Joel Basman

Biography

Joel Basman, born on January 23, 1990, is a talented Swiss actor renowned for his versatile performances. Hailing from Zurich, he was raised in a multicultural household, with a Swiss Christian mother and an Israeli-Jewish father, both of whom worked in the fashion industry as tailors. Growing up in the Aussersihl neighborhood, he became fluent in both Swiss-German and Hebrew alongside his older sister, who currently resides in Israel.

Basman's acting career took off in 2004 when he portrayed the daring teenager Zizou in the Swiss soap opera "Lüthi und Blanc." His breakthrough came in 2007 with his leading role in Tobias Ineichen's film "Jimmie," where he depicted an autistic character. His exceptional talent earned him the Shooting Star award in February 2008 for his role as a Russian teenager in the film "Luftibus," penned by Dominique de Rivaz. By September of the same year, he was honored with the Schweizer Fernsehpreis (Swiss TV Prize) for his contributions to film, and later that October, he received recognition for Best Leading Role at the Cinema Tous Ecrans festival.

Basman honed his craft at the Schauspielhaus Zürich, participating in youth theatre projects, and graduated from the European Film Actor School in October 2008. He continued to make waves in the industry with roles in the acclaimed miniseries "Unsere Mütter, unsere Väter" in 2012 and the Swiss TV film "Ziellos." In 2016, he appeared as Sebastien Leclercq in the interactive game "Late Shift," and in 2018, he took on the lead in "Wolkenbruch's Wondrous Journey Into the Arms of a Shiksa," which was later featured on Netflix.