Najwa Nimri

Najwa Nimri Urrutikoetxea (born 14 February 1972) is a Spanish actress and singer.

Nimri first appeared in the big screen with a leading role in Jump into the Void (1995).

From 1995 to 2000, she was married to Daniel Calparsoro.

Several of her film roles won her praise: as Ana in Lovers of the Arctic Circle, and as Elena in Sex and Lucia.

Both films were directed by Julio Medem.

She starred next to Eduardo Noriega in Abre los ojos, and El método.

In 1996, she formed musical duo Najwajean along with producer Carlos Jean, launching No Blood, an early instance of a trip-hop album in Spain.

Film roles that came after her debut include performances in Passages (1996), Open Your Eyes (1997), Blinded (1997), and Lovers of the Arctic Circle (1998), Sex and Lucia (2001), Fausto 5.0 (2001).

Her television work include villain roles in crime drama series Locked Up and Money Heist.

Nimri's mother is from Pamplona and her father, Karam Nimri, is Jordanian.

She has a brother, a half-brother and two half-sisters.

Najwa also has a cousin who is a singer named Alexander Nimier.

When she was a child she moved to Bilbao with her family and was raised in Santutxu.

She now lives in Madrid.

Her first major film role was in Salto al vacío, the first movie by film director Daniel Calparsoro.

Her career as a singer started with small groups.

In 1996, she formed the band Najwajean with Carlos Jean.

She has also released three solo albums.

She was nominated to the Goya Award for Best Actress for her performance as amnesiac diva Lila Cassen in Quién te cantará (2018).

She voiced Kate Laswell in the 2019 video game Call of Duty: Modern Warfare.

She joined season 2 of religious horror series 30 Coins to portray paranormal hunter and video podcaster Haruka.

In 2020, she returned as Zulema in the spin off Vis a vis: El Oasis, starring with Maggie Civantos.

She played Alicia Sierra, a policewoman inspector in (Money Heist) La casa de papel.