- The actress Daniella Rahme just landed a starring role in the Netflix series Franklin and hopes the Lebanese show will be a global hit like Squid Games. In her career, she says she never hits pause. “This is bad, but I never finish work,” she told Fortune.
How many hours does a leading actress actually work in a day? Netflix star and former “Miss Lebanon Emigrant” Daniella Rahme couldn’t put a number on it. At Fortune’s Most Powerful Women Summit in Riyadh, she said that the work never stops.
“This is bad, but I never finish work. I’m always working 24/7… In my head at least,” the 34-year-old Lebanese-Australian actress said in an off-stage interview with Fortune. Although she’s not an early bird, she’s often on set from the early hours until late, she said.
When she’s not busy filming and wants to unwind, the actress likes watching TV, cooking, and one other unusual hobby: Moving furniture.
“I have an obsession with relocating everything in the house,” she said, adding that often she will still be thinking about her job. “I’m someone who thinks a lot and overworks in my head, it’s hard for me to switch off.”
Rahme thinks Middle Eastern shows can be as big as Squid Games was for South Korea
Rahme became a literal star after appearing on Dancing with the Stars in Lebanon. Although her Australian-Arabic accent was a hurdle at first, she soon went on to host The X Factor Arabia, before landing leading roles on popular shows streaming on Netflix like The Writer and Awlad Adam.
She thinks Arabic-language shows have the ingredients to be as successful as other international hits like Squid Games.
“We believe that we can compete internationally, and we believe that our films and our projects can go international, like Money Heist did, like Squid Games did. Why can’t Franklin go global and be a huge hit?,” Rahme said on stage.
Franklin—a Lebanese drama series about a counterfeit money artist, starring Rahme—premiered on Netflix on May 15, 2025, and is available in English, Spanish, and French, as well as Arabic.
But of course, the success of Franklin and other Middle Eastern hits isn’t just down to the faces on screen. Rahme says it’s a huge team effort and the intention to go global has to be baked in from the start: “It’s about being aligned with the team and having the same goal, having the same vision.”
