Acting
Simon Abkarian
Simon Abkarian (born 5 March 1962) is a French-Armenian actor. 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 .
Filmography
De Gaulle: Liberté
Film · 2026
De Gaulle: Résistance
Film · 2026
Pacer
Film · 2026
Playground
Film · 2026
Vanished
Series · 2026
The 4th Wall
Film · 2025
Chroniques D'un Indic
Film · 2025
Mémoires de Palestine
Film · 2023
Overdose
Film · 2022
Restless
Film · 2022
The Way to Happiness
Film · 2022
Cop Goes Missing
Film · 2022
Electre des bas-fonds
Film · 2022
Notre-Dame
Series · 2022
Permis de construire
Film · 2021
Off-Season
Film · 2021
Black Notebooks
Film · 2021
Les Damnés de la Commune
Film · 2021
Le dernier jour du jeûne
Film · 2020
Wonderland
Series · 2020
Rebels
Film · 2019
The Audition
Film · 2019
Someone, Somewhere
Film · 2019
The Swallows of Kabul
Film · 2019
Ce soir-là et les jours d'après
Film · 2019
Bonsoir bonsoir!
Series · 2019
The Sonata
Film · 2018
Cyrano, My Love
Film · 2018
Overdrive
Film · 2017
J'ai tué ma femme
Film · 2017
Journey from Greece
Film · 2017
Playground
Series · 2017
Il était une fois... « Le procès de Viviane Amsalem »
Film · 2016
Chouf
Film · 2016
Scribe
Film · 2016
1915
Film · 2015
Don't Tell Me the Boy Was Mad
Film · 2015
Tehlirian on Trial: Armenia's Avenger
Film · 2015
Malaterra
Series · 2015
Gett: The Trial of Viviane Amsalem
Film · 2014
The Cut
Film · 2014
Colt 45
Film · 2014
Angélique
Film · 2013
The Marchers
Film · 2013
Zarafa
Film · 2012
Qu'est-ce qu'on va faire de toi?
Film · 2012
Zero Dark Thirty
Film · 2012
Kaboul Kitchen
Series · 2012
Force
Film · 2011
Les Amants naufragés
Film · 2011
Tony's Revenge
Series · 2011
Turk's Head
Film · 2010
Comme une ombre
Film · 2010
Army of Crime
Film · 2009
Rage
Film · 2009
Pigalle, la nuit
Series · 2009
The Seven Days
Film · 2008
Secrets of State
Film · 2008
The Wedding Song
Film · 2008
A World of Ours
Film · 2008
Minor Revelations
Film · 2008
Le Menteur : La Pièce !
Film · 2008
The ben barka affair
Film · 2008
Khamsa
Film · 2008
A Day at the Museum
Film · 2008
House of Saddam
Series · 2008
Trivial
Film · 2007
Persepolis
Film · 2007
New Délire
Film · 2007
Rendition
Film · 2007
The Snake
Film · 2006
Casino Royale
Film · 2006
Armenia
Film · 2006
Yes
Film · 2005
Les mauvais joueurs
Film · 2005
The Demon Stirs
Film · 2005
Zaina: Rider of the Atlas
Film · 2005
I Saw Ben Barka Get Killed
Film · 2005
S.A.C. : Des hommes dans l'ombre
Film · 2005
In Your Dreams
Film · 2005
To Take A Wife
Film · 2004
Not For, or Against (Quite the Contrary)
Film · 2003
The Legend of Princess Parva
Film · 2003
Almost Peaceful
Film · 2002
Ararat
Film · 2002
Aram
Film · 2002
The Truth About Charlie
Film · 2002
Spooks
Series · 2002
Lila Lili
Film · 1999
The Silence of Rak
Film · 1997
J'irai au paradis car l'enfer est ici
Film · 1997
Tempest in a Teapot
Film · 1997
When the Cat's Away
Film · 1996
Ana El Awan
Film · 1994
The Goldfish
Film · 1994
La nuit miraculeuse
Film · 1989
God Will Know His Own
Film
Malin Fors
Series