--- name: "Olivier Rabourdin" canonical: "https://film.one/person/olivier-rabourdin" roles: ["Actor"] born: "3 March 1959" reviewed_on_fi1m: 3 average_fi1m_score: 80 average_as: "actor" average_over: 3 updated: "2026-09-17T12:13:27.386087+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." --- # Olivier Rabourdin Actor. Born 3 March 1959 in Nanterre, Seine [now Hauts-de-Seine], France. ## Details - **Work:** Actor - **Born:** 3 March 1959, Nanterre, Seine [now Hauts-de-Seine], France - **Active:** 2010–present - **Average Fi1m score:** 80, as actor, over 3 titles - **Fi1m score by decade:** 2010s 81 (2), 2020s 77 (1) - **Fi1m against the critics:** 80 to 76 across 3 titles - **Score spread:** 1 at 80+, 2 at 60–79, 0 under 60 - **Lead roles:** 0 of 1 acting credits billed first or second - **Genres:** Drama 2, Romance 2, Comedy 1, Fantasy 1, History 1 - **Screen time:** 5 hours of reviewed films - **Box office:** $194m across 3 films with figures - **Elsewhere:** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Olivier_Rabourdin, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q3351313, https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0705005/, https://www.themoviedb.org/person/49278 ## Fi1m on Olivier Rabourdin > Olivier Rabourdin is the man at the table whose mind is not yet made up, and he lets you watch it not being made up. Mostly a supporting actor, he is why a scene of men deciding something can feel undecided. Around the chapter table in *Of Gods and Men* (2010), Xavier Beauvois's Trappist monks decide whether to stay in Algeria as the killing comes closer, and the camera goes round one face at a time. Paul wants to go. Célestin is frightened. Amédée, the oldest, sees no reason to change anything. Christophe, the youngest, played by Olivier Rabourdin, does not know. We believed him, and we do not often believe an actor asked to play indecision, because it usually looks like waiting for the next line. Here it looked like a man who might say either thing, and that is a large part of why the decision felt open. He came to that table late. Rabourdin trained at Nanterre-Amandiers under Patrice Chéreau in the late 1970s and began with small parts from 1985, among them *The Satin Slipper*. Then the 1990s happened to him, and he spent much of the decade in odd jobs rather than in films. The way back ran through Arnaud Desplechin and *Kings and Queen* (2004), and then a run of supporting roles between 2008 and 2010, in *Taken*, *Welcome* and *Of Gods and Men*, after which the work did not stop. He has made more than seventy films since, and has said that because success came late, "I completely appreciate what I’m living now." What he gets cast as is the middle-aged man with a position: the official, the authority figure, the ordinary man with more going on than he shows. He plays them without display, so that whatever changes in a scene changes somewhere behind the face, and he is at his best in confined rooms with other people. Beauvois has used him three times and Desplechin twice, which tells you which directors have noticed. He has also gone where the money is, as Jean-Claude Pitrel in the *Taken* films and as Gauguin in Woody Allen's *Midnight in Paris* (2011), and into the convent of *Benedetta* (2021). His one substantial lead, Daniel in Robin Campillo's *Eastern Boys* (2013), we have not reviewed; it is the film that people who admire him tend to name first. The reservation is the obvious one, and it is barely a reservation: he is a supporting actor, and the record holds few complaints beyond that. Films need a middle, and men like this are what it is built from. If you know him only from *Taken*, sit through the chapter scene in *Of Gods and Men* and watch the youngest monk fail to make up his mind. ## Biography Olivier Rabourdin is a French actor. He was born on 3 March 1959 in Nanterre, France, and has appeared in films since 1985. He played Christophe in *Of Gods and Men* (2010), for which he received a nomination for the César Award for Best Supporting Actor. Other film roles include Jean-Claude Pitrel in *Taken* (2008) and *Taken 2* (2012), Paul Gauguin in *Midnight in Paris* (2011), Richemont in *The Messenger: The Story of Joan of Arc* (1999), and Alfonso Cecchi in *Benedetta* (2021). *Sources: en.wikipedia.org, imdb.com.* ## On Fi1m (3) - *Passages* (2023), Fi1m 77, as Agathe's Father — [page](https://film.one/film/passages.md) - *Midnight in Paris* (2011), Fi1m 78, as Paul Gauguin — [page](https://film.one/film/midnight-in-paris.md) - *Of Gods and Men* (2010), Fi1m 84, as Christophe — [page](https://film.one/film/of-gods-and-men.md) ## Complete filmography (89) Every credit, newest first. Titles without a page can be requested for review on the HTML page. - *Mousey* (2026), Acting - *Behind the Palm Trees* (2026), as Bernard - *Maigret and the Dead Lover* (2026), as Judge - *Animal Totem* (2025), as Philippe Ripauillac - *The Embers* (2025), series, as Jean Benefro - *Fox Hunt* (2025), Acting - *Kabul* (2025), series, as Benoît - *Jíkuri. Journey to the Land of the Tarahumara* (2024), as Psychiatrist - *Auction* (2024), as Hervé Quinn - *Franklin* (2024), series, as Jean-Charles Pierre Lenoir - *Polar Park* (2023), series, as Frère Auguste - *The Other Laurens* (2023), as Gabriel Laurens - *Last Summer* (2023), as Pierre - *Passages* (2023), as Agathe's Father — Fi1m 77, [page](https://film.one/film/passages.md) - *Ceux de la nuit* (2023), as Marauder (voice) - *The Colors of Fire* (2022), as Le commissaire - *The Sixth Child* (2022), as Martin - *The Calling* (2022), Acting - *Love Is Better Than Life* (2022), as Olivier, the cop - *A Familiar Stranger* (2021), series, as Paul - *Black Box* (2021), as Victor Pollock - *Benedetta* (2021), as Alfonso Cecchi - *Jungle Jihad* (2020), as The director of the DCRI - *Korea, My Love* (2020), Acting - *Astrid & Raphaëlle* (2020), series, as Bergeaud - *The Atomic Adventure* (2019), as The Captain - *Effetto domino* (2019), as Jean Darnac - *Claire Darling* (2019), as Claude Darling - *Black Earth Rising* (2018), series, as Brigadier General Lesage - *The White Crow* (2018), as Alexinsky - *To Hell with Codes* (2018), Acting - *Burn Out* (2018), as Miguel - *The Guardians* (2017), as Clovis - *Diane Has the Right Shape* (2017), as L'hypnothérapeute - *Money* (2017), as Charles - *The Order of Things* (2017), as Gérard - *Guyane* (2017), series, as Antoine Serra - *La Nuit Rebelle* (2016), as Chef de la Police (voice) - *Wùlu* (2016), as Jean-François - *Trepalium* (2016), series, as Sol - *Chocolat* (2016), as Firmin Gemier - *France Is a Gas* (2016), as Michel Battement - *My Golden Days* (2015), as Abel Dédalus - *The Price of Fame* (2015), as Le médecin - *Nobody from Nowhere* (2014), as Pierre Chambard - *Rosemary's Baby* (2014), series, as Commissaire Fontaine - *De guerre lasse* (2014), as Marchiani - *Grace of Monaco* (2014), as Emile Pelletier - *Les Petits Princes* (2013), as Christian - *Mon ami Pierrot* (2013), as Serge - *Eastern Boys* (2013), as Daniel Arthuis - *Zygomatiques* (2013), as General Gagmanikof - *Voyage sans retour* (2012), as Inspecteur Manuel - *Augustine* (2012), as Bourneville - *Taken 2* (2012), as Jean-Claude Pitrel - *Lost Paradise* (2012), as Hugo - *The Gordji Affair* (2012), as Jacques Dor - *A Gang Story* (2011), as Charles Bastiani - *Mister Bob* (2011), as Commander of the SDECE - *Midnight in Paris* (2011), as Paul Gauguin — Fi1m 78, [page](https://film.one/film/midnight-in-paris.md) - *Tony's Revenge* (2011), series, as Guido - *Nobody Else But You* (2011), as Commandant Colbert - *Of Gods and Men* (2010), as Christophe — Fi1m 84, [page](https://film.one/film/of-gods-and-men.md) - *Love Crime* (2010), as Le juge - *My Father's Guests* (2010), as Rémy - *The Hunter* (2010), series, as Gilles Mercier - *Animal Heart* (2009), as Paul - *Un si beau voyage* (2009), as Le directeur de la résidence - *Welcome* (2009), as Le lieutenant de police - *Duel* (2009), series, as Joël Delpierre - *The Little Murders of Agatha Christie* (2009), series, as André Simonet, Etienne Bousquet - *Taken* (2008), as Jean-Claude Pitrel - *Actresses* (2007), as Marc - *La Face cachée* (2007), as Pierre - *La loi de la forêt* (2006), Acting - *S.A.C. : Des hommes dans l'ombre* (2005), as Jean Augé - *The Clear Eyes* (2005), as Néflier - *Kings & Queen* (2004), as Jean-Jacques - *A Son* (2004), as Captain Lopez - *Ma mère* (2004), as Robert - *Loulou* (2002), as (voice) - *The Three Kings* (2001), Writer - *Quelle Aventure !* (2001), series, as The master architect - *The Messenger: The Story of Joan of Arc* (1999), as Richemont - *L'Extraterrestre* (1999), as Xab - *Francorusse* (1997), as Fairground - *Le fils de Paul* (1995), as Le sous-officier - *Normal People Are Nothing Exceptional* (1993), as Psychiatrist - *The Satin Slipper* (1986), as Un pêcheur --- © 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/olivier-rabourdin