
Simon Abkarian
Known for ActingBorn 1962-03-05 (age 64)Gonesse, Val d'Oise, France
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 .Read more
Movies & web series
★ 10.0Find where to watch →
Lila Lili
1999 · Movie
★ 8.3Find where to watch →
S.A.C. : Des hommes dans l'ombre
2005 · Movie
★ 8.0Find where to watch →
Tehlirian on Trial: Armenia's Avenger
2015 · Movie
★ 7.9Find where to watch →
De Gaulle: Tilting Iron
2026 · Movie
★ 8.0Find where to watch →
Tempest in a Teapot
1997 · Movie
★ 7.9Find where to watch →
Persepolis
2007 · Movie
★ 7.7Find where to watch →
The Swallows of Kabul
2019 · Movie
★ 7.7Find where to watch →
Spooks
2002 · Series
★ 7.5Find where to watch →
Le dernier jour du jeûne
2020 · Movie
★ 7.5Find where to watch →
Gett: The Trial of Viviane Amsalem
2014 · Movie
★ 7.5Find where to watch →
Cyrano, My Love
2018 · Movie
★ 7.6Find where to watch →
Casino Royale
2006 · Movie
★ 7.5Find where to watch →
The Silence of Rak
1997 · Movie
★ 7.1Find where to watch →
Les Damnés de la Commune
2021 · Movie
★ 7.1Find where to watch →
Playground
2017 · Series
★ 7.0Find where to watch →
The 4th Wall
2025 · Movie
★ 7.3Find where to watch →
Dead Man Walking
1995 · Movie
★ 7.2Find where to watch →
The Legend of Princess Parva
2003 · Movie
★ 7.0Find where to watch →
Qu'est-ce qu'on va faire de toi?
2012 · Movie
★ 6.9Find where to watch →
Malaterra
2015 · Series
★ 6.8Find where to watch →
Vanished
2026 · Series
★ 6.9Find where to watch →
House of Saddam
2008 · Series
★ 6.8Find where to watch →
Zarafa
2012 · Movie
★ 6.9Find where to watch →
Zaina: Rider of the Atlas
2005 · Movie
★ 7.0Find where to watch →
La nuit miraculeuse
1989 · Movie
★ 6.6Find where to watch →
Wonderland
2020 · Series
★ 6.5Find where to watch →
Overdose
2022 · Movie
★ 6.5Find where to watch →
Don't Tell Me the Boy Was Mad
2015 · Movie
★ 6.5Find where to watch →
Angélique
2013 · Movie
★ 6.4Find where to watch →
Black Notebooks
2021 · Movie
★ 6.4Find where to watch →
Someone, Somewhere
2019 · Movie
★ 6.4Find where to watch →
Army of Crime
2009 · Movie
★ 6.4Find where to watch →
The Seven Days
2008 · Movie
★ 6.4Find where to watch →
Rendition
2007 · Movie
★ 6.3Find where to watch →
Journey from Greece
2017 · Movie
★ 6.3Find where to watch →
The Marchers
2013 · Movie
★ 6.3Find where to watch →
Chouf
2016 · Movie
★ 6.3Find where to watch →
Pigalle, la nuit
2009 · Series
★ 6.1Find where to watch →
Rebels
2019 · Movie
★ 6.1Find where to watch →
Restless
2022 · Movie
★ 6.3Find where to watch →
Aram
2002 · Movie
★ 6.1Find where to watch →
Overdrive
2017 · Movie
★ 6.2Find where to watch →
To Take A Wife
2004 · Movie
★ 6.2Find where to watch →
When the Cat's Away
1996 · Movie
★ 6.1Find where to watch →
Ararat
2002 · Movie
★ 6.1Find where to watch →
The Snake
2006 · Movie
★ 5.9Find where to watch →
The Way to Happiness
2022 · Movie
★ 5.9Find where to watch →
Scribe
2016 · Movie