Simon Abkarian

Born: 1962-03-05

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 .


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Casino Royale

as Alex Dimitrios
Released: 2006-11-14

Le 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)
Released: 2007-06-27

In 1970s Iran, Marjane 'Marji' Statrapi watches events through her young eyes and her idealistic...

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Overdrive

as Jacomo Morier
Released: 2017-06-16

Master car thieves square off against French gangsters in the South of France with money, women...

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Colt 45

as Commander Luc Denard
Released: 2014-08-06

Vincent Miles, a gunsmith and shooting instructor at the National Police, is an expert in combat...

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Restless

as Antoine Marelli
Released: 2022-02-25

After going to extremes to cover up an accident, a corrupt cop's life spirals out of control...

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Overdose

as Daniel Prat
Released: 2022-11-04

Captain Sara Bellaiche, from Toulouse Judiciary Police branch, is investigating a go-fast linked...

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Scribe

as Gerfaut
Released: 2016-10-19

Two years after a burn-out, Duval is still unemployed. Contacted by an enigmatic businessman, he...

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Rendition

as Said Abdel Aziz
Released: 2007-09-07

When an Egyptian terrorism suspect "disappears" on a flight from Africa to Washington DC, his...

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The Truth About Charlie

as Lieutenant Dessalines
Released: 2002-10-25

Regina meets charming Joshua while vacationing in Martinique, as she contemplates ending her...

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Angelique

as L'avocat François Desgrez
Released: 2013-12-18

The incredible destiny of Angélique: a beautiful girl who found in her love for Joffrey Peyrac...

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Secrets of State

as Al Barad
Released: 2008-12-10

In France, terrorist groups and intelligence agencies battle in a merciless war everyday, in the...

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Someone, Somewhere

as Mansour
Released: 2019-09-11

Rémy and Mélanie live next door to each other in Paris but have never met. The two...

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Gett: The Trial of Viviane Amsalem

as Elisha
Released: 2014-06-25

The trial story of Viviane Amsalem's five year fight to obtain her divorce in front of the only...

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Cyrano, My Love

as Ange Fleury
Released: 2018-11-10

Paris, France, December 1897. The young playwright Edmond Rostand feels like a failure....

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Army of Crime

as Missak Manouchian
Released: 2009-09-16

This gripping historical drama recounts the story of Armenian-born Missak Manouchian, a...

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When the Cat's Away

as Carlos
Released: 1996-04-03

When Chloe, a young Parisian, decides to take a long-overdue vacation, she has to find someone...

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Not For, or Against (Quite the Contrary)

as Freddy
Released: 2003-03-05

"Ni Pour, Ni Contre" tracks the fall of a young TV camerawoman, Caty, after she becomes involved...

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Chouf

as Le libanais
Released: 2016-10-05

Chouf: It means “look” in Arabic, but it is also the name of the watchmen in the drug cartels of...

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Rebels

as Simon Bénéké, Sandra's father
Released: 2019-01-17

Sandra, a young woman forced to leave the south of France to flee a violent husband. Without...

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Trivial

as Pierre
Released: 2007-05-23

An inspector who just suffered a family tragedy is looking for a missing older man. Man's family...

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Permis de construire

as Müller
Released: 2021-11-15

When his father passes away, a dentist in Paris inherits a plot and the will to build a house on...

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Zarafa

as Hassan (voice)
Released: 2012-01-25

Inspired by the true story of the first giraffe to visit France, Zarafa is a sumptuously...

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The Swallows of Kabul

as Atiq (voice)
Released: 2019-09-04

Summer 1998—Kabul under Taliban rule. Zunaira and Mohsen are young and in love. Despite the...

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Ararat

as Arshile Gorky
Released: 2002-05-20

Interrogated by a customs officer, a young man recounts how his life was changed during the...

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The Cut

as Krikor
Released: 2014-10-16

In 1915 a man survives the Armenian genocide in the Ottoman Empire, but loses his family, speech...

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Rage

as Merlin
Released: 2009-09-24

A schoolboy uses his cellphone camera to shoot intimate interviews with people working at a New...

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The Snake

as Sam
Released: 2006-10-21

A 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 Paulin
Released: 2008-11-19

Un conservateur terrorisé par les plantes vertes, une mère plastifiée pour être exposée, un...

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The Marchers

as Le père de Farid
Released: 2013-11-27

In 1983, in France experiencing intolerance and racial violence , three young teens and the...

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The Sonata

as Charles Vernais
Released: 2018-11-15

After a gifted musician inherits a mansion after her long lost father dies under mysterious...

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Yes

as He
Released: 2005-08-05

She is a scientist. He is a Lebanese doctor. They meet at a banquet and fall into a carefree,...

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Journey from Greece

as Kakourgos
Released: 2017-08-09

Djam, a young Greek woman, is sent to Istanbul by her uncle Kakourgos, a former sailor with a...

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I Saw Ben Barka Get Killed

as Mehdi Ben Barka
Released: 2005-11-02

January 1966. In a Paris apartment, police discovers the corpse of Georges Figon, the man who...

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Turk's Head

as Le veuf
Released: 2010-03-31

A 14 year old boy, an ER doctor, a cop looking for revenge, a mother fighting for her children...

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Zaina: Rider of the Atlas

as Omar
Released: 2005-10-26

Young Zaina, must lead a caravan of precious thoroughbreds to Marrakech to take part of the most...

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L'Affaire Ben Barka

as le général Oufkir, ministre marocain de l'intérieur
Released: 2008-01-21

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The Audition

as Philippe
Released: 2019-11-06

Anna teaches violin at a music school, her husband is an instrument-maker. They have a...

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Armenia

as Sarkis Arabian
Released: 2006-06-28

This is a story about returning to ones ancestral homeland. Anna is a cardiologist who discovers...

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Force

as Jimi Weiss
Released: 2011-10-26

Following a series of unsolved robberies, the authorities decide to give carte blanche to...

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The Wedding Song

as Raoul
Released: 2008-11-24

The Nazi occupation of Tunisia strains the bonds of friendship between a Muslim woman and a...

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Khamsa

as Khamsa's Father
Released: 2008-10-08

After fleeing from his foster family, 11-years-old Khamsa returns to the gypsy camp where he was...

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In Your Dreams

as Wilson
Released: 2005-04-13

Ninth is a promising young rapper whose reputation does not exceed even the few streets of his...

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Don't Tell Me the Boy Was Mad

as Hovannès Alexandrian
Released: 2015-11-11

Aram, a young man from Marseille of Armenian origin, blows up the Turkish ambassador's car in...

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Les Damnés de la Commune

as Narrateur (voice)
Released: 2021-03-16

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Almost Peaceful

as Albert
Released: 2002-12-18

Set during the largely unexplored period immediately following World War II, the film follows a...

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Aram

as Aram
Released: 2002-11-27

Aram, an ex-soldier from the Armenian cause, has come to France to close an arms deal under...

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To Take A Wife

as Eliyahoo
Released: 2004-06-01

The story takes place in Haifa, Israel, in 1979, during three days before the Shabbat. A young...

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1915

as Simon
Released: 2015-04-17

Exactly 100 years after the Armenian Genocide, a theatre director stages a play to bring the...

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The Silence of Rak

as Customer
Released: 1997-07-09

The adventures of Rak, who after his dismissal begins to reflect on the meaning of the word work...

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A World of Ours

as L'oncle de Noé (voice)
Released: 2008-07-16

Noé comes into sixth grade at the same time he discovers a new city and a new house where he has...

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The Seven Days

as Eliyau
Released: 2008-05-05

When one of the brothers (Ohayn) dies, all the whole family comes for Shiva (Jewish...

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Minor Revelations

as uncredited
Released: 2008-04-09

"The choice of each period is intimate, as each period awakens a particular emotion in me. This...

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J'irai au paradis car l'enfer est ici

as Simon
Released: 1997-10-01

In this French gangster drama, a young hoodlum, new to his famed father's dubious profession,...

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The Legend of Princess Parva

as Swami (voice)
Released: 2003-02-12

The island of Kiam was once a paradise place with a kind Maharaja as a ruler. But one day the...

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Cop Goes Missing

as Tristan
Released: 2022-02-23

One morning, a worn-out field cop, nicknamed Ping-Pong by everyone, burns his police ID and...

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Ce soir-là et les jours d'après

as Karan
Released: 2019-06-26

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The Demon Stirs

as Julien Cestac
Released: 2005-06-22

Anne Cestac accepts the obvious: her husband Julien, in his forties, has fallen madly in love...

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Off-Season

as Anthony
Released: 2021-11-26

A seaside resort in the middle of winter, with its abandoned beach bars and rain-battered...

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The Way to Happiness

as Saül Birnbaum
Released: 2022-06-15

Saul escaped the coming Shoah as a child by being sent from Vienna to Brussels by a...

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Qu'est-ce qu'on va faire de toi?

as Abraham Drucker
Released: 2012-12-19

The young years of Michel Drucker.

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Le dernier jour du jeûne

as uncredited
Released: 2020-12-17

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Les mauvais joueurs

as Sahak
Released: 2005-04-20

Paris, le quartier du Sentier. Noël approche et la vie de Vahé Krikorian part à vau-l'eau. La...

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Comme une ombre

as Vincent
Released: 2010-12-21

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S.A.C. : Des hommes dans l'ombre

as Cesari
Released: 2005-11-29

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Tempest in a Teapot

as uncredited
Released: 1997-12-10

American actor-director Arnold Barkus made this low-budget French film, a comedy set in New...

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Black Notebooks

as uncredited
Released: 2021-07-07

With this two-part feature documentary, Shlomi Elkabetz shares a poignant love letter to his...

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New Délire

as Gunter (voice)
Released: 2007-01-20

Take a Bollywood film--a good Bolllywood film--with action, emotion, suspense, and laughter....

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Le Menteur : La Pièce !

as Lelio
Released: 2008-11-20

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J'ai tué ma femme

as Le patron du café
Released: 2017-02-04

Max and Minou are having a relationship crisis: she's crying, he's getting annoyed. Their car...

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Lila Lili

as Simon
Released: 1999-01-06

Micheline, who is pregnant, lives in a home for women from which she tries to observe the world...

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Mémoires de Palestine

as Narrator (voice)
Released: 2023-12-19

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Spooks

as Dariush Bakhshi
First aired: 2002-05-13

Tense drama series about the different challenges faced by the British Security Service as they...

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Tony's Revenge

as Tony Roucas
First aired: 2011-03-16

Tony Roucas, a long-term convicted criminal, escapes from prison with Kenz, a small-town big...

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Notre-Dame

as Max
First aired: 2022-10-19

As the Paris firefighters try to stop the flames from spreading in the Cathedral, the show also...

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Kaboul Kitchen

as Colonel Amanullah
First aired: 2012-02-13

Kaboul Kitchen is a French comedy television series broadcast by Canal+. It was created by Marc...

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Pigalle, la nuit

as Nadir Zainoun
First aired: 2009-11-23

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Playground

as The Father
First aired: 2017-03-22

A lonely teenage girl joins a school for promising killers and trains hard to become an...

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Wonderland

as Tony
First aired: 2020-05-18

In this romantic fantasy-thriller, a man from the present travels back to 1960s Biarritz and...

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Malaterra

as Thomas Rotman
First aired: 2015-11-18

Malaterra: for the residents this village is a haven of peace, a refuge. Until the death of a...

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