Deba Hekmat

Deba Hekmat (born 14 November 2001) is a Kurdish-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. In 2004, her family fled to the United Kingdom, where they settled in Croydon, 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
Hekmat began modeling at the age of 16 and signed with Anti-Agency. In 2018, she presented and appeared in videos for i-D and PAQ. Her other early work includes gigs with Cosmopolitan UK and walking the runway for Vivienne Westwood and Vetements. She starred in the Genesis II campaign for FootDistrict in 2020.

In 2021, Hekmat featured in W Magazine's "Punk Fashion Goes Pop" issue, led jeweler Loveness Lee's spring/summer 2021 campaign and a Mulberry 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  and YOOX x Aries in 2022 and 2023. Hekmat represented the star sign Cancer for the astrology-themed campaign Heaven by Marc Jacobs and editorially featured on the cover of Exit's spring/summer 2022 issue. Writing-wise, Hekmat has contributed to publications such as The Basement and conducted an interview for the monograph Mia by Aries.

Hekmat made her feature film debut as Laraib in Luna Carmoon's Hoard, which 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.

Music videos

 * "Angel" (2020), Lava La Rue