Simon Abkarian

Simon Abkarian born 5 March 1962 is a FrenchArmenian actor Born in Gonesse Val dOise 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 Mnouchkines 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 Potters Yes 2004 in which he played the lead role Abkarian then played Mehdi Ben Barka in the thriller Jai 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 lAtlas by Bourlem Guerdjou in the comedy Le Démon de midi by MariePascale Osterriet He has also appeared in Atom Egoyans 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 MI5 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 CCBYSA full list of contributors on Wikipedia