges Radio AB (, "Sweden's Radio") is Sweden's national publicly funded radio broadcaster. Sveriges Radio is a public limited company, owned by an independent foundation, previously funded through a licensing fee, the level of which is d ...

. El Refai hosted ''

'', along with

Anders Jansson Lars ''Anders'' Jansson, (born 9 October 1967 in Staffanstorp), is a Swedish comedian known for such TV-shows as Hipp Hipp and the Swedish version of QI. Jansson, as well as his close companion Johan Wester, started out his entertaining caree ...

Filmography

*2004 - ''Generation Y'' *2005 - ''Vem är du?''—as Åsa (feature film) *2006 - ''

'' (TV film) *2006 - ''Elvismackan'' (short film) *2006 - ''

Frostbiten ''Frostbite'' ( sv, Frostbiten) is a Swedish comedy horror film from 2006 directed by Anders Banke. As well as the horror theme, various parts also have pure humour elements, and it is considered a horror/comedy by some newspapers that rated it ...

''—as Cornelia (feature film) *2006 - ''När mörkret faller'' (feature film) *2009-2010: ''Ballar av stål'' as Bitterfittan (TV series - 10 episodes) *2010 - ''Välkommen åter'' (TV series) *2010 - ''Wallander – Dödsängeln'' (feature film) *2011 - '' Kronjuvelerna'' (feature film) *2011 - ''Stockholm - Båstad'' (TV mini-series, 1 episode as Sharon) *2012 - ''Johan Falk: Spelets regler'' as Lovisa (feature film to video) *2012 - ''Labyrint'' (TV series) *2014 - ''Sköterskan: The Nurse'' as The Nurse (short film) *2014 - ''

'' (TV series) *2018 - '' Bonus Family'' (TV series)

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Refai, Nour 1987 births Lebanese emigrants to Sweden Swedish film actresses Swedish television actresses Living people People with mood disorders Swedish women comedians Swedish television hosts Swedish people of Lebanese descent Swedish women television presenters 21st-century Swedish comedians