Thanks to his role in The Intouchables, Omar won the César Award for best actor, making him the first Black actor to ever win the award. "When I won, it was really a special moment in my life, and I knew it would change everything after that," he told the Philadelphia Sun in November 2016. "But I never thought about being the first Black actor to win, even though everybody else talked about that. If I stop to think as a Black actor, people will see me differently. If I play as a Black actor, people will only see that."
For Omar, it's important that he's seen not as a Black actor, but as simply an actor. "I think my key was to perform as an actor, not as a Black actor," he continued. "And after winning the César, I was an actor with a César. There are many more adjectives to describe who I am. I'm not only Black. When I won the César, I was, first of all, an actor . . . I had to stop seeing myself in such a limited way. I started doing that as a teenager, and here I am today, because of that. I believe that's the best way to change things for Black people."