--- name: "Hubert Koundé" canonical: "https://film.one/person/hubert-kounde" fi1m_id: "hubert-kounde" imdb_id: "nm0468003" tmdb_id: 5418 wikidata_id: "Q921928" roles: ["Actor"] born: "30 December 1970" reviewed_on_fi1m: 2 average_fi1m_score: 86 average_as: "actor" average_over: 2 updated: "2026-09-17T17:52:29.317571+00:00" licence: "© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL." --- # Hubert Koundé ## Identity Hubert Koundé - **Canonical:** https://film.one/person/hubert-kounde - **Type:** Person - **Fi1m ID:** hubert-kounde - **IMDb ID:** nm0468003 - **TMDB ID:** 5418 - **Wikidata ID:** Q921928 - **Same entity:** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hubert_Kound%C3%A9, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q921928, https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0468003/, https://www.themoviedb.org/person/5418 Actor. Born 30 December 1970 in Saint-Denis, La Réunion, France. ## Details - **Work:** Actor - **Born:** 30 December 1970, Saint-Denis, La Réunion, France - **Active:** 1995–2005 - **Average Fi1m score:** 86, as actor, over 2 titles - **Fi1m score by decade:** 1990s 90 (1), 2000s 82 (1) - **Elsewhere:** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hubert_Kound%C3%A9, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q921928, https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0468003/, https://www.themoviedb.org/person/5418 ## Fi1m on Hubert Koundé > Hubert Koundé’s restraint makes the friendship in *La Haine* convincing, even beside Vincent Cassel’s insistent anger. We value the tension he brings to the sensible friend, though that casting can give an actor too little to do. In *La Haine* (1995), Hubert Koundé makes Vincent Cassel’s Vinz convincing as somebody’s friend. Cassel’s resentment could exhaust the company, but Koundé’s Hubert and Saïd Taghmaoui’s Saïd have the familiarity that makes staying together believable. We laughed at their exchanges because the humour came from knowing one another, without the dialogue having to soften anyone’s hostility. Koundé plays the thoughtful member of the group with enough underlying tension to keep him involved in its troubles. Kassovitz had already directed him as Jamal in *Métisse* (1993), and those two early collaborations remain the clearest place to begin with Koundé. Anne Fontaine’s *Comment j’ai tué mon père* (2001) and the international production *The Constant Gardener* (2005) took him beyond that partnership. After the mid-2000s, substantial film parts became less frequent, with television taking more of the work, including a recurring part in *Braquo* in 2011. We would be wary of reading a judgement on his acting into that change. Kassovitz’s dialogue in *La Haine* helps by letting the friends be funny without making everything they say acceptable. Koundé and Taghmaoui make Cassel seem part of a shared conversation, not a performance being delivered at two witnesses. The direction occasionally draws too much attention to itself, but the actors give us a reason to stay with the people rather than admire the flourishes. We would not ask Koundé to make Hubert more conspicuous; that would misunderstand what works here. There is a risk in making him the sensible man by default, as his recurring casting in introspective, morally grounded roles suggests. Those parts need the humour and tension that *La Haine* allows him, or restraint can become a polite way of giving an actor little to do. Start with *La Haine*, and resist the temptation to watch only Cassel. ## Biography Hubert Koundé is a French actor and film director. He was born on 30 December 1970 in Saint-Denis, Réunion, France, and is of Beninese origin. He spent part of his childhood in Benin before returning to Paris for schooling. Koundé is best known for his role as Hubert in Mathieu Kassovitz's *La Haine* (1995), for which he received a nomination for the César Award for Most Promising Actor. He has appeared in other films including *Métisse* (1993), *Diên Biên Phu* (1992), *The Constant Gardener* (2005) as Dr Arnold Bluhm, *Gangsterdam* (2017) and *Paradise Beach* (2019). He has also worked in television, written a play performed in 2003, directed short films and co-directed the feature *Paris, la métisse*. *Sources: en.wikipedia.org, imdb.com, allocine.fr.* ## On Fi1m (2) - *The Constant Gardener* (2005), Fi1m 82, as Dr. Arnold Bluhm — [page](https://film.one/film/the-constant-gardener.md) - *La Haine* (1995), Fi1m 90, as Hubert — [page](https://film.one/film/la-haine.md) ## Complete filmography (21) Every credit, newest first. Titles without a page can be requested for review on the HTML page. - *Crooks* (2024), series, as Casper - *Asbest* (2023), series, as Tamsir - *Paradise Beach* (2019), as Goyave - *Gangsterdam* (2017), as Ulysse - *Color of the Ocean* (2012), as Zola - *Toussaint Louverture* (2012), as Dessalines - *Toussaint Louverture* (2012), series, as Dessalines - *Pigalle, la nuit* (2009), series, as Adam - *Le Voyage de la veuve* (2008), as Léopold - *Une lumière dans la nuit* (2008), as Julien Bourgade - *The Constant Gardener* (2005), as Dr. Arnold Bluhm — Fi1m 82, [page](https://film.one/film/the-constant-gardener.md) - *How I Killed My Father* (2001), as Jean-Toussaint - *The Price of Forgiveness* (2001), as Maxoye - *Everything's Fine, We're Leaving* (2000), as Arthur - *Simon, the Magician* (1999), as Paul - *Restons groupés* (1998), as Aimé - *Les Enfants du Karoo* (1997), as Maseko - *The Gods Must Be Daring* (1997), as Mamadou - *La Haine* (1995), as Hubert — Fi1m 90, [page](https://film.one/film/la-haine.md) - *Métisse* (1993), as Jamal - *Dien Bien Phu* (1992), Actor --- © Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL. Canonical: https://film.one/person/hubert-kounde