Iman Meskini (born 3 March 1997) is a Norwegian actress. She is best known for playing the role of Sana Bakkoush in the teen drama series '' Skam''.

Personal life

Meskini grew up in the village of

Langhus Langhus is a suburban area in the municipality of Nordre Follo in Viken, Norway. With a population of about 13,000, Langhus includes the local areas of Bøleråsen, Vevelstad and Langhus. Transport The village is stretched along the Østfold ...

and identifies as a practicing Muslim. Her mother is from Norway and her father is from

Tunisia ) , image_map = Tunisia location (orthographic projection).svg , map_caption = Location of Tunisia in northern Africa , image_map2 = , capital = Tunis , largest_city = capital , ...

. She played as a guard for the Høybråten Basketball Club during the 2016–2017 year. In 2016, Meskini majored in Arabic and Middle Eastern studies at the

University of Oslo The University of Oslo ( no, Universitetet i Oslo; la, Universitas Osloensis) is a public research university located in Oslo, Norway. It is the highest ranked and oldest university in Norway. It is consistently ranked among the top universit ...

. She currently works with Norway's Air Forces. On 12 June 2019, Meskini married Mourad Jarrari from

Morocco Morocco (),, ) officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is the westernmost country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It overlooks the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and has land borders with Algeria to ...

Skam

Meskini became known for her role as Sana Bakkoush from

Julie Andem Julie Annette Rovelstad Andem (born 4 July 1982) is a Norwegian screenwriter, director, and television producer. Andem is most famous for being the creator, screenwriter, director, and showrunner for the internationally acclaimed Norwegian young ...

's teen web series's '' Skam'', which is broadcast on

NRK NRK, an abbreviation of the Norwegian ''Norsk Rikskringkasting Aksjeselskap, AS'', generally expressed in English as the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation, is the Norwegian government-owned radio and television public broadcasting company, and ...

. Her character status was recurring from seasons 1–3, then later turned to lead in season 4.

Reception

Since her first appearance on ''Skam'', and especially since the show's fourth season, in which she served as the primary lead, Sana has gathered an incredible number of fans. In addition to Sana's popularity, Meskini has been praised for her portrayal of the character and her outstanding representation of Muslim youth within Western societies, but especially female Muslim teenagers living in Norway. Sana's appearance and portrayal on a show as popular as ''Skam'' at a time which saw a rise in Islamophobia across the globe was marked by many as essential in challenging stereotypes of hijab-wearing Muslim women and provided non-Muslim Norwegians with an alternative representation of their Muslim neighbours.

Other projects

She also starred in ''B4'' (2018) and ''Pørni'' (2021).

External links

References

1997 births Living people Norwegian people of Tunisian descent University of Oslo alumni 21st-century Norwegian actresses Norwegian television actresses Norwegian Muslims People from Kolbotn {{Norway-actor-stub