Simon Abkarian

After a childhood spent in Lebanon, Simon Abkarian went to Los Angeles and joined an Armenian theater company directed by Gerald Papazian. Returning to Paris in 1985, he entered the Théâtre du Soleil by Ariane Mnouchkine and performed on stage with plays such as  L'Histoire terrible but unfinished  by Hélène Cixous,  Les Atrides, Iphigénie à Aulis  by Euripides and  Les Euménides.  of Aeschylus. The consecration, on stage, will come in 2001 with  A Beast on the Moon  by Richard Kalinoski, which will earn him the Molière for Best Actor.

Simon Abkarian won his first roles in the cinema thanks to Cédric Klapisch, who made him shoot in Ce qui me meut (1989), Poisson rouge (1994) and Everyone seeks his cat (1996). The two men will collaborate again on Neither for nor against (quite the contrary) in 2003. His dark gaze, his stature and his animal side also allow him to play the small strikes in I will go to paradise because hell is here, the convicts in In your dreams and the bosses in The Bad Players.

Taking up the cause for Armenia, Simon Abkarian shows his support for the culture of this country, where he is from, by illustrating himself in 2002 in Ararat by Atom Egoyan and Aram by Robert Kéchichian. Noticed by Michel Deville, the latter offers him one of the main roles of An almost peaceful world, a drama set in a clothing workshop for women at the end of the war. His charisma also earned him the incarnation of the famous Moroccan opponent in I Saw Ben Barka Kill in 2005.

Tempted by an international career, Simon Abkarian appears in The Truth About Charlie, the  remake de Charade directed by Jonathan Demme in 2003, and manages to charm Joan Allen in Yes. In 2006, he took a step forward by landing the role of second knife Alex Dimitrios in Casino Royale, the 21st opus of the James Bond saga. After having lent his voice to the father of Persepolis, the actor is very present: he is on the bill of Secret Defense, Secret detention, Khamsa and Musée haut, musée bas. In 2009, the Marseille director Robert Guédiguian made him shoot in The Army of Crime, with the strong role of the resistant poet, Missak Manouchian.

After this remarkable performance, the actor took an interest in television and the world of series. In the original creation of Canal +, Pigalle, at night, he plays a sex shop owner, and becomes an Afghan colonel for Kaboul Kitchen, a comedy series of the encrypted channel. In 2015, Simon Abkarian reunited with Robert Guédiguian for his new film, Une histoire de fou, before being at the head of the cast of Malaterra, a remake of Broadchurch having chosen the island of beauty as a new setting. The production of France 2 propels him once again in the eyes of all, to lead a cast of confirmed actors: Constance Dollé, Béatrice Dalle, Nicolas Duvauchelle…

Thomas Sevin