Cyril Descours (born 15 July 1983 in

Frankfurt Frankfurt, officially Frankfurt am Main (; Hessian: , "Frank ford on the Main"), is the most populous city in the German state of Hesse. Its 791,000 inhabitants as of 2022 make it the fifth-most populous city in Germany. Located on its na ...

) is a French actor. He has appeared in more than twenty feature films since 2000 as well as in French television films and series, and on stage.

Career

The mother of Cyril Descours was German and he spent much of his childhood in London. By four years of age he could speak in French, German and English. He took part in drama from primary school onwards; and in 1999 enrolled at the

Cours Florent The Cours Florent is a private French drama school in Paris established in 1967 by François Florent. The school is located on three nearby sites in the 19th arrondissement of Paris, France: rue Archereau, rue Mathis, and Avenue Jean-Jaurès; f ...

where he remained for three years. In 2002 and 2003, he was at the drama classes of the Conservatoire of the 10th arrondissement in Paris. From 2005, he was a member of the Pas de Dieux theatre company, while completing his academic studies which led to him obtaining a Masters in literary translation. Descours's first stage role was in '' La guerre de Troie n'aura pas lieu'' by

Jean Giraudoux Hippolyte Jean Giraudoux (; 29 October 1882 – 31 January 1944) was a French novelist, essayist, diplomat and playwright. He is considered among the most important French dramatists of the period between World War I and World War II. His work ...

. After acting in some short films and minor parts, his first major screen role was as Tristan, a 17-year-old who has to look after his baby son after the death of his girlfriend, in a 2003 television film ''L'Enfant de l'aube'' (''The child of the dawn''), directed by Marc Angelo and based on the novel by

Patrick Poivre d'Arvor Patrick Poivre d'Arvor (PPDA; né Patrick Jean Marcel Poivre, ; born 20 September 1947) is a French TV journalist and writer. He is a household name in France, and nicknamed "PPDA". With over 30 years and in excess of 4,500 editions of televis ...

, which attracted over 10 million viewers on TF1 for its broadcast on 14 January 2004.Télérama'vodkaster. Page for Cyril Descours, Acteur
accessed 14 January 2021. Around 2005 saw him in two films, as a French student in ''French for Beginners'', and as a young man who meets a Moslem girl in the segment of ''Paris, je t'aime'' directed by

Gurinder Chadha Gurinder Chadha, (born 10 January 1960) is a British film director of Indian origin. Most of her films explore the lives of Indians living in England. The common theme among her work showcases the trials of Indian women living in the UK and ho ...

; on television he featured as Ben in several episodes of the first series of a popular drama ''Clara Sheller'', opposite

Frédéric Diefenthal Frédéric Diefenthal (born 26 July 1968 in Saint-Mandé Saint-Mandé () is a high-end commune of the Val-de-Marne department in Île-de-France in the eastern suburbs of Paris, France. It is located from the center of Paris. It is one of t ...

and

Mélanie Doutey Mélanie Doutey is a French actress. Life and career She is the daughter of filmmaker Alain Doutey and actress Arielle Séménoff. She appeared in Claude Chabrol's ''La Fleur du Mal'' and ''El Lobo'', the true story of a mole within the Basque ...

, and as the drug-dealing son of a farmer in ''Joseph''.Théâtre les deschargeurs page for Cyril Descours
accessed 15 January 2021 He went on to appear in further historical drama series both on French television, and briefly in the American series ''John Adams'', before featuring in the major French television drama ''Sa raison d'être'' (''What love means''), which traced 30 years of AIDS in France through the experiences of one family. Descours played leading parts in his following screen roles. In the dysfunctional family in the adaptation of

Mark Haddon Mark Haddon (born 28 October 1962) is an English novelist, best known for '' The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time'' (2003). He won the Whitbread Award, the Dolly Gray Children's Literature Award, Guardian Prize, and a Commonwealth W ...

's 2006 novel ''

A Spot of Bother ''A Spot of Bother'' is the second adult novel by Mark Haddon, who is best known for his prize-winning first novel ''The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time''. Like ''Curious Incident'', ''A Spot of Bother'' examines mental health iss ...

'' as the contemporary comedy drama ''Une petite zone de turbulences'' (''A small area of turbulence''), he portrayed the son whose reluctance to let his partner attend his sister's wedding causes their relationship to break down. In ''Complices'' (''Accomplices'') he starred as the murdered male escort whose final weeks are shown interspersed with the investigation to find his killer; this gained Descours a nomination to the

César Award for Most Promising Actor The César Award for Most Promising Actor (french: César du meilleur espoir masculin) is one of the César Awards, presented annually by the Académie des Arts et Techniques du Cinéma to recognize the outstanding breakthrough performance of a y ...

in 2011. He then co-starred as an athlete recently blinded in an accident and stifled by the continual compassion of those around him who tries to rebuild his life through his sport in

Régis Wargnier Régis Wargnier (; born 18 April 1948) is a French film director, film producer, screenwriter and film score composer. His 1992 film '' Indochine'' won the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film at the 65th Academy Awards. His 1995 '' A ...

's ''La Ligne droite'' (''Straight line''); for this role he trained alongside members of the French athletics squad and was filmed in front of 50,000 people during the

Meeting Areva Meeting de Paris (formerly known as the Meeting Areva and Meeting Gaz de France) is an annual track and field meeting at the Stade Sébastien Charléty in Paris, France. Previously one of the IAAF Golden League events, it is now part of the Diamon ...

. He also co-starred in an adaptation of the 1956 novel ''Madame Solario'', as the brother of the title character.Interview de Cyril Descours, à l’affiche de “Madame Solario”. Homme Urbain
accessed 15 January 2021. As a young man who goes to Paris to pursue a singing career he starred in the 2011 TV film ''Le Chant des Sirènes'' (''The Siren's song'') which won the prize for best film at the La Rochelle film festival that year. 2013 brought another period drama ''Une femme dans la Révolution'' (''A Woman during the revolution'') where he played a young député of the Tiers-État, who has a passionate affair with a young peasant. In a short that year he played the lead singer in a pop group, ''Boys Band Théorie'' and also sang the theme song by

Alex Beaupain Alexandre Beaupain, known as Alex Beaupain, born 15 October 1974 in Besançon, is a French singer and composer, both of his own songs, and of the music and songs for films, particularly those directed by Christophe Honoré. He has released several ...

. Leading and starring roles followed, in films - ''Ciel rouge'' (''Red sky''), shot entirely in

Viet Nam Vietnam or Viet Nam ( vi, Việt Nam, ), officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam,., group="n" is a country in Southeast Asia, at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of and population of 96 million, making it ...

, as Philippe Merlen, a French sergeant who deserts to save a

Viet Minh The Việt Minh (; abbreviated from , chữ Nôm and Hán tự: ; french: Ligue pour l'indépendance du Viêt Nam, ) was a national independence coalition formed at Pác Bó by Hồ Chí Minh on 19 May 1941. Also known as the Việt Minh Fro ...

prisoner, which results in a brief romance, '' Les Gardiennes'' (''The care-taking women'') as Georges - and television dramas such as ''Peur sur la base'' (''On the base of fear'') as a naval rating suspected of murder, ''Mystère au

Louvre The Louvre ( ), or the Louvre Museum ( ), is the world's most-visited museum, and an historic landmark in Paris, France. It is the home of some of the best-known works of art, including the ''Mona Lisa'' and the ''Venus de Milo''. A central l ...

'' (''Mystery at the Louvre'') as Frédéric Delage, an acrobat who becomes involved in a daring jewel theft, the mini-series ''Laëtitia'', based on real events, as Judge Martinot, and in another series ''

De Gaulle Charles André Joseph Marie de Gaulle (; ; (commonly abbreviated as CDG) 22 November 18909 November 1970) was a French army officer and statesman who led Free France against Nazi Germany in World War II and chaired the Provisional Governm ...

, l’éclat et le secret'' (''De Gaulle, the splendour and the secret'') as Geoffroy Chodron de Courcel. He took the lead role in a 2021 France 2 adaptation of

Philippe Claudel Philippe Claudel (born 2 February 1962) is a French writer and film director. Claudel was born in Dombasle-sur-Meurthe, Meurthe-et-Moselle. In addition to his writing, Claudel is a Professor of Literature at the University of Nancy. He directe ...

's autobiographical novel ''Le Bruit des trousseaux'' (''The jangling of bunches of keys'') about a prison teacher who begins to sacrifice his own life through vicarious involvement with life in prison and that of its inmates, his students. In 2011 he featured with

Emma Watson Emma Charlotte Duerre Watson (born 15 April 1990) is an English actress and activist. Known for her roles in both blockbusters and independent films, as well as for her women's rights work, she has received a selection of accolades, includi ...

in a two-minute video advert for a new

Lancôme Lancôme () is a French luxury perfumes and cosmetics house that distributes products internationally. Lancôme is part of the L'Oréal Luxury Products division, which is its parent company and offers luxury skin care, fragrances, and makeup at ...

perfume, filmed in Paris. Alongside screen work, Descours has continued in stage productions, in both classic and modern plays. In 2015 with three other actors (and musicians) he formed a group to practice non-verbal theatre skills on a regular basis; this resulted in productions seen in Paris and Barcelona. On radio he has appeared as Léon in

Madame Bovary ''Madame Bovary'' (; ), originally published as ''Madame Bovary: Provincial Manners'' ( ), is a novel by France, French writer Gustave Flaubert, published in 1856. The eponymous character lives beyond her means in order to escape the banalities ...

France Culture France Culture is a French public radio channel and part of Radio France. Its programming encompasses a wide variety of features on historical, philosophical, sociopolitical, and scientific themes (including debates, discussions, and documentari ...

in 2017. Cyril Descours is a black belt in

karate (; ; Okinawan language, Okinawan pronunciation: ) is a martial arts, martial art developed in the Ryukyu Kingdom. It developed from the Okinawan martial arts, indigenous Ryukyuan martial arts (called , "hand"; ''tii'' in Okinawan) under the ...

2nd Dan, having started at the age of 12, and also practices swimming, roller skating, snowboarding, tennis and riding. He has co-authored two karate books for children.

Filmography

Cinema

* 2000 : ''Le Jour de grâce'' (short) by

Jérôme Salle Jérôme Salle (born 1971) is a French film director and screenwriter. Salle directed the films '' Anthony Zimmer'', the Belgian comic book adaptation ''Largo Winch'', and its sequel ''Largo Winch II''. His 2013 film '' Zulu'' was selected as th ...

: Grandjean * 2004 : ''Troubles Sens'' by Anna Condo : le serveur / waiter * 2005 : ''Ming d'or'' (short) by Jennifer Devoldère * 2005 : '' Französisch für Anfänger'' by Christian Ditter : Matthieu * 2006 : ''

Paris, je t'aime ''Paris, je t'aime'' (; ''Paris, I love you'') is a 2006 anthology film starring an ensemble cast of actors of various nationalities. The two-hour film consists of eighteen short films set in different arrondissements (districts). The 22 director ...

'' (collective film), in the segment ''Quais de Seine'' directed by

: François * 2007 : ''Silence ! on voudrait bien s'aimer'' (short) by Alain Minot : Jeannot * 2009 : '' Une petite zone de turbulences'' by Alfred Lot : Mathieu Muret * 2010 : '' Complices'' by Frédéric Mermoud : Vincent * 2011 : ''

La Ligne droite ''La Ligne droite'' ( en, The Straight Line) is a 2011 French drama film co-written and directed by Régis Wargnier which focuses on the sport of blind running. It stars Rachida Brakni, Cyril Descours, Clémentine Célarié, and Seydina Baldé. T ...

'' by

: Yannick * 2011 : '' Madame Solario'' by

René Féret René Féret (26 May 1945 – 28 April 2015) was a French actor, screenwriter, film director and producer.Passer l'hiver ''Passer l'hiver'' is a 2013 French drama film directed by Aurélia Barbet and starring Gabrielle Lazure and Lolita Chammah. The film is loosely based on a short story by Olivier Adam. Cast * Gabrielle Lazure as Claire * Lolita Chammah as M ...

'' by Aurélia Barbet : Michel, the man in the van * 2015 : ''

Ciel Rouge ''Ciel rouge'' (literally, 'red sky') is a French film written and directed by Olivier Lorelle, shot in 2015 and released in 2017. It is set in the first First Indochina War, Vietnamese offensive against French colonial rule and follows the fate of ...

'' by Olivier Lorelle : Philippe Merlen * 2017 : '' Chez nous'' by

Lucas Belvaux Lucas Belvaux (born 14 November 1961) is a Belgian actor and film director. His directing credits include the ''Trilogie'', consisting of three films with interlocking stories and characters, each of which was filmed in a different genre. The t ...

: Jean-Baptiste Verhaeghe * 2017 : '' Les Gardiennes'' by

Xavier Beauvois Xavier Beauvois (; born 20 March 1967) is a French actor, film director and screenwriter. Career His film ''Don't Forget You're Going to Die'' was entered into the 1995 Cannes Film Festival where it won the Jury Prize. His film '' Of Gods an ...

: Georges

Television

* 2003 : ''L'Enfant de l'aube'', by Marc Angelo : Tristan ( TF1) * 2004 : ''Les Montana'', by Benoît d'Aubert : Johan Kowalski (

France 2 France 2 () is a French public national television channel. It is part of the state-owned France Télévisions group, along with France 3, France 4 and France 5. France Télévisions also participates in Arte and Euronews. Since 3:20 CET on 7 ...

) * 2004–2005 : ''

Clara Sheller Clara Sheller is a French television series created by Nicolas Mercier after the idea of Stéphanie Tchou-Cotta that was aired from 18 May 2005 to 3 December 2008 on France 2. The casting was completely changed between the first and second season, b ...

'' (series 1) by Renaud Bertrand : Ben (France 2) * 2005 : ''Joseph'', téléfilm of Marc Angelo : Léo Johassin (TF1) * 2006 : ''Le Président Ferrare'' by Alain Nahum (episode 'L'Affaire Gilles d'Aubert') : Romain (France 2) * 2006 : ''Vive la bombe !'' by Jean-Pierre Sinapi : Philippe (Arte) (concerning the Béryl incident) * 2006 : ''Rilke et Rodin, une rencontre'' by Bernard Malaterre :

Rainer Maria Rilke René Karl Wilhelm Johann Josef Maria Rilke (4 December 1875 – 29 December 1926), shortened to Rainer Maria Rilke (), was an Austrian poet and novelist. He has been acclaimed as an idiosyncratic and expressive poet, and is widely recogni ...

(

Arte Arte (; (), sometimes stylized in lowercase or uppercase in its logo) is a European public service channel dedicated to culture. It is made up of three separate companies: the Strasbourg-based European Economic Interest Grouping ARTE, plus ...

) * 2007 : ''L'Affaire Christian Ranucci : Le Combat d'une mère'' by

Denys Granier-Deferre Denys Granier-Deferre (born 27 December 1949, Boulogne-Billancourt) is a French film director. Biography Denys Granier-Deferre is the son of Pierre Granier-Deferre with whom he started cinema as his assistant, notably on his father's movie ''L ...

: Maître le Plantier (lawyer) (TF1) * 2007 : ''Sa raison d'être'' by Renaud Bertrand : Jérôme (France 2) * 2007 : ''

John Adams John Adams (October 30, 1735 – July 4, 1826) was an American statesman, attorney, diplomat, writer, and Founding Fathers of the United States, Founding Father who served as the second president of the United States from 1797 to 1801. Befor ...

'' by

Tom Hooper Thomas George Hooper (born 5 October 1972)''Births, Marriages & Deaths Index of England & Wales, 1916–2005''. 5d: 2485. is a British-Australian filmmaker. Hooper began making short films as a teenager and had his first professional short, ...

: Citizen Genet (

HBO Home Box Office (HBO) is an American premium television network, which is the flagship property of namesake parent subsidiary Home Box Office, Inc., itself a unit owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. The overall Home Box Office business unit is ba ...

) (in English) * 2008 : '' La reine et le cardinal'' by

Marc Rivière Marc Rivière is a French director, actor and screenwriter. He has worked extensively in French television. He directed the 2009 historic television drama La reine et le cardinal set during the early years of the reign of Louis XIV of France ...

–

Louis XIV , house = Bourbon , father = Louis XIII , mother = Anne of Austria , birth_date = , birth_place = Château de Saint-Germain-en-Laye, Saint-Germain-en-Laye, France , death_date = , death_place = Palace of Vers ...

as a 20 year-old (France 2) * 2010 : ''

Un village français ''Un village français'' (''A French Village'') is a French television drama series created by chief writer Frédéric Krivine and principal director Philippe Triboit, with the assistance of historical consultant Jean-Pierre Azéma. It is set i ...

'' (six episodes) : Yvon, a communist envoy from Paris (France 3) * 2011 : ''Le Chant des Sirènes'' by Laurent Herbiet : le garçon (broadcast by France 2 in June 2014) * 2013 : ''Une femme dans la Révolution'' by Jean-Daniel Verhaeghe : Benjamin (

France 3 France 3 () is a French free-to-air public television channel and part of the France Télévisions group, which also includes France 2, France 4, France 5 and France Info. It is made up of a network of regional television services providing ...

) * 2015 : ''La Fin de la nuit'' by

: Thomas Pian (RTB/France 3) * 2017 : ''Peur sur la base'' by Laurence Katrian : Nathan Berken (France 3) * 2017 : ''Mystère au Louvre'' by

Léa Fazer Léa Fazer (born 20 April 1965) is a Swiss film director, screenwriter and actress. She studied film at the University Paris Diderot. Her film '' Bienvenue en Suisse'' was screened in the Un Certain Regard (, meaning 'a certain glance') is a ...

: Frédéric Delage (France 2) * 2019 : ''Laëtitia'' (mini-series) by

Jean-Xavier de Lestrade Jean-Xavier de Lestrade (born 1 July 1963) is a French writer, director and Film producer, producer of films and television series. Early life and education Lestrade was born in Mirande, Gers, in southwestern France. He studied law and journalism ...

: Le Juge Martinot (France 2) * 2020 : ''De Gaulle, l’éclat et le secret'' (series) by François Velle :

Geoffroy Chodron de Courcel Baron Geoffroy Chodron de Courcel (11 September 1912, Tours - 9 December 1992, Paris), was a French nobleman, soldier and diplomat. He was Aide-de-Camp to Charles de Gaulle in 1940 and escaped to England with the General on 17 June 1940 with t ...

(France 2) * 2021 : ''Le Bruit des trousseaux'' : Alexis Pasquier (TV film on France 2)

Theatre

* 1999 : '' La guerre de Troie n'aura pas lieu'' of

* 2000 : ''

Le Mariage de Figaro ''The Marriage of Figaro'' (french: link=no, La Folle Journée, ou Le Mariage de Figaro ("The Mad Day, or The Marriage of Figaro")) is a comedy in five acts, written in 1778 by Pierre Beaumarchais. This play is the second in the Figaro trilogy, ...

'' of

Beaumarchais Pierre-Augustin Caron de Beaumarchais (; 24 January 1732 – 18 May 1799) was a French polymath. At various times in his life, he was a watchmaker, inventor, playwright, musician, diplomat, spy, publisher, horticulturist, arms dealer, satirist, ...

* 2001 : ''

Les Femmes savantes ''Les Femmes savantes'' (''The Learned Ladies'') is a comedy by Molière in five acts, written in verse. A satire on academic pretension, female education, and préciosité (French for preciousness), it was one of his most popular comedies and ...

'' of

Molière Jean-Baptiste Poquelin (, ; 15 January 1622 (baptised) – 17 February 1673), known by his stage name Molière (, , ), was a French playwright, actor, and poet, widely regarded as one of the greatest writers in the French language and world ...

* 2001 : ''

Art Art is a diverse range of human activity, and resulting product, that involves creative or imaginative talent expressive of technical proficiency, beauty, emotional power, or conceptual ideas. There is no generally agreed definition of wha ...

'' of

Yasmina Reza Yasmina Reza (born 1 May 1959) is a French playwright, actress, novelist and screenwriter best known for her plays '' 'Art and ''God of Carnage''. Many of her brief satiric plays have reflected on contemporary middle-class issues. The 2011 bla ...

* 2001 : '' Le Dindon'' of

Georges Feydeau Georges-Léon-Jules-Marie Feydeau (; 8 December 1862 – 5 June 1921) was a French playwright of the era known as the Belle Époque. He is remembered for his farces, written between 1886 and 1914. Feydeau was born in Paris to middle-class parent ...

* 2002 : ''Il est important d’être Aimé'' (''

The Importance of Being Earnest ''The Importance of Being Earnest, A Trivial Comedy for Serious People'' is a play by Oscar Wilde. First performed on 14 February 1895 at the St James's Theatre in London, it is a farcical comedy in which the protagonists maintain fictitious ...

'') of

Oscar Wilde Oscar Fingal O'Flahertie Wills Wilde (16 October 185430 November 1900) was an Irish poet and playwright. After writing in different forms throughout the 1880s, he became one of the most popular playwrights in London in the early 1890s. He is ...

* 2002 : '' Qui a peur de Virginia Woolf ?'' of

Edward Albee Edward Franklin Albee III ( ; March 12, 1928 – September 16, 2016) was an American playwright known for works such as ''The Zoo Story'' (1958), '' The Sandbox'' (1959), ''Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?'' (1962), '' A Delicate Balance'' (1966) ...

* 2003 : ''

Romeo and Juliet ''Romeo and Juliet'' is a Shakespearean tragedy, tragedy written by William Shakespeare early in his career about the romance between two Italian youths from feuding families. It was among Shakespeare's most popular plays during his lifetim ...

'' of

Shakespeare William Shakespeare ( 26 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's nation ...

* 2004 : ''

Tartuffe ''Tartuffe, or The Impostor, or The Hypocrite'' (; french: Tartuffe, ou l'Imposteur, ), first performed in 1664, is a theatrical comedy by Molière. The characters of Tartuffe, Elmire, and Orgon are considered among the greatest classical thea ...

'' of

* 2005 : ''

Les Caprices de Marianne ''Les caprices de Marianne'' is a two-act opéra comique by Henri Sauguet with a French libretto by Jean-Pierre Gredy after Alfred de Musset. It was first performed at the Aix-en-Provence Festival in 1954, with the Orchestre de la Société des C ...

'' of Alfred de Musset * 2005 : ''Demandes en Mariage'' of Michel Melki * 2006 : ''Don Qui'' of Leela Alaniz * 2007 : ''Palindromes'' of Leela Alaniz * 2017 : ''Õ

Gilgamesh sux, , label=none , image = Hero lion Dur-Sharrukin Louvre AO19862.jpg , alt = , caption = Possible representation of Gilgamesh as Master of Animals, grasping a lion in his left arm and snake in his right hand, in an Assyr ...

'' of Edgar Alemany (CAGE Compagnie) * 2019-22 : ''Edmond'' of

Alexis Michalik Alexis Michalik, born 13 December 1982, is a Franco-British actor, scriptwriter and director. He adapted Shakespeare's ''Romeo and Juliet'' into his play ''R & J'' and he has written and staged his own plays, including '' Le Porteur d'histoire'' ...

(

Théâtre du Palais-Royal The Théâtre du Palais-Royal () is a 750-seat Parisian theatre at 38 rue de Montpensier, located at the northwest corner of the Palais-Royal in the Galerie de Montpensier at its intersection with the Galerie de Beaujolais. Brief history ...

) : Léonidas Volny (Christian)Théâtre du Palais-Royal – Troupe
accessed 4 June 2022.

References

External links

*
Cyril Descours
at '' Unifrance''
Cyril Descours Vimeo channel

Cyril Descours performs Dorante's speech
from Scene V of ''La Critique de L’École des femmes'' by Molière, 2020. French text = https://fr.m.wikisource.org/wiki/La_Critique_de_L%E2%80%99%C3%89cole_des_femmes/%C3%89dition_Quinet,_1663#Sc%C3%A8ne_VI {{DEFAULTSORT:Descours, Cyril 1983 births Living people French male film actors French male television actors French male stage actors Actors from Frankfurt Cours Florent alumni French male karateka 21st-century French people 20th-century French people