Simon Abkarian
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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
Credits
Casino Royale (2006)
as Alex Dimitrios
De Gaulle: Résistance (2026)
as Charles de Gaulle
Zero Dark Thirty (2012)
as Detainee on Monitor
De Gaulle: Liberté (2026)
as Charles de Gaulle
Overdrive (2017)
as Jacomo Morier
Restless (2022)
as Antoine Marelli
Persepolis (2007)
as Marjane's Father (voice)
Rendition (2007)
as Said Abdel Aziz
The Truth About Charlie (2002)
as Lieutenant Dessalines
Cyrano, My Love (2018)
as Ange Fleury
Playground (2026)
as The Father
Someone, Somewhere (2019)
as Mansour
Ararat (2002)
as Arshile Gorky
Zarafa (2012)
as Hassan (voice)
Yes (2005)
as He
The Cut (2014)
as Krikor
The Audition (2019)
as Philippe
The Swallows of Kabul (2019)
as Atiq (voice)
Scribe (2016)
as Gerfaut
Trivial (2007)
as Pierre
Angélique (2013)
as L'avocat François Desgrez
The Snake (2006)
as Sam
Army of Crime (2009)
as Missak Manouchian
Overdose (2022)
as Daniel Prat
Minor Revelations (2008)
Actor
The Legend of Princess Parva (2003)
as Swami (voice)
Colt 45 (2014)
as Commander Luc Denard
Not For, or Against (Quite the Contrary) (2003)
as Freddy
J'ai tué ma femme (2017)
as Le patron du café
The Marchers (2013)
as Le père de Farid
Secrets of State (2008)
as Al Barad
When the Cat's Away (1996)
as Carlos
Gett: The Trial of Viviane Amsalem (2014)
as Elisha
Journey from Greece (2017)
as Kakourgos
The Sonata (2018)
as Charles Vernais
A Day at the Museum (2008)
as Gilles Paulin
I Saw Ben Barka Get Killed (2005)
as Mehdi Ben Barka
Lila Lili (1999)
as Simon
Almost Peaceful (2002)
as Albert
A World of Ours (2008)
as L'oncle de Noé (voice)
Khamsa (2008)
as Khamsa's Father
Rebels (2019)
as Simon Bénéké, Sandra's father
Turk's Head (2010)
as Le veuf
Les Damnés de la Commune (2021)
as Narrateur (voice)
The Way to Happiness (2022)
as Saül Birnbaum
Zaina: Rider of the Atlas (2005)
as Omar
The ben barka affair (2008)
as le général Oufkir, ministre marocain de l'intérieur
Don't Tell Me the Boy Was Mad (2015)
as Hovannès Alexandrian
Armenia (2006)
as Sarkis Arabian
Chroniques d'un indic (2025)
as Lakhdar
J'irai au paradis car l'enfer est ici (1997)
as Simon
Tempest in a Teapot (1997)
Actor
Les mauvais joueurs (2005)
as Sahak
S.A.C. : Des hommes dans l'ombre (2005)
as Cesari
The Silence of Rak (1997)
as Customer
The Goldfish (1994)
as Customer
The Wedding Song (2008)
as Raoul
In Your Dreams (2005)
as Wilson
The 4th Wall (2025)
as Marwan
Il était une fois... « Le procès de Viviane Amsalem » (2016)
as Self
Le Menteur : La Pièce ! (2008)
as Lelio
The Demon Stirs (2005)
as Julien Cestac
To Take A Wife (2004)
as Eliyahoo
Le dernier jour du jeûne (2020)
Actor
Permis de construire (2021)
as Müller
Rage (2009)
as Merlin
Black Notebooks (2021)
Actor
1915 (2015)
as Simon
Ce soir-là et les jours d'après (2019)
as Karan
Off-Season (2021)
as Anthony
Comme une ombre (2010)
as Vincent
Force (2011)
as Jimi Weiss
Les Amants naufragés (2011)
as Milo Garavan
Cop Goes Missing (2022)
as Tristan
La nuit miraculeuse (1989)
Actor
Aram (2002)
as Aram
Qu'est-ce qu'on va faire de toi? (2012)
as Abraham Drucker
Mémoires de Palestine (2023)
as Narrator (voice)
God Will Know His Own (—)
Actor
Ana El Awan (1994)
Actor
The Seven Days (2008)
as Eliyau
Chouf (2016)
as Le libanais
Pacer (2026)
Actor
New Délire (2007)
as Gunter (voice)
Tehlirian on Trial: Armenia's Avenger (2015)
as Narrator
Electre des bas-fonds (2022)
Actor