Simon Abkarian
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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 .
Known for
Credits
Casino Royale (2006)
as Alex Dimitrios
Overdrive (2017)
as Jacomo Morier
De Gaulle: Résistance (2026)
as Charles de Gaulle
Zero Dark Thirty (2012)
as Detainee on Monitor
De Gaulle: Liberté (2026)
as Charles de Gaulle
Colt 45 (2014)
as Commander Luc Denard
Rendition (2007)
as Said Abdel Aziz
Ararat (2002)
as Arshile Gorky
Cyrano, My Love (2018)
as Ange Fleury
Persepolis (2007)
as Marjane's Father (voice)
Zarafa (2012)
as Hassan (voice)
Minor Revelations (2008)
Actor
Restless (2022)
as Antoine Marelli
Yes (2005)
as He
Playground (2026)
as The Father
To Take A Wife (2004)
as Eliyahoo
Overdose (2022)
as Daniel Prat
The Truth About Charlie (2002)
as Lieutenant Dessalines
When the Cat's Away (1996)
as Carlos
The Audition (2019)
as Philippe
Trivial (2007)
as Pierre
Journey from Greece (2017)
as Kakourgos
Someone, Somewhere (2019)
as Mansour
Angélique (2013)
as L'avocat François Desgrez
Not For, or Against (Quite the Contrary) (2003)
as Freddy
The Goldfish (1994)
as Customer
Lila Lili (1999)
as Simon
The Snake (2006)
as Sam
J'ai tué ma femme (2017)
as Le patron du café
Khamsa (2008)
as Khamsa's Father
Les Amants naufragés (2011)
as Milo Garavan
The Swallows of Kabul (2019)
as Atiq (voice)
The Cut (2014)
as Krikor
The Marchers (2013)
as Le père de Farid
The Sonata (2018)
as Charles Vernais
Scribe (2016)
as Gerfaut
Army of Crime (2009)
as Missak Manouchian
Rebels (2019)
as Simon Bénéké, Sandra's father
Les mauvais joueurs (2005)
as Sahak
Turk's Head (2010)
as Le veuf
Tempest in a Teapot (1997)
Actor
Secrets of State (2008)
as Al Barad
Rage (2009)
as Merlin
Gett: The Trial of Viviane Amsalem (2014)
as Elisha
Armenia (2006)
as Sarkis Arabian
Force (2011)
as Jimi Weiss
La nuit miraculeuse (1989)
Actor
Zaina: Rider of the Atlas (2005)
as Omar
The Way to Happiness (2022)
as Saül Birnbaum
I Saw Ben Barka Get Killed (2005)
as Mehdi Ben Barka
The Legend of Princess Parva (2003)
as Swami (voice)
Don't Tell Me the Boy Was Mad (2015)
as Hovannès Alexandrian
Cop Goes Missing (2022)
as Tristan
Chouf (2016)
as Le libanais
A Day at the Museum (2008)
as Gilles Paulin
Chroniques D'un Indic (2025)
as Lakhdar
In Your Dreams (2005)
as Wilson
Almost Peaceful (2002)
as Albert
1915 (2015)
as Simon
Black Notebooks (2021)
Actor
The 4th Wall (2025)
as Marwan
Les Damnés de la Commune (2021)
as Narrateur (voice)
Il était une fois... « Le procès de Viviane Amsalem » (2016)
as Self
A World of Ours (2008)
as L'oncle de Noé (voice)
The Demon Stirs (2005)
as Julien Cestac
Comme une ombre (2010)
as Vincent
Off-Season (2021)
as Anthony
Qu'est-ce qu'on va faire de toi? (2012)
as Abraham Drucker
The ben barka affair (2008)
as le général Oufkir, ministre marocain de l'intérieur
Le dernier jour du jeûne (2020)
Actor
New Délire (2007)
as Gunter (voice)
Le Menteur : La Pièce ! (2008)
as Lelio
The Wedding Song (2008)
as Raoul
Aram (2002)
as Aram
J'irai au paradis car l'enfer est ici (1997)
as Simon
The Silence of Rak (1997)
as Customer
S.A.C. : Des hommes dans l'ombre (2005)
as Cesari
Ce soir-là et les jours d'après (2019)
as Karan
Permis de construire (2021)
as Müller
Electre des bas-fonds (2022)
Actor
The Seven Days (2008)
as Eliyau
Mémoires de Palestine (2023)
as Narrator (voice)
Ana El Awan (1994)
Actor
Pacer (2026)
Actor
Tehlirian on Trial: Armenia's Avenger (2015)
as Narrator
God Will Know His Own (—)
Actor