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Simon Abkarian

  • Actor
  • Soundtrack
IMDbProStarmeterSee rank
Simon Abkarian at an event for Yes (2004)
It follows the story of the night of April 15, 2019 in Notre-Dame Cathedral alongside firefighters and the impact that it had on different characters across France.
Play trailer2:16
Notre-Dame (2022)
31 Videos
36 Photos
Simon Abkarian was born Simone Abkarian on March 5, 1962, in Gonesse, a northeastern suburb of Paris, France, into a French - Armenian family. Young Simon Abkarian grew up in a trilingual environment, he learned French at school in addition to his native Armenian, and also learned English by watching American films since he was a kid. He spent most of his childhood in France until the age of nine, then went with his parents to Beirut, Lebanon.

From 1971 to 1977 young Abkarian lived with his mother and father in Lebanon. He studied dancing with the Lori Dance Ensemble in Beirut. There he attended Armenian school and also studied French and English. In 1977, his father went to war in Lebanon, and 15-year-old Abkarian with his mother moved back to Paris. A few years later he moved to New York and continued his studies of dancing and acting at the Antranik company in New York, then moved to Los Angeles, California. In 1983-1985 he studied acting and joined the Armenian Theatre Company Artavadzt of the AGBU under the leadership of director Gerald Papazian. In 1984, he joined the workshop at renown Theatre du Soleil on tour in Los Angeles during the Olympics Art Festival. Abkarian took a month-long acting workshop from Mnouchkine's mask-maker, Georges Bigot, then was auditioned by Ariane Mnouchkine who invited him to join the company. In 1985 Abkarian returned to Paris, France. There he resumed a successful stage acting career, and had an eight-year-long collaboration with Ariane Mnouchkine, the legendary director of Théâtre du Soleil. There he played leading roles in Greek tragedies and became known for his charismatic performances. He also directed several stage plays in Paris, including Shakespeare's 'Love's Labour Lost' at the Bouffles du Nord, and Aeschylus's 'The Last Song of Troy' at Bobigny, among others. In 2001 Abkarian won the highest award in French theatre for an actor - the Prix Molière, for his performance in 'Une Bête Sur La Lune' (aka.. Beast on the Moon). Since 1993, Abkarian and his actress-director wife, Catherine Schaub-Abkarian, started their own theatre T.E.R.A. (Theatre Espace Recherche Acteur) in Paris. There he has been playing and directing classical and contemporary plays. In the season of 2005-2006, he was brought by The Actors' Gang to direct Shakespeare's 'Love's Labor's Lost' in Los Angeles.

Abkarian made his film debut in 1989, in a short film Ce qui me meut (1989) by director Cédric Klapisch. During his early film career, Abkarian enjoyed a fruitful collaboration with Cédric Klapisch in 6 French films, becoming noticed in the award winning When the Cat's Away (1996). He earned critical acclaim for his portrayal of painter Archil Gorky in Atom Egoyan's award winning epic Ararat (2002). Simon Abkarian won awards for his performance as Eliahou in Ve'Lakhta Lehe Isha (2004) by director Ronit Elkabetz. That same year Abkarian gave a stellar performance in his first leading role in English, co-starring as He, a passionate Lebanese doctor turned cook who is in love with an American woman (Joan Allen) in Yes (2004) directed by Sally Potter. He made a step forward in his film career with the supporting role as Alex Dimitros in Casino Royale (2006), playing in several powerful scenes opposite Daniel Craig.

Simon Abkarian has been generously involved in the humanitarian causes of the Armenian people across the world. He has been a frequent participant, host and presenter at numerous charitable events and ceremonies related to the Armenian causes. He was also a member of French President Jacques Chirac's delegation to Armenia in October of 2006.
BornMarch 5, 1962
  • More at IMDbPro
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    • Agent info
    • Resume
BornMarch 5, 1962
IMDbProStarmeterSee rank
  • View contact info at IMDbPro
    • Awards
      • 3 wins & 2 nominations total

    Photos36

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    Known for

    Daniel Craig in Casino Royale (2006)
    Casino Royale
    8.0
    • Alex Dimitrios
    • 2006
    Ronit Elkabetz in Ve'Lakhta Lehe Isha (2004)
    Ve'Lakhta Lehe Isha
    7.1
    • Eliahou
    • 2004
    Alan Arkin, Meryl Streep, Reese Witherspoon, and Jake Gyllenhaal in Rendition (2007)
    Rendition
    6.8
    • Said Abdel Aziz
    • 2007
    Persepolis (2007)
    Persepolis
    8.0
    • Le Père(voice)
    • 2007

    Credits

    Edit
    IMDbPro

    Actor



    • De Gaulle Partie 1: La France Libre
      • Charles de Gaulle
      • Post-production
      • 2025
    • Vanished
      • Gaspard Drax
      • In Production
      • TV Mini Series
    • De Gaulle Partie 2
      • Charles de Gaulle
      • Post-production
    • Le lièvre
      • Post-production
    • Chroniques d'un Indic
      • Lakhdar
      • Post-production



    • Playground
      • 2024
    • Laurent Lafitte in Le quatrième mur (2024)
      Le quatrième mur
      6.5
      • Marwan
      • 2024
    • Kool Shen, Nicolas Cazalé, Assaad Bouab, Sofia Essaïdi, and Alberto Ammann in Overdose (2022)
      Overdose
      5.8
      • Daniel Prat
      • 2022
    • Notre-Dame (2022)
      Notre-Dame
      5.2
      TV Mini Series
      • Max
      • 2022
    • Cop Goes Missing (2022)
      Cop Goes Missing
      5.3
      • Tristan
      • 2022
    • Restless (2022)
      Restless
      5.8
      • Marelli
      • 2022
    • Simon Abkarian, Éric Caravaca, and Emmanuelle Devos in Basse Saison (2021)
      Basse Saison
      5.7
      TV Movie
      • Anthony
      • 2021
    • Permis de construire (2021)
      Permis de construire
      5.4
      • Müller
      • 2021
    • Simon Abkarian and Pascale Arbillot in Le chemin du bonheur (2021)
      Le chemin du bonheur
      5.8
      • Saül Birnbaum
      • 2021
    • Romance (2020)
      Romance
      6.4
      TV Series
      • Tony
      • 2020
    • Simon Abkarian and Nina Hoss in The Audition (2019)
      The Audition
      6.5
      • Philippe
      • Anna's husband
      • 2019
    • Ana Girardot and François Civil in Someone, Somewhere (2019)
      Someone, Somewhere
      6.6
      • Mansour
      • 2019
    • Simon Abkarian and Sandrine Bonnaire in Ce soir-là et les jours d'après (2019)
      Ce soir-là et les jours d'après
      6.6
      TV Movie
      • Karan
      • 2019
    • The Swallows of Kabul (2019)
      The Swallows of Kabul
      7.5
      • Atiq (voice)
      • 2019
    • Rebels (2019)
      Rebels
      6.3
      • Simon Bénéké
      • 2019

    Soundtrack



    • Simon Abkarian and Nina Hoss in The Audition (2019)
      The Audition
      6.5
      • performer: "Le Temps des Cerises"
      • 2019

    • In-development projects at IMDbPro

    Videos31

    Casino Royale: Bond 50
    Clip 7:52
    Casino Royale: Bond 50
    Official Trailer
    Trailer 2:16
    Official Trailer
    Official Trailer
    Trailer 2:16
    Official Trailer
    Trailer
    Trailer 3:23
    Trailer
    Official Trailer
    Trailer 1:57
    Official Trailer
    Trailer [English Sub]
    Trailer 1:57
    Trailer [English Sub]
    Bande-Annonce [VO]
    Trailer 1:46
    Bande-Annonce [VO]

    Personal details

    Edit
    • Height
      • 6′ 0½″ (1.84 m)
    • Born
      • March 5, 1962
      • Gonesse, Val-d'Oise, France
    • Children
      • Djivan Abkarian
    • Parents
      • Sima Abkarian
    • Other works
      Book: "Pénélope, Ô Pénélope". Arles: Actes Sud.
    • Publicity listings
      • 1 Interview
      • 1 Article

    Did you know

    Edit
    • Trivia
      Taught at CNSAD (Conservatoire National Superieur d'Art Dramatique) in Paris.

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