Maryam Hassouni

Maryam Hassouni (born 21 September 1985) is a Dutch writer and former actress. In 2006, she won an International Emmy Award for her role in Offers (2005). Hassouni was born on 21 September 1985 in Amsterdam to Moroccan parents, who had immigrated to the Netherlands a few years prior; she has two younger siblings. Hassouni received her high school diploma in 2003. She studied museology until 2005, then took law at the Free University in Amsterdam but failed the course. In 2002, she began her acting career in the titular role of Dunya El-Beneni in the television series Dunya and Desi, which was nominated for an International Emmy Award for Children and Young People in 2004 and again in 2005. In 2006, she won the International Emmy Award for Best Performance by an Actress for her portrayal of Laila al Gatawi in the 2005 Dutch TV film Offers. In 2022, Hassouni published the book Wat de fak (ISBN 9789403110929) through De Bezige Bij. It describes her experiences with what she identifies as structural sexism and racism in the film industry. She also announced her retirement from acting until those issues are addressed.