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Simon Abkarian

Actor

Simon Abkarian

Born March 5, 1962 in Gonesse, Val d'Oise, France81 films

Simon Abkarian (born 5 March 1962) is a French-Armenian actor.

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Born in Gonesse, Val d'Oise, of Armenian descent, Abkarian spent his childhood in Lebanon. He moved to Los Angeles, where he joined an Armenian theater company managed by Gerald Papazian. He returned to France in 1985, settling in Paris. He took classes at the Acting International school, then he joined Ariane Mnouchkine's Théâtre du Soleil.

Abkarian left the Théâtre du Soleil in 1993 and played in 2001 "Beast on the Moon" by Richard Kalinoski, directed by Irina Brook, a play about the life of a survivor of the Genocide of the Armenians, a role which won him critical acclaims and the Molière of the best comedian.

His first roles in cinema were proposed by French filmaker Cédric Klapisch, who asked him to play in several of his movies, notably in "Chacun cherche son chat" ("When the Cat is Away" (1996) and in "Ni pour, ni contre (bien au contraire)" en 2003.

He was featured in Sally Potter's Yes (2004), in which he played the lead role.

Abkarian then played Mehdi Ben Barka in the thriller "J'ai vu tuer Ben Barka" by Serge Le Péron, about the kidnapping and the murder of the leader of the Moroccan opposition. He then played in "Prendre Femme" by Ronit Elkabetz which won him several interpretation prizes. Playing different roles and in different genres, he was featured in the adventure "Zaïna, cavalière de l'Atlas" by Bourlem Guerdjou, in the comedy "Le Démon de midi" by Marie-Pascale Osterriet. He has also appeared in Atom Egoyan's Ararat (2002), he was Albert in Almost Peaceful (2004) by French Director Michel Deville a film about Holocaust survivors, he was featured in "Your Dreams" (2005) by Denis Thybaud. He played the role of villain Alex Dimitrios in the James Bond film, Casino Royale. The character is a Government contractor and arms dealer working against Bond.

He was featured as Sahak in the thriller "Les Mauvais Joueurs" ("The Gamblers") (2007) by Frédéric Balekdjian. He has also been the voice of Ebi in the French version of the animated feature "Persepolis". Abkarian played the role of the eminent Armenian poet Missak Manouchianin in "Army of Crime" (2010) by Robert Guédiguian, a French filmaker based in Marseilles, who is also of Armenian parentage.

He has also played Dariush Bakhshi, the Iranian Special Consul, in the BBC drama Spooks MI-5.

Abkarian is known for his intensity in acting and for his ecclectism in the roles he choses.

Description above from the Wikipedia article Simon Abkarian, licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia .

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The best way into Simon Abkarian's work
Persepolis posterFirst watchPersepolis20077.9as Marjane's Father (voice)In 1970s Iran, Marjane 'Marji' Satrapi watches events through her young eyes and her idealistic family of a long dream being fulfilled of the hated Shah's defeat in the Iranian Revolution…View film

Essential films

Ranked by acclaim and reach

Filmography

81 films as actor
  1. TBAGod Will Know His Own
  2. 2026Le lièvre
  3. 2026PlaygroundThe Father
  4. 2026De Gaulle: LibertéCharles de Gaulle
  5. 2026De Gaulle: RésistanceCharles de Gaulle
  6. 2025Chroniques d'un indicLakhdar
  7. 2025The 4th WallMarwan
  8. 2022OverdoseDaniel Prat
  9. 2022The Way to HappinessSaül Birnbaum
  10. 2022Electre des bas-fonds
  11. 2022RestlessAntoine Marelli
  12. 2022Cop Goes MissingTristan
  13. 2021Off-SeasonAnthony
  14. 2021Permis de construireMüller
  15. 2020Le dernier jour du jeûne
  16. 2019The AuditionPhilippe
  17. 2019Someone, SomewhereMansour
  18. 2019The Swallows of KabulAtiq (voice)
  19. 2019Ce soir-là et les jours d'aprèsKaran
  20. 2019RebelsSimon Bénéké, Sandra's father
  21. 2018The SonataCharles Vernais
  22. 2018Cyrano, My LoveAnge Fleury
  23. 2017Journey from GreeceKakourgos
  24. 2017OverdriveJacomo Morier
  25. 2017J'ai tué ma femmeLe patron du café
  26. 2016ScribeGerfaut
  27. 2016ChoufLe libanais
  28. 2015Don't Tell Me the Boy Was MadHovannès Alexandrian
  29. 20151915Simon
  30. 2014The CutKrikor
  31. 2014Colt 45Commander Luc Denard
  32. 2014Gett: The Trial of Viviane AmsalemElisha
  33. 2013AngéliqueL'avocat François Desgrez
  34. 2013The MarchersLe père de Farid
  35. 2012Qu'est-ce qu'on va faire de toi?Abraham Drucker
  36. 2012Zero Dark ThirtyDetainee on Monitor
  37. 2012ZarafaHassan (voice)
  38. 2011ForceJimi Weiss
  39. 2011Les Amants naufragésMilo Garavan
  40. 2010Comme une ombreVincent
  41. 2010Turk's HeadLe veuf
  42. 2009RageMerlin
  43. 2009Army of CrimeMissak Manouchian
  44. 2008Secrets of StateAl Barad
  45. 2008The Wedding SongRaoul
  46. 2008Le Menteur : La Pièce !Lelio
  47. 2008A Day at the MuseumGilles Paulin
  48. 2008KhamsaKhamsa's Father
  49. 2008A World of OursL'oncle de Noé (voice)
  50. 2008The Seven DaysEliyau
  51. 2008Minor Revelations
  52. 2008The ben barka affairle général Oufkir, ministre marocain de l'intérieur
  53. 2007RenditionSaid Abdel Aziz
  54. 2007New DélireGunter (voice)
  55. 2007PersepolisMarjane's Father (voice)
  56. 2007TrivialPierre
  57. 2006Casino RoyaleAlex Dimitrios
  58. 2006The SnakeSam
  59. 2006ArmeniaSarkis Arabian
  60. 2005S.A.C. : Des hommes dans l'ombreCesari
  61. 2005I Saw Ben Barka Get KilledMehdi Ben Barka
  62. 2005Zaina: Rider of the AtlasOmar
  63. 2005YesHe
  64. 2005The Demon StirsJulien Cestac
  65. 2005Les mauvais joueursSahak
  66. 2005In Your DreamsWilson
  67. 2004To Take A WifeEliyahoo
  68. 2003Not For, or Against (Quite the Contrary)Freddy
  69. 2003The Legend of Princess ParvaSwami (voice)
  70. 2002Almost PeacefulAlbert
  71. 2002AramAram
  72. 2002The Truth About CharlieLieutenant Dessalines
  73. 2002AraratArshile Gorky
  74. 1999Lila LiliSimon
  75. 1997Tempest in a Teapot
  76. 1997J'irai au paradis car l'enfer est iciSimon
  77. 1997The Silence of RakCustomer
  78. 1996When the Cat's AwayCarlos
  79. 1994Ana El Awan
  80. 1994The GoldfishCustomer
  81. 1989La nuit miraculeuse