From Moroccan Shantytowns to Stardom: Roschdy Zem’s Remarkable Journey

"When my parents arrived in France, they came from Morocco. At the time, we were living in the shantytowns of Nanterre," Roschdy Zem, a guest on Portrait of the Week on Sept à Huit on Sunday, June 15 on TF1, confided. The precariousness led his parents to seek help from the Catholic Relief Service. The association offered his parents to relieve them of a child until their living conditions improved. "It falls on me," he sighs. Little Roschdy grew up in a Belgian family, far from his parents. Today, he has fond memories of it. "I find myself in this Flemish, Catholic Belgian family, spending my early years," he recalls.

At the age of six, he rejoined the family cocoon after his parents settled in a public housing project in Drancy. This episode of his life remains etched in his memory. He still wears a medal around his neck. It is a gift from his adoptive grandmother. And the actor has not forgotten the Flemish language. "I still speak Flemish," he says, smiling.

On the love life side, the soon-to-be 59-year-old actor shares his life with interior designer Sarah Poniatowski, the ex-wife of singer Marc Lavoine. Roschdy and the decorator’s relationship began after the latter’s separation from the musician in 2018.