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