About

Known credits:
95
Birthday:
1962-03-05
Place of birth:
Gonesse, Val d'Oise, France
Website:
N/A

Simon Abkarian

Overview

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 .

Known for

Acting

2025 Chroniques d'un indic Actor Lakhdar N/A
N/A
2025 The 4th Wall Actor Marwan 59
Average
2023 Mémoires de Palestine Actor Narrator (voice) N/A
N/A
2022 Overdose Actor Daniel Prat 60
Fair
2022 Notre-Dame Actor Max 65
Fair
2022 The Way to Happiness Actor Saül Birnbaum 58
Average
2022 Electre des bas-fonds Actor N/A
N/A
2022 Restless Actor Antoine Marelli 59
Average
2022 Cop Goes Missing Actor Tristan 58
Average
2021 Off-Season Actor Anthony 58
Average
2021 Permis de construire Actor Müller 58
Average
2021 Black Notebooks Actor 58
Average
2021 Les Damnés de la Commune Actor Narrateur (voice) 58
Average
2020 Le dernier jour du jeûne Actor 59
Average
2020 Wonderland Actor Tony 69
Fair
2019 The Audition Actor Philippe 58
Average
2019 Someone, Somewhere Actor Mansour 61
Fair
2019 The Swallows of Kabul Actor Atiq (voice) 64
Fair
2019 Ce soir-là et les jours d'après Actor Karan 59
Average
2019 Rebels Actor Simon Bénéké, Sandra's father 59
Average
2018 The Sonata Actor Charles Vernais 57
Average
2018 Cyrano, My Love Actor Ange Fleury 66
Fair
2017 Journey from Greece Actor Kakourgos 59
Average
2017 Overdrive Actor Jacomo Morier 60
Fair
2017 Playground Actor The Father 69
Fair
2017 J'ai tué ma femme Actor Le patron du café N/A
N/A
2016 Il était une fois... « Le procès de Viviane Amsalem » Actor Self N/A
N/A
2016 Scribe Actor Gerfaut 58
Average
2016 Chouf Actor Le libanais 59
Average
2015 Malaterra Actor Thomas Rotman 69
Fair
2015 Don't Tell Me the Boy Was Mad Actor Hovannès Alexandrian 58
Average
2015 Tehlirian on Trial: Armenia's Avenger Actor Narrator 59
Average
2015 1915 Actor Simon 58
Average
2014 The Cut Actor Krikor 58
Average
2014 Colt 45 Actor Commander Luc Denard 58
Average
2014 Gett: The Trial of Viviane Amsalem Actor Elisha 62
Fair
2013 Angelique Actor L'avocat François Desgrez 59
Average
2013 The Marchers Actor Le père de Farid 59
Average
2012 Qu'est-ce qu'on va faire de toi? Actor Abraham Drucker 58
Average
2012 Kaboul Kitchen Actor Colonel Amanullah 68
Fair
2012 Zarafa Actor Hassan (voice) 60
Fair
2011 Force Actor Jimi Weiss 58
Average
2011 Les Amants naufragés Actor Milo Garavan 59
Average
2011 Tony's Revenge Actor Tony Roucas N/A
N/A
2010 Comme une ombre Actor Vincent N/A
N/A
2010 Turk's Head Actor Le veuf 58
Average
2009 Pigalle, la nuit Actor Nadir Zainoun 70
Good
2009 Rage Actor Merlin 57
Average
2009 Army of Crime Actor Missak Manouchian 59
Average
2008 Secrets of State Actor Al Barad 58
Average
2008 The Wedding Song Actor Raoul 58
Average
2008 Le Menteur : La Pièce ! Actor Lelio N/A
N/A
2008 A Day at the Museum Actor Gilles Paulin 57
Average
2008 Khamsa Actor Khamsa's Father 58
Average
2008 A World of Ours Actor L'oncle de Noé (voice) 58
Average
2008 The Seven Days Actor Eliyau 58
Average
2008 Minor Revelations Actor N/A
N/A
2008 L'Affaire Ben Barka Actor le général Oufkir, ministre marocain de l'intérieur 58
Average
2007 Rendition Actor Said Abdel Aziz 61
Fair
2007 New Délire Actor Gunter (voice) 58
Average
2007 Persepolis Actor Marjane's Father (voice) 74
Good
2007 Trivial Actor Pierre 57
Average
2006 Casino Royale Actor Alex Dimitrios 74
Good
2006 The Snake Actor Sam 59
Average
2006 Armenia Actor Sarkis Arabian 58
Average
2005 S.A.C. : Des hommes dans l'ombre Actor Cesari 58
Average
2005 I Saw Ben Barka Get Killed Actor Mehdi Ben Barka 58
Average
2005 Zaina: Rider of the Atlas Actor Omar 58
Average
2005 Yes Actor He 58
Average
2005 The Demon Stirs Actor Julien Cestac 58
Average
2005 Les mauvais joueurs Actor Sahak 58
Average
2005 In Your Dreams Actor Wilson 58
Average
2004 To Take A Wife Actor Eliyahoo 58
Average
2003 Not For, or Against (Quite the Contrary) Actor Freddy 59
Average
2003 The Legend of Princess Parva Actor Swami (voice) 59
Average
2002 Almost Peaceful Actor Albert 59
Average
2002 Aram Actor Aram 59
Average
2002 The Truth About Charlie Actor Lieutenant Dessalines 55
Average
2002 Ararat Actor Arshile Gorky 59
Average
1999 Lila Lili Actor Simon N/A
N/A
1997 Tempest in a Teapot Actor 59
Average
1997 J'irai au paradis car l'enfer est ici Actor Simon 59
Average
1997 The Silence of Rak Actor Customer 59
Average
1996 When the Cat's Away Actor Carlos 59
Average
1994 Ana El Awan Actor 59
Average
1994 Le Poisson rouge Actor Customer 58
Average
God Will Know His Own Actor N/A
N/A
De Gaulle – Partie 1 : La France Libre Actor Charles De Gaulle N/A
N/A
Le lièvre Actor N/A
N/A
Playground Actor The Father N/A
N/A
De Gaulle – Partie 2 Actor Charles De Gaulle N/A
N/A
Vanished Actor N/A
N/A

Writing

2022 Electre des bas-fonds Writing Scenario Writer N/A
N/A
2020 Le dernier jour du jeûne Writing Writer 59
Average

Crew

1995 Dead Man Walking Crew Thanks 69
Fair