Dea Liane

EARLY LIFE

Dea Liane was born on 19 January 1990 in Damascus, Syria, into a Syrian-Lebanese family. Her family moved to France when she was about two years old (her father received a job offer). She spent part of her childhood and adolescence between Châtenay-Malabry in the Paris region and Beirut, Lebanon. She initially aspired to become a war reporter. She pursued academic studies at Sciences Po in Paris, earning a master’s in History in 2013. She later shifted toward the performing arts, training first at the Conservatoire du 8e arrondissement de Paris with Marc Ernotte before being accepted at age 24 into the prestigious École du Théâtre National de Strasbourg (TNS) in 2014, where she studied until 2017 under directors including Stanislas Nordey. During her training she also developed her piano practice and collaborated with various artists.

CAREER

Liane began her professional career as a stage actress in the French public theatre network after graduating from TNS in 2017. She has worked with notable directors including Stanislas Nordey, Julien Gosselin, Falk Richter, Mathilde Delahaye, Célie Pauthe, and others in productions such as Je suis Fassbinder, 1993, Berlin mon garçon, Antoine et Cléopâtre, Amadeus, and pieces with the collective Terrains vagues (which she co-founded/collaborated with during her training). She has also directed and performed in her own work (Le Cœur au bord des lèvres). Film and television: Her screen breakthrough came with the leading role of Abeer opposite Yahya Mahayni in Kaouther Ben Hania’s The Man Who Sold His Skin (2020). The film premiered in the Orizzonti section at the 77th Venice International Film Festival, was selected as Tunisia’s entry for the Best International Feature Film at the 93rd Academy Awards, and received an Oscar nomination. Critics praised her performance. Other credits include: Retour à la nuit (2020 short) as Esther Who Do I Belong To (Mé el Aïn / La Source, 2024, directed by Meryam Joobeur) as Reem Dark Hearts (Cœurs Noirs, TV series) as Soraya (Season 2, 2025)

PERSONAL LIFE

Liane keeps her personal life private. Her 2023 novel Georgette is a deeply personal work dedicated to the nanny (Georgette) who helped raise her and whom she regards as a second mother. The book explores themes of childhood, maternal figures, identity, and the often-overlooked role of domestic caregivers in Syrian-Lebanese family contexts. She has spoken about the influence of her multicultural upbringing on her sense of belonging.

In 2023 Liane published her debut novel Georgette (Éditions de l’Olivier), which received strong critical attention in the French literary press (Télérama, Le Monde, Le Figaro, La Croix, L’Humanité, etc.) for its intimate, elegant writing and exploration of childhood and secondary maternal figures. She continues to balance stage, screen, and literary work.