Deba Hekmat (born 14 November 2001) is an Iranian-British model, actress, and writer. She began her career in modeling before starring in the film '' Last Swim'' (2024).

Early life

Hekmat was born in Sardasht, western Iran. She is Kurdish. In 2004, her family fled to the United Kingdom, where they settled in

Croydon Croydon is a large town in South London, England, south of Charing Cross. Part of the London Borough of Croydon, a Districts of England, local government district of Greater London; it is one of the largest commercial districts in Greater Lond ...

, South London. When Hekmat was 12, the family moved again to Cardiff. She left her sixth form college early and subsequently moved back to London.

Career

Modelling

At the age of 16, while attending college and living with her father in London, Hekmat discovered the modeling agency Anti-Agency through Instagram. After submitting photos, she signed with the agency within a week. In 2018, she presented and appeared in videos for ''

i-D ''i-D'' is a British biannual magazine dedicated to fashion, music, art, film and youth culture. The magazine was launched in 1980 by Terry Jones, originally as a hand-stapled fanzine it has since evolved into a glossy publication. In 2023 the ...

'' and PAQ. Her other early work includes gigs with '' Cosmopolitan UK'' and walking the runway for

Vivienne Westwood Dame Vivienne Isabel Westwood (; 8 April 1941 – 29 December 2022) was an English fashion designer and businesswoman, largely responsible for bringing modern punk and new wave fashions into the mainstream. In 2022, ''Sky Arts'' ranked her the ...

and

Vetements VETEMENTS (from ''vêtements'' []; French for "clothes") started in 2014 as a Swiss luxury Fashion design, fashion house and "design collective" founded by Georgian fashion designers Demna Gvasalia and Guram Gvasalia. The brand experienced near-i ...

. She starred in the Genesis II campaign for FootDistrict in 2020. In the early stages of her modeling career, she became known for her advocacy related to body image, particularly the normalization of body hair on women. In 2021, she discussed this subject in a BBC Sounds podcast episode titled ''Carefree Body Hair with Deba Hekmat'', in which she framed body hair as something "for showing, not for shaving." In 2021, Hekmat featured in ''

W Magazine ''W'' (or ''W Magazine'') is an American fashion magazine that was launched in 1972 as a sister publication to ''Women's Wear Daily''. The magazine features stories about style through the lens of art, celebrity, culture, fashion and film. Ba ...

s "Punk Fashion Goes Pop" issue, led jeweler Loveness Lee's spring/summer 2021 campaign and a

Mulberry ''Morus'', a genus of flowering plants in the family Moraceae, consists of 19 species of deciduous trees commonly known as mulberries, growing wild and under cultivation in many temperate world regions. Generally, the genus has 64 subordinat ...

bag campaign, and modeled the Lee x H&M collection. She also had gigs with the likes of ''Metal Magazine''. With musician Tom Austin (also known as Niko B), Hekmat collaborated on modeling projects and campaigns for

Lucozade Sport Lucozade is a British brand of soft drinks and energy drinks manufactured and marketed by the Japanese company Suntory. Created as "Glucozade" in the UK in 1927 by a Newcastle-upon-Tyne, Newcastle pharmacist, William Walker Hunter (trading as W ...

and YOOX x Aries in 2022 and 2023. Hekmat represented the star sign

Cancer Cancer is a group of diseases involving Cell growth#Disorders, abnormal cell growth with the potential to Invasion (cancer), invade or Metastasis, spread to other parts of the body. These contrast with benign tumors, which do not spread. Po ...

for the astrology-themed campaign Heaven by

Marc Jacobs Marc Jacobs (born April 9, 1963) is an American fashion designer. He is the head designer for his own fashion label, Marc Jacobs, and formerly Marc by Marc Jacobs, a diffusion line, which was produced for approximately 15 years, before it was d ...

and editorially featured on the cover of ''

Exit Exit(s) may refer to: Architecture and engineering * Door * Portal (architecture), an opening in the walls of a structure * Emergency exit * Overwing exit, a type of emergency exit on an airplane * Exit ramp, a feature of a road interchange A ...

s spring/summer 2022 issue.

Film and writing

Hekmat entered the film industry without formal acting training, and she had not worked in television or theatre prior to her debut. She made her feature film debut as Laraib in Luna Carmoon's ''Hoard'', after being cast by a casting director who contacted her directly via Instagram. The film premiered at the 2023 Venice Film Festival. Hekmat then starred in the lead role of Ziba Soofi in Sasha Nathwani's '' Last Swim'', which premiered at the

2024 Berlinale The 74th annual Berlin International Film Festival, usually called the Berlinale, took place between 15 and 25 February 2024 in Berlin, Germany. Kenyan-Mexican actress Lupita Nyong'o was named the Jury President for the main competition. This ye ...

. She received acclaim for her performance. In April 2025, Hekmat signed with Olivia Bell Management. Hekmat has contributed to publications such as ''The Basement'' and conducted an interview for the

monograph A monograph is generally a long-form work on one (usually scholarly) subject, or one aspect of a subject, typically created by a single author or artist (or, sometimes, by two or more authors). Traditionally it is in written form and published a ...

''Mia by Aries''.

Filmography

Music videos

* "Angel" (2020), Lava La Rue

References

External links

*
Deba Hekmat
at Anti-Agency

{{DEFAULTSORT:hekmat, deba Living people 2001 births Actors from the London Borough of Croydon Actresses from Cardiff Actresses from London British people of Kurdish descent Iranian emigrants to the United Kingdom Iranian Kurdish women Iranian refugees Kurdish actresses Kurdish models Kurdish refugees Models from the London Borough of Croydon Naturalised citizens of the United Kingdom Refugees in the United Kingdom People from Croydon