Rising Spanish-Moroccan Influencer Hamza Zaidi Lands Lead Role in Comedy Film

Many young people started following Hamza Zaidi on Instagram, repeating his iconic phrase "Kitipasa", a way of saying "What’s wrong with you?" with an exaggerated Moroccan accent. In his short videos, he addresses Moroccan, Spanish and Latin stereotypes with humor. "It’s a way to break down stereotypes, so that people realize that Spain and Morocco are much more similar than we think, because we are neighbors," he explains to El Mundo.

Hamza started this adventure in 2015 when he was only 17 years old and still in high school. His videos quickly went viral. "I had 25,000 followers a day," he says. Eight years later, he is now one of the best influencers in Spain and has nearly three million followers on Instagram and over two million on Tik Tok. Born in Morocco, Hamza has lived in Madrid since he was very young. "I was born in Tetouan, but at the age of two and a half, I moved to Spain with my parents. I’ve always lived in Carabanchel," he confides.

From a young age, Hamza dreamed of being an actor. He did theater at school and attended a film shoot for the first time when he was in 8th grade. An experience that marked him and motivated him to become an actor. "I asked a production assistant: ’Hey, I want to do this, how can I become an actor?’ And she gave me the names of several websites to find work." Before becoming an influencer, Hamza had already acted in movies. His first role was in the series El príncipe. "I was like a hitman, but in a terrorist role," he recalls.

Today, he wants to break away from the "stereotype of the little brown guy who plants bombs." "I realized that my characters and those of most Moroccan actors followed [this] cliché." Last August, he played the role of Koldo in the film "El club de los lectores criminales" on Netflix. In the film "Ocho apellidos marroquís" which will be released soon, he plays the cousin of the protagonist. "Three conservative Spaniards arrive in Morocco and clash with their culture, which leads to hilarious situations," explains Hamza, who takes his acting career "very seriously," even though he will continue to post funny videos online.