Alexander Abdallah

Alexander Abdallah (born Jihad Abdallah; 30 April 1993) is a Swedish actor and filmmaker. His breakout role was in Snabba Cash (2021–2022), for which he won a Kristallen for Best Actor and the Såstaholm Film & Performing Arts Award. In addition to lead roles in Thunder in My Heart (2021–2023) and Paradis City (2025), he has also worked as a director and screenwriter. Early life and education Jiha...

Alexander Abdallah (born Jihad Abdallah; 30 April 1993) is a Swedish actor and filmmaker. His breakout role was in Snabba Cash (2021–2022), for which he won a Kristallen for Best Actor and the Såstaholm Film & Performing Arts Award. In addition to lead roles in Thunder in My Heart (2021–2023) and Paradis City (2025), he has also worked as a director and screenwriter. Early life and education Jihad Abdallah was born on 30 April 1993 at Uppsala University Hospital. He was the third of four siblings born to Lebanese parents who had emigrated to Sweden during the 1980s. He lived initially in Östhammar. When he was four years old, his family's home was broken into by racist skinheads, who assaulted his father. After the attack, his family moved to Gränby, also near Uppsala. He attended Wik Folk High School and Fridhem Folk High School. Abdallah changed his first name to Alexander when he turned 18. He graduated from the Malmö Theater Academy in 2018. Career In 2017, he had supporting roles in two stage productions at Helsingborg City Theater. First, he played Tyball in Romeo and Juliet and then the king's son in Marina Steinmo's adaptation of Rapunzel. He also appeared in Snubben lättar på sitt hjärta at the Kulturhuset Stadsteatern in Skärholmen and Oscar Liljas försvinnande at the Malmö City Theater, in 2018 and 2019, respectively. Abdallah made his directorial debut with the short film Jag skiner inte utan er mina bröder, which focused on the aftermath of a shooting in Malmö from a child's perspective. It premiered at the Gothenburg Film Festival in 2019. In 2020, he starred in Bye bye bror with Robin Stegmar, in a joint production by Riksteatern and Teater Fryshuset. Although the play's writing was criticized by Jacob Lündstrom in Dagens Nyheter, both Abdallah and Stegmar's performances were praised. In June of the same year, it was announced that he would be a cast member of the upcoming Netflix series Snabba Cash, an adaptation of Jens Lapidus' novel of the same name. The series premiered in April 2021. In a review for Aftonbladet, Karolina Fjellborg called Abdallah's performance as Salim "dangerously good." For Snabba Cash, Abdallah was awarded Best Male Actor at Kristallen. He also won the Såstaholm Film & Performing Arts Award. He was featured in Spotify's 2022 audio drama, De Fria. He played Sam in Thunder in My Heart (2021–2023), for which he was nominated for another Kristallen for Best Male Actor. He also played Emir in Paradis City. He co-created the comedy-drama TV series Halva halva with Mustafa al-Mashhadani. Abdallah also served as a director and writer. The series, known as Home In You for its English-language release, received a positive review from Tim Forster in Special Broadcasting Service. Abdallah has been cast in several upcoming Netflix projects. He is playing King Gustav III in The Von Fersens. He will also be featured in the crime drama series The Case, which is expected to premiere in 2026. Acting credits Film Television Theater Awards and nominations References External links Alexander Abdallah at IMDb Alexander Abdallah at the Swedish Film Database