Saïd Taghmaoui (born July 19, 1973) is a French actor and screenwriter.

He was born in the Parisian suburb of Villepinte, Seine-Saint-Denis, France, into a large family (nine siblings total) of Moroccan parents. He dropped out of school to become a boxer and eventually was ranked number 2 in his weight class in France. Later he met Mathieu Kassovitz and together, they co-wrote the script for the award winning film La Haine (about race and violence in the suburban ghettoes of Paris). Taghmaoui also played one of the main characters in the film and was nominated for a César Award in 1996 (Most Promising Actor) for his performance. He has performed in many films since then.

Taghmaoui is best known in American cinema as the US trained philosophical Iraqi interrogator Captain Said in Three Kings.

Saïd Taghmaoui was born July 19th 1973 in Villepinte, Seine-Saint-Denis, France, to Morrocan immigrant parents. He has 9 siblings. He dropped out of school at a young age and became a boxer; at one point ranking number 2 in France in his category. He met Mathieu Kassovitz with whom he co-wrote the 1995 French film "La Haine" which won the Best Director award in Cannes. Kassovitz directed the movie in which Saïd played one of the leads. Since than Saïd has been a force in French cinema and has made films in Italy, Germany, The United States and Morroco.