Simon Abkarian builds characters through posture and phrasing, and Persepolis shows how much he can do with the voice alone. We value the care that makes its father feel like a person with worries of his own.
Fi1m perspective
In Persepolis (2007), Simon Abkarian helps make Marjane's father sound like someone with worries of his own. Catherine Deneuve's mother belongs to that same believable household, where the adults have more to do than explain things to the child. We were moved by the family's closeness, especially the affection in Danielle Darrieux's voice as the grandmother. It is a good place to begin with an actor whose care with speech can be as useful as his physical precision. Marjane Satrapi and Vincent Paronnaud give their expressive drawings a family worth caring about.
His wider film career developed through collaborations with Cédric Klapisch, alongside continuing stage work. Atom Egoyan's Ararat (2002) cast him as the painter Arshile Gorky, while Sally Potter's Yes (2004) gave him his first major English-language lead, opposite Joan Allen. These are useful reminders that the supporting roles familiar to an international audience are only part of the work. Potter's film offers a place to explore that attention to speech in a leading performance.
Martin Campbell's Casino Royale (2006), in which he plays Alex Dimitrios, brought wider international recognition. We rate the film highly, though its force comes principally from Daniel Craig and Eva Green, and its final stretch is protracted. For judging Abkarian himself, Persepolis tells us more. Its episodes can pass too quickly, but the family performances give us a reason to wish that Satrapi and Paronnaud had lingered.
For the lead in Antonin Baudry's two-part De Gaulle: Liberté / Résistance (2026), the walk and the voice become central tasks. His preparation combined work on posture and stride with archive study and recording sessions. The challenge is to make the character worth listening to once the likeness has been established. For a first encounter, though, choose Persepolis and listen to the parents.
Biography
Simon Abkarian is a French-Armenian actor and playwright. Born on 5 March 1962 in Gonesse, Val-d'Oise, he spent his childhood in Lebanon before moving to Los Angeles, where he joined an Armenian theatre company. He returned to France in 1985 and trained at the Acting International school, later joining Ariane Mnouchkine's Théâtre du Soleil.
Abkarian left the company in 1993 and gained critical acclaim on stage for his performance in Beast on the Moon (2001), directed by Irina Brook, for which he received the Molière Award for Best Actor. His film roles include collaborations with Cédric Klapisch and the lead in Sally Potter's Yes (2004). He played Alex Dimitrios in Casino Royale (2006) and portrayed Charles de Gaulle in the 2026 diptych De Gaulle: Liberté (also known as La Bataille de Gaulle). He has also provided voice work, including in Persepolis (2007).
