François Berléand born 22 April 1952 is a French actor.
He plays Gilles Triquet, the officer manager and equivalent of David Brent in Le Bureau, the French version of The Office, produced by Canal+. He released a book about his childhood in 2006, Le fils de l’homme invisible (The son of the invisible man). He also appeared in the 2002 film The Transporter as the French commissaire named Tarconi, an active and honest police officer who is an acquaintance of Frank Martin (Jason Statham). He reprised the role in the sequels Transporter 2 and Transporter 3 and the TV series.
Early life
Berléand was born in Paris, France. The son of an Armenian father, and a French mother, he found his childhood traumatic until the age of eleven after taking a remark of his father out of context.
Career
François Berléand
While studying at business school, he trained as an actor, somewhat against his will; his first stage role was in a play called Sur une plage de l’Ouest (On a beach in the West). After graduation, he enrolled in drama classes with Tania Balachova and then met Daniel, a director under whose auspices he worked from 1974 to 1981, participating in a dozen productions, mainly of contemporary classics.
Berléand began his film career in 1978 with supporting roles in successful comedies throughout the 1980s. After a series of highly acclaimed supporting roles, including My Small Business for which he won the César for best actor in a supporting role in 2000, he won his first major role in the film My Idol by Guillaume Canet which brought his name and face to the wider public. For this, Berléand thanks his former girlfriend, actress-director Nicole Garcia.
In Martin et Léa, he plays a police inspector, a role he went on to perform many times on screen (La Balance, Les mois d’avril sont meurtriers (based on the novel The Devil’s Home on Leave by Derek Raymond), Marche à l’ombre (Walking in the Shade), The Bait, The Death the Chinese, Fred, The Smile of the Clown, Ne le dis à personne (Tell No One), Transporter 1, 2, and 3) thanks in part to a cold, distant, and a piercing gaze. Berléand often plays military characters (The Hostage of Europe, Stella, Les Milles, Captain Conan, The Prince of the Pacific); he has also played a detective (Follow This Plane), pastor (Au revoir les enfants) and psychiatrist in Seventh Heaven, the film that really showed his talents to the public in late 1997.
Berléand has been in a long-term relationship with Alexia Stresi; their twins Adèle and Lucy were born in December 2008. He is also the father of two grown children aged 26 and 31 years.
Theater
| Year | Title | Author | Director | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1973 | Le Champion de la faim | Franz Kafka | Daniel Benoin | |
| Les Corbeaux | Henry Becque | Daniel Benoin | ||
| 1974 | Deutsches Requiem | Pierre Bourgeade | Daniel Benoin | |
| Monsieur de Pourceaugnac | Molière | Daniel Benoin | ||
| 1975 | Woyzeck | Georg Büchner | Daniel Benoin | |
| 1977 | The Bald Soprano | Eugène Ionesco | Daniel Benoin | |
| 1979 | Hide your happiness! | Jean-Patrick Manchette | Daniel Benoin | |
| 1985 | Hernani | Victor Hugo | Antoine Vitez | |
| 1986 | Madame de Sade | Yukio Mishima | Sophie Loucachevsky | |
| 1987 | Les Désossés | Louis-Charles Sirjacq | Sophie Loucachevsky | |
| Mort de Judas/Le Point de vue de Ponce Pilate | Paul Claudel | Sophie Loucachevsky | ||
| 1990 | La Dame de chez Maxim | Georges Feydeau | Alain Françon | |
| Partage de midi | Paul Claudel | Brigitte Jaques-Wajeman | ||
| 1994 | The Homecoming | Harold Pinter | Bernard Murat | |
| 1999 | Biographie : un jeu | Max Frisch | Frédéric Bélier-Garcia | |
| 2002 | L’Enfant do | Jean-Claude Grumberg | Jean-Michel Ribes | |
| 2003 | Chinese Coffee | Ira Lewis | Richard Berry | |
| 2007 | L’Arbre de joie | Louis-Michel Colla & David Khayat | Christophe Lidon | |
| Faisons un rêve | Sacha Guitry | Bernard Murat | ||
| 2008 | Batailles | Roland Topor & Jean-Michel Ribes | Jean-Michel Ribes | |
| Tailleur pour dames | Georges Feydeau | Bernard Murat | ||
| 2009 | Sentiments provisoires | Gérald Aubert | Bernard Murat | |
| 2011-13 | Quadrille | Sacha Guitry | Bernard Murat | |
| 2012 | Le Dindon | Georges Feydeau | Bernard Murat | |
| Bons baisers de Manault | Manault Deva | Manault Deva | ||
| 2013-15 | Nina | André Roussin | Bernard Murat | |
| 2014-15 | Deux hommes tout nus | Sébastien Thiéry | Ladislas Chollat | Nominated – Molière Award for Best Actor |
| 2015-16 | Momo | Sébastien Thiéry | Ladislas Chollat | |
| 2016 | Du vent dans les branches de sassafras | René de Obaldia | Bernard Murat | |
| Moi, moi et François B. | Clément Gayet | Stéphane Hillel | ||
| 2017 | Ramses II | Sébastien Thiéry | Stéphane Hillel | |
| 2019 | Encore un instant | Fabrice Roger-Lacan | Bernard Murat |
Filmography
| Year | Title | Role | Director | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1977 | Au plaisir de Dieu | A guest | Robert Mazoyer | TV Mini-Series |
| 1979 | Martin et Léa | The inspector | Alain Cavalier | |
| Hamlet | Reynado / Osric / Mercellus | Renaud Saint-Pierre | TV Movie | |
| 1980 | La cantatrice chauve | M. Smith | Alexandre Tarta | TV Movie |
| 1981 | Les hommes préfèrent les grosses | Julien | Jean-Marie Poiré | |
| Un étrange voyage | The rogue witness | Alain Cavalier | ||
| On n’est pas des anges… elles non plus | The second jogger | Michel Lang | ||
| 1982 | La Balance | Inspector de la Mondaine | Bob Swaim | |
| Messieurs les jurés | Jean-Yves Oroër | Jean-Marie Coldefy | TV Series (1 Episode) | |
| 1983 | Stella | Captain at the hangar | Laurent Heynemann | |
| Elle voulait faire du cinéma | Pierre | Caroline Huppert | TV Movie | |
| 1984 | Marche à l’ombre | Police Inspector | Michel Blanc | |
| Ote-toi de mon soleil | Socrate | Marc Jolivet | ||
| 1985 | Sincerely Charlotte | The officer PTT | Caroline Huppert | |
| Strictement personnel | Gérard | Pierre Jolivet | ||
| Série noire | Dalbois | Laurent Heynemann | TV Series (1 Episode) | |
| 1986 | Le complexe du kangourou | Loïc’s Stepbrother | Pierre Jolivet | |
| La femme secrète | Zaccharia Pasdeloup | Sébastien Grall | ||
| 1987 | Goodbye, Children | Father Michel | Louis Malle | |
| Poker | The counsel | Catherine Corsini | ||
| Les mois d’avril sont meurtriers | Baumann | Laurent Heynemann | ||
| 1988 | Camille Claudel | Doctor Michaux | Bruno Nuytten | |
| Jours de vagues | Benjamin | Alain Tasma | Short | |
| 1989 | The Hostage of Europe | General Montholon | Jerzy Kawalerowicz | |
| L’Orchestre rouge | Corbin | Jacques Rouffio | ||
| Un père et passe | Maxence | Sébastien Grall | ||
| Suivez cet avion | Combette | Patrice Ambard | ||
| Ceux de la soif | M. Carmat | Laurent Heynemann | TV Movie | |
| Série noire | Sylvain | Laurent Heynemann | TV Series (1 Episode) | |
| 1990 | May Fools | Daniel | Louis Malle | |
| Sans rires | Roger | Mathieu Amalric | Short | |
| La belle Anglaise | The tax Inspector | Jacques Besnard | TV Series (1 Episode) | |
| 1991 | C’est quoi ce petit boulot ? | Paul | Gian Luigi Polidoro & Michel Berny | TV Mini-Series |
| 1992 | List of Merite | Alain Denizet | Charles Nemes | |
| La femme de l’amant | Marc | Christopher Frank | TV Movie | |
| Feu Adrien Muset | Edgar | Jacques Besnard | TV Movie | |
| La place du père | The lawyer | Laurent Heynemann | TV Movie | |
| 1993 | À l’heure où les grands fauves vont boire | The cousin | Pierre Jolivet | |
| La vis | The seller | Didier Flamand | Short | |
| Le bal | Georges | Jean-Louis Benoît | TV Movie | |
| La porte du ciel | Henri de Lombard | Denys Granier-Deferre | TV Movie | |
| Julie Lescaut | C. Béchard | Caroline Huppert | TV Series (1 Episode) | |
| 1994 | The Violin Player | Charles | Charles Van Damme | |
| Le bateau de mariage | The mayor | Jean-Pierre Améris | ||
| Pas si grand que ça ! | Ferdinand | Bruno Herbulot | TV Movie | |
| Avanti | Leroy-Massard | Jacques Besnard | TV Movie | |
| 1995 | The Bait | Inspector Durieux | Bertrand Tavernier | |
| Les Milles | Lieutenant Boisset | Sébastien Grall | ||
| Fugueuses | Nicolas | Nadine Trintignant | ||
| La fidèle infidèle | Robert | Jean-Louis Benoît | TV Movie | |
| Une page d’amour | Monsieur Rambaud | Serge Moati | TV Movie | |
| Un si joli bouquet | Antoine | Jean-Claude Sussfeld | TV Movie | |
| 3000 scénarios contre un virus | The pharmacist | Cédric Klapisch | TV Series (1 Episode) | |
| 1996 | A Self Made Hero | Monsieur Jo | Jacques Audiard | |
| Captain Conan | Commandant Bouvier | Bertrand Tavernier | ||
| Gorille, mon ami | Michel | Emmanuel Malherbe | Short | |
| Tous les hommes sont menteurs | Lionel | Alain Wermus | TV Movie | |
| J’ai rendez-vous avec vous | Serge | Laurent Heynemann | TV Movie | |
| Le juge est une femme | Guy Lesueur | Pierre Boutron | TV Series (1 Episode) | |
| Les Cordier, juge et flic | Lansac | Bruno Herbulot | TV Series (1 Episode) | |
| Anne Le Guen | The prefect | Stéphane Kurc | TV Series (1 Episode) | |
| 1997 | Seventh Heaven | The doctor | Benoît Jacquot | |
| The Bet | Doctor Bricourt | Didier Bourdon & Bernard Campan | ||
| L’Homme idéal | The Balto’s man | Xavier Gélin | ||
| Fred | Barrère | Pierre Jolivet | ||
| Tout le monde descend | Jean-Pierre | Laurent Bachet | Short | |
| Bonjour | Joseph | Bruno Herbulot | Short | |
| Pardaillan | Henry de Montmorency | Édouard Niermans | TV Movie | |
| La parenthèse | Philippe | Jean-Louis Benoît | TV Movie | |
| Un homme | Marcel | Robert Mazoyer | TV Movie | |
| Le garçon d’orage | The lame | Jérôme Foulon | TV Movie | |
| Madame le consul | Ambassador Delaunay | Bertrand Van Effenterre & Joyce Buñuel | TV Series (2 Episodes) | |
| 1998 | The School of Flesh | Soukaz | Benoît Jacquot | |
| Place Vendôme | Eric Malivert | Nicole Garcia | ||
| La mort du chinois | Inspector Chevalot | Jean-Louis Benoît | ||
| En plein coeur | Antoine | Pierre Jolivet | ||
| Dormez, je le veux ! | Paul / Raymond | Irène Jouannet | ||
| Un flic presque parfait | Génaro | Marc Angelo | TV Movie | |
| La grande Béké | Raymond | Alain Maline | TV Movie | |
| Crimes en série | Jean Brunet | Patrick Dewolf | TV Series (1 Episode) | |
| Commandant Nerval | Gabriel Cheminal | Arnaud Sélignac | TV Series (1 Episode) | |
| 1999 | My Little Business | Maxime Nassieff | Pierre Jolivet | César Award for Best Supporting Actor |
| Romance | Robert | Catherine Breillat | ||
| Bad Company | René | Jean-Pierre Améris | ||
| One 4 All | Unpleasant passenger | Claude Lelouch | ||
| Innocent | Jean-René | Costa Natsis | ||
| Le plus beau pays du monde | Brafort | Marcel Bluwal | ||
| La débandade | Doctor Nataf | Claude Berri | ||
| Le sourire du clown | Drouot | Éric Besnard | ||
| L’homme de ma vie | Frydman | Stéphane Kurc | ||
| Fleurs de sel | Edouard de Renoncourt | Arnaud Sélignac | TV Movie | |
| Le boiteux | Granier | Paule Zajdermann | TV Series (1 Episode) | |
| 2000 | Actors | François Nègre | Bertrand Blier | |
| Stardom | Nigel Pope’s associate | Denys Arcand | ||
| Deep in the Woods | Axel de Fersen | Lionel Delplanque | ||
| Six-Pack | Thomas | Alain Berbérian | ||
| Le prince du Pacifique | Commandant Lefèvre | Alain Corneau | ||
| Grand oral | President of the jury | Yann Moix | Short | |
| Trait d’union | Monsieur Théo | Bruno Garcia | Short | |
| Liste rouge | The taxi driver | Jérôme Bonnell | Short | |
| Un morceau de soleil | Louis | Dominique Cheminal | TV Movie | |
| Ces forces obscures qui nous gouvernent | Professor William Guety | Olivier Doran | TV Movie | |
| Victoire, ou la douleur des femmes | Doctor Treves | Nadine Trintignant | TV Mini-Series | |
| Passeur d’enfants | Jean | Franck Apprederis | TV Series (1 Episode) | |
| 2001 | How I Killed My Father | The patient | Anne Fontaine | |
| HS – hors service | Louis | Jean-Paul Lilienfeld | ||
| La fille de son père | Henri | Jacques Deschamps | ||
| Les âmes câlines | Jacques | Thomas Bardinet | ||
| Cyrano | The father | Vincent Lindon | Short | |
| Requiem(s) | The man with the gun | Stéphan Guérin-Tillié | Short | |
| Recrutement | Corbi | Didier Lauret | Short | |
| 2002 | Whatever You Say | Jean-Louis Broustal | Guillaume Canet | Étoiles d’Or for Best Actor Nominated – César Award for Best Actor |
| The Adversary | Rémi | Nicole Garcia | ||
| The Transporter | Inspector Tarconi | Corey Yuen & Louis Leterrier | ||
| The Code | The man in contract with Yanis | Manuel Boursinhac | ||
| Le frère du guerrier | The priest | Pierre Jolivet | ||
| Féroce | Police Inspector | Gilles de Maistre | ||
| Vivante | The father | Sandrine Ray | ||
| Une employée modèle | François Maurey | Jacques Otmezguine | ||
| Il giovane Casanova | Louis XV | Giacomo Battiato | TV Movie | |
| L’héritière | Bordier | Bernard Rapp | TV Movie | |
| 2003 | Sole Sisters | Mermot | Pierre Jolivet | |
| Remake | Francois-Charles Leconte | Dino Mustafić | ||
| En territoire indien | Jean-Claude Adam | Lionel Epp | ||
| Les amateurs | Monsieur Meinau | Martin Valente | ||
| La chaîne du froid | The client | Hervé Lavayssière | Short | |
| Les parents terribles | Georges | Josée Dayan | TV Movie | |
| 2004 | The Chorus | Rachin | Christophe Barratier | Nominated – César Award for Best Supporting Actor |
| Cash Truck | Bernard | Nicolas Boukhrief | ||
| Me and My Sister | Pierre Demouthy | Alexandra Leclère | ||
| Narco | Guy Bennet | Gilles Lellouche & Tristan Aurouet | ||
| Le grand rôle | Benny Schwarz | Steve Suissa | ||
| Pour le plaisir | François | Dominique Deruddere | ||
| Eros thérapie | Adam Corbeau | Danièle Dubroux | ||
| Une vie à t’attendre | Simon | Thierry Klifa | ||
| Le plus beau jour de ma vie | Valentin | Julie Lipinski | ||
| Toi, vieux | The visitor from the future | Pierre Coré & Michaël Mitz | Short | |
| 2005 | Transporter 2 | Inspector Tarconi | Louis Leterrier | |
| Quartier V.I.P. | Bertrand Fussac | Laurent Firode | ||
| Edy | Edy Saïovici | Stéphan Guérin-Tillié | ||
| 2006 | Comedy of Power | Michel Humeau | Claude Chabrol | |
| Tell No One | Eric Levkowitch | Guillaume Canet | ||
| Aurore | The King | Nils Tavernier | ||
| Le passager de l’été | Maurice Lecouvey | Florence Moncorgé-Gabin | ||
| Le Bureau | Gilles Triquet | Nicolas & Bruno | TV Mini-Series | |
| 2007 | Could This Be Love? | Roland Christin | Pierre Jolivet | |
| A Girl Cut in Two | Charles Saint-Denis | Claude Chabrol | ||
| Pur week-end | Commandant Papan | Olivier Doran | ||
| Fragile(s) | Paul | Martin Valente | ||
| Faisons un rêve | The husband | Bernard Murat | TV Movie | |
| 2008 | Transporter 3 | Inspector Tarconi | Olivier Megaton | |
| Ca$h | François | Éric Besnard | ||
| 15 ans et demi | Albert Einstein | François Desagnat & Thomas Sorriaux | ||
| Tailleur pour dames | Bassinet | Bernard Murat | TV Movie | |
| Le gendre idéal | Max | Arnaud Sélignac | TV Movie | |
| Chez Maupassant | Prosper Chicot | Claude Chabrol | TV Series (1 Episode) | |
| 2009 | Le Concert | Olivier Morne Duplessis | Radu Mihăileanu | |
| Le siffleur | Armand / Maurice Teillard | Philippe Lefebvre | ||
| La différence, c’est que c’est pas pareil | Sylvain | Pascal Laëthier | ||
| L’évasion | Colonel Von Deck | Laurence Katrian | TV Movie | |
| Les associés | Raymond Rosen | Alain Berliner | TV Movie | |
| 2010 | Vieilles canailles | J.P. | Arnaud Sélignac | TV Movie |
| Le pot de colle | Richard Maurand | Julien Seri | TV Movie | |
| Le gendre idéal 2 | Max | Arnaud Sélignac | TV Movie | |
| Le grand restaurant | A client | Gérard Pullicino | TV Movie | |
| Main basse sur une île | The Angel | Antoine Santana | TV Movie | |
| 2011 | Au bistro du coin | François | Charles Nemes | |
| Escalade | Noé | Charlotte Silvera | ||
| Une vie de chien | Monsieur Schartz | Cyril Ethan Robert | Short | |
| Insoupçonnable | Pierre Jourdan | Benoît d’Aubert | TV Movie | |
| 2012 | Happiness Never Comes Alone | Alain Posche | James Huth | |
| Another Woman’s Life | Lawyer Volin | Sylvie Testud | ||
| Dead Man Talking | Karl Raven | Patrick Ridremont | ||
| The Stroller Strategy | Jean-Luc Hamory | Clément Michel | ||
| Un jour mon père viendra | Bernard Bleu | Martin Valente | ||
| Max | Police Inspector | Stéphanie Murat | ||
| La certosa di Parma | Prince of Parme | Cinzia Th. Torrini | TV Movie | |
| 2012-2014 | Transporter: The Series | Inspector Tarconi | Brad Turner, Andy Mikita, … | TV Series (14 Episodes) |
| 2013 | 12 ans d’âge | Charles | Frédéric Proust | |
| Blanche nuit | La Malice | Fabrice Sébille | ||
| Crime d’État | Robert Boulin | Pierre Aknine | TV Movie | |
| Surveillance | JC Dedieu | Sébastien Grall | TV Movie | |
| 2014 | Palais de justesse | The President | Stéphane De Groodt | Short |
| La clef des champs | Fred | Bertrand Van Effenterre | TV Movie | |
| 2015 | Entre amis | Philippe | Olivier Baroux | |
| The Art Dealer | Simon | François Margolin | ||
| Vicky | Albert Bonhomme | Denis Imbert | ||
| Call My Agent ! | Himself | Lola Doillon | TV Series (1 Episode) | |
| Peplum | Senator | Philippe Lefebvre | TV Series (1 Episode) | |
| 2016 | La main du mal | Lucien Smadja | Pierre Aknine | TV Series (2 Episodes) |
| 2017 | L’école buissonnière | Count of Fresnaye | Nicolas Vanier | |
| I Feel Better | Audibert | Jean-Pierre Améris | ||
| C’est tout pour moi | Fabrice | Ludovic Colbeau-Justin & Nawell Madani | ||
| 2017-2018 | Les Chamois | Étienne Leroy | Philippe Lefebvre | TV Series (12 Episodes) |
| 2018 | La Ch’tite famille | Alexander | Dany Boon | |
| 2019 | L’esprit de famille | Jacques | Éric Besnard | Post-Production |
| La vérité si je mens ! Les débuts | Gérard Bitton & Michel Munz | Post-Production |