Simon Abkarian
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 .
Casino Royale
as Alex DimitriosLe Chiffre, a banker to the world's terrorists, is scheduled to participate in a high-stakes...
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Persepolis
as Marjane's Father (voice)In 1970s Iran, Marjane 'Marji' Statrapi watches events through her young eyes and her idealistic...
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Overdrive
as Jacomo MorierMaster car thieves square off against French gangsters in the South of France with money, women...
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Overdose
as Daniel PratCaptain Sara Bellaiche, from Toulouse Judiciary Police branch, is investigating a go-fast linked...
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Rendition
as Said Abdel AzizWhen an Egyptian terrorism suspect "disappears" on a flight from Africa to Washington DC, his...
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Restless
as Antoine MarelliAfter going to extremes to cover up an accident, a corrupt cop's life spirals out of control...
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Cyrano, My Love
as Ange FleuryParis, France, December 1897. The young playwright Edmond Rostand feels like a failure....
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Colt 45
as Commander Luc DenardVincent Miles, a gunsmith and shooting instructor at the National Police, is an expert in combat...
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Angelique
as L'avocat François DesgrezThe incredible destiny of Angélique: a beautiful girl who found in her love for Joffrey Peyrac...
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The Truth About Charlie
as Lieutenant DessalinesRegina meets charming Joshua while vacationing in Martinique, as she contemplates ending her...
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Someone, Somewhere
as MansourRémy and Mélanie live next door to each other in Paris but have never met. The two...
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Secrets of State
as Al BaradIn France, terrorist groups and intelligence agencies battle in a merciless war everyday, in the...
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Ararat
as Arshile GorkyInterrogated by a customs officer, a young man recounts how his life was changed during the...
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The Cut
as KrikorIn 1915 a man survives the Armenian genocide in the Ottoman Empire, but loses his family, speech...
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Not For, or Against (Quite the Contrary)
as Freddy"Ni Pour, Ni Contre" tracks the fall of a young TV camerawoman, Caty, after she becomes involved...
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Trivial
as PierreAn inspector who just suffered a family tragedy is looking for a missing older man. Man's family...
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Gett: The Trial of Viviane Amsalem
as ElishaThe trial story of Viviane Amsalem's five year fight to obtain her divorce in front of the only...
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The Audition
as PhilippeAnna teaches violin at a music school, her husband is an instrument-maker. They have a...
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Army of Crime
as Missak ManouchianThis gripping historical drama recounts the story of Armenian-born Missak Manouchian, a...
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Rebels
as Simon Bénéké, Sandra's fatherSandra, a young woman forced to leave the south of France to flee a violent husband. Without...
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Zarafa
as Hassan (voice)Inspired by the true story of the first giraffe to visit France, Zarafa is a sumptuously...
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When the Cat's Away
as CarlosWhen Chloe, a young Parisian, decides to take a long-overdue vacation, she has to find someone...
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The Sonata
as Charles VernaisAfter a gifted musician inherits a mansion after her long lost father dies under mysterious...
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Scribe
as GerfautTwo years after a burn-out, Duval is still unemployed. Contacted by an enigmatic businessman, he...
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The Swallows of Kabul
as Atiq (voice)Summer 1998—Kabul under Taliban rule. Zunaira and Mohsen are young and in love. Despite the...
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Rage
as MerlinA schoolboy uses his cellphone camera to shoot intimate interviews with people working at a New...
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Permis de construire
as MüllerWhen his father passes away, a dentist in Paris inherits a plot and the will to build a house on...
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The Snake
as SamA ruthless gang led by private detective Joseph Plender is extorting rich people and famous...
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A Day at the Museum
as Gilles PaulinUn conservateur terrorisé par les plantes vertes, une mère plastifiée pour être exposée, un...
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Chouf
as Le libanaisChouf: It means “look” in Arabic, but it is also the name of the watchmen in the drug cartels of...
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Journey from Greece
as KakourgosDjam, a young Greek woman, is sent to Istanbul by her uncle Kakourgos, a former sailor with a...
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The Marchers
as Le père de FaridIn 1983, in France experiencing intolerance and racial violence , three young teens and the...
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Turk's Head
as Le veufA 14 year old boy, an ER doctor, a cop looking for revenge, a mother fighting for her children...
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The Wedding Song
as RaoulThe Nazi occupation of Tunisia strains the bonds of friendship between a Muslim woman and a...
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In Your Dreams
as WilsonNinth is a promising young rapper whose reputation does not exceed even the few streets of his...
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Khamsa
as Khamsa's FatherAfter fleeing from his foster family, 11-years-old Khamsa returns to the gypsy camp where he was...
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The Seven Days
as EliyauWhen one of the brothers (Ohayn) dies, all the whole family comes for Shiva (Jewish...
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Don't Tell Me the Boy Was Mad
as Hovannès AlexandrianAram, a young man from Marseille of Armenian origin, blows up the Turkish ambassador's car in...
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L'Affaire Ben Barka
as le général Oufkir, ministre marocain de l'intérieur
Force
as Jimi WeissFollowing a series of unsolved robberies, the authorities decide to give carte blanche to...
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Yes
as HeShe is a scientist. He is a Lebanese doctor. They meet at a banquet and fall into a carefree,...
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I Saw Ben Barka Get Killed
as Mehdi Ben BarkaJanuary 1966. In a Paris apartment, police discovers the corpse of Georges Figon, the man who...
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The Way to Happiness
as Saül BirnbaumSaul escaped the coming Shoah as a child by being sent from Vienna to Brussels by a...
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To Take A Wife
as EliyahooThe story takes place in Haifa, Israel, in 1979, during three days before the Shabbat. A young...
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1915
as SimonExactly 100 years after the Armenian Genocide, a theatre director stages a play to bring the...
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The Legend of Princess Parva
as Swami (voice)The island of Kiam was once a paradise place with a kind Maharaja as a ruler. But one day the...
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Almost Peaceful
as AlbertSet during the largely unexplored period immediately following World War II, the film follows a...
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Cop Goes Missing
as TristanOne morning, a worn-out field cop, nicknamed Ping-Pong by everyone, burns his police ID and...
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Off-Season
as AnthonyA seaside resort in the middle of winter, with its abandoned beach bars and rain-battered...
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Aram
as AramAram, an ex-soldier from the Armenian cause, has come to France to close an arms deal under...
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Minor Revelations
as uncredited"The choice of each period is intimate, as each period awakens a particular emotion in me. This...
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The Demon Stirs
as Julien CestacAnne Cestac accepts the obvious: her husband Julien, in his forties, has fallen madly in love...
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Armenia
as Sarkis ArabianThis is a story about returning to ones ancestral homeland. Anna is a cardiologist who discovers...
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Zaina: Rider of the Atlas
as OmarYoung Zaina, must lead a caravan of precious thoroughbreds to Marrakech to take part of the most...
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Black Notebooks
as uncreditedWith this two-part feature documentary, Shlomi Elkabetz shares a poignant love letter to his...
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The Silence of Rak
as CustomerThe adventures of Rak, who after his dismissal begins to reflect on the meaning of the word work...
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J'ai tué ma femme
as Le patron du caféMax and Minou are having a relationship crisis: she's crying, he's getting annoyed. Their car...
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Tempest in a Teapot
as uncreditedAmerican actor-director Arnold Barkus made this low-budget French film, a comedy set in New...
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Les mauvais joueurs
as SahakParis, le quartier du Sentier. Noël approche et la vie de Vahé Krikorian part à vau-l'eau. La...
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Lila Lili
as SimonMicheline, who is pregnant, lives in a home for women from which she tries to observe the world...
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Qu'est-ce qu'on va faire de toi?
as Abraham DruckerThe young years of Michel Drucker.
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Spooks
as Dariush BakhshiTense drama series about the different challenges faced by the British Security Service as they...
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Notre-Dame
as MaxAs the Paris firefighters try to stop the flames from spreading in the Cathedral, the show also...
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Tony's Revenge
as Tony RoucasTony Roucas, a long-term convicted criminal, escapes from prison with Kenz, a small-town big...
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Kaboul Kitchen
as Colonel AmanullahKaboul Kitchen is a French comedy television series broadcast by Canal+. It was created by Marc...
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Wonderland
as TonyIn this romantic fantasy-thriller, a man from the present travels back to 1960s Biarritz and...
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Malaterra
as Thomas RotmanMalaterra: for the residents this village is a haven of peace, a refuge. Until the death of a...
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Playground
as The FatherA lonely teenage girl joins a school for promising killers and trains hard to become an...
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