Denis Lavant

Lavant is also known for his roles in Claire Denis' Beau Travail (1999) and Harmony Korine's Mister Lonely (2007).

• Occupation — Actor • Born — 17 June 1961 • Birthplace — Neuilly-sur-Seine, Hauts-de-Seine, France • Years Active — 1982–present

Lavant was born in Neuilly-sur-Seine, Hauts-de-Seine, in France. At 13, he took courses in pantomime and the circus, fascinated by Marcel Marceau. He trained at the Paris Conservatoire under Jacques Lassalle, and began his professional career in 1982 in theatre, acting in Shakespeare's Hamlet and The Merchant of Venice. In 1982 he appeared in the television film L'Ombre sur la plage, before playing the minor part of Montparnasse in Robert Hossein's Les Misérables, which was entered into the 13th Moscow International Film Festival where it won a Special Prize. He appeared in several further minor roles before making his breakthrough in 1984 as the lead in Boy Meets Girl, playing a depressed, aspiring filmmaker who falls in love with a suicidal young woman. The film marked the feature-film debut of Leos Carax, with whose work Lavant has been associated ever since. In 1986, Lavant and Carax worked together again on the thriller Mauvais Sang and again in 1991 on Carax's third film, Les Amants du Pont-Neuf. In both Mauvais Sang and Les Amants du Pont-Neuf, Lavant starred opposite Juliette Binoche. In 1998, Lavant appeared in the Jonathan Glazer-directed video for the UNKLE song "Rabbit in Your Headlights", and in 1999, he played one of the lead roles in Beau Travail, directed by Claire Denis. In 2007, he appeared in Harmony Korine's Mister Lonely, in which he portrayed a Charlie Chaplin impersonator. Lavant, who does not speak English, took an intensive language course in preparation and learned his lines phonetically. His longtime associate Leos Carax appears in a supporting role as the main character's talent agent. In 2008, Lavant and Carax re-united for the anthology film Tokyo!, which marked their first work together since Lovers on the Bridge and Carax's first major directing work in nearly a decade. Carax's segment for the film, called "Merde," starred Lavant as a violent monster who lives in the sewers of Tokyo and speaks in a gibberish language, venturing out occasionally to attack passersby. In 2012, he starred in Leos Carax' film Holy Motors where he plays a "chameleonic actor on assignment, ferried around Paris in a white limousine and changing en route from beggar-woman to satyr to assassin to victim." The film was an entrant at the Cannes Film Festival. In 2016, he starred in a 30-second clip directed by Yorgos Lanthimos to accompany the song "Identikit" by Radiohead. In 2026, he starred in John Skoog's movie Redoubt (Värn) as the real-life farmer Karl-Göran Persson, a farmer teetering on the edge of madness who, at the peak of the Cold War, starts fortifying his house to build a fortress meant to protect himself and his neighbours, which causes a conflict with the people in the village.

• Year — Title — Role — Director — Notes • 1982 — L'ombre sur la plage — Mathieu — Luc Béraud — TV movie • Les Misérables — Montparnasse — Robert Hossein • 1983 — Entre Nous — Soldier — Diane Kurys • The Wounded Man — Wanderer — Patrice Chéreau • Paris ficelle — Joe — Laurence Ferreira Barbosa — Short • Au-delà de minuit — Voice — Pierre Barletta — Short • 1984 — Viva la vie — Caviar delivery man — Claude Lelouch • Boy Meets Girl — Alex — Leos Carax • 1985 — Partir, revenir — Simon Lerner's patient — Claude Lelouch (2) • Hôtel du siècle — The statue — Jean Kerchbron — TV series (1 Episode) • 1986 — Cinéma 16 — Jean-Pierre — François Dupont-Midi — TV series (1 Episode) • Mauvais Sang — Alex — Leos Carax (2) • 1987 — L'étendu — Gilles Marchand — Short • 1988 — Les enquêtes du commissaire Maigret — P'tit Louis — Jean Kerchbron (2) — TV series (1 Episode) • 1989 — Un tour de manège — Berville — Pierre Pradinas • Mona et moi — Pierre — Patrick Grandperret • 1991 — Les Amants du Pont-Neuf — Alex — Leos Carax (3) — Nominated - European Film Award for Best Actor • C'est merveilleux — Solange Martin — Short • 1992 — Drôle d'immeuble — Simon Pradinas — Short • 1993 — De force avec d'autres — Denis — Simon Reggiani • Fuis la nuit — Patrick Brunie — Short • 1994 — La partie d'échecs — Max — Yves Hanchar — Short • 1995 — L'ennemi — Higra — Hervé Renoh — Short • Visiblement je vous aime — Denis — Jean-Michel Carré • 1997 — Wild Animals — Emil — Kim Ki-duk • 1998 — Don Juan — Pierrot — Jacques Weber • Le monde à l'envers — Yann — Rolando Colla • Cantique de la racaille — The hitchhiker — Vincent Ravalec • "Rabbit in Your Headlights" — Man — Jonathan Glazer — Music Video • 1999 — Beau travail — Galoup — Claire Denis • Tuvalu — Anton — Veit Helmer — Málaga International Week of Fantastic Cinema - Best Actor • 2000 — Deep in the Woods — Stéphane — Lionel Delplanque • La squale — The joker — Fabrice Genestal • 2001 — Married/Unmarried — Love — Noli • Sofor — The driver — Guldem Durmaz — Short • Affaire Libinski — Anatoli Libinski — Delphine Jaquet, Philippe Lacôte — Short • 2002 — Sous-commandant Père Noël — Christophe Vindis — Short • La merveilleuse odyssée de l'idiot Toboggan — Voice — Vincent Ravalec (2) • 2004 — Luminal — Ryu — Andrea Vecchiato • A Very Long Engagement — Six-Soux — Jean-Pierre Jeunet • Le soldat inconnu vivant — Voice — Joël Calmettes — TV movie • Low Street — Old Man — Tom Petch — Short • 2005 — Camping sauvage — Blaise — Christophe Ali, Nicolas Bonilauri • 2006 — Elegant — Daniel Wiroth — Short • 2007 — Le passeur — Philippe Lacôte (2) — Short • Mister Lonely — Charlie Chaplin — Harmony Korine • Capitaine Achab — Captain Ahab — Philippe Ramos • Iyi Seneler Londra — Gerard — Berkun Oya • 2008 — Tokyo! — Merde — Leos Carax (4) • Comment Albert vit bouger les montagnes — Harold Vasselin • 2009 — Les Petits Meurtres d'Agatha Christie — André Custe — Eric Woreth — TV series (1 Episode) • Les Williams — Alban Mench — Short • Tamanrasset — Philippe — Merzak Allouache — TV movie • The Temptation of St. Tony — Count Dionysos Korzybski — Veiko Õunpuu • Les cow-boys n'ont pas peur de mourir — Voice — Anne-Laure Daffis, Léo Marchand — Short • Obsession(s) — Marc Douelec — Frédéric Tellier — TV movie • 2010 — Via — Denis — Leonore Mercier — Short • Je, François Villon, voleur, assassin, poète — Bezon — Serge Meynard — TV movie • Tandis qu'en bas des hommes en armes — Vilard — Samuel Rondière — Short • HH, Hitler à Hollywood — Himself — Frédéric Sojcher • Io sono con te — Sapiente — Guido Chiesa • Enterrez nos chiens — Lucas — Frédéric Serve • 2011 — Atlantika — Jack — Igor Voloshin — Short • My Little Princess — Ernst — Eva Ionesco • Les amours perdues — Vincent — Samanou Acheche Sahlstrøm — Short • Hop-o'-My-Thumb — The Ogre — Marina de Van • Waster — Philippe Prouff, Virginie Nallet — Short • 2012 — L'oeil de l'astronome — Kepler — Stan Neumann • Holy Motors — Mr. Oscar/ The Banker / The Beggar / The Motion Capture Actor / Monsieur Merde / The Father / The Accordionist / The Killer / The Killed / The Dying / The Man at Home — Leos Carax (5) — Chicago International Film Festival - Best Actor Toronto Film Critics Association Award for Best Actor Indiewire Critics' Poll - Best Performance International Cinephile Society Awards - Best Actor Nominated - César Award for Best Actor Nominated - Boston Society of Film Critics Award for Best Actor Nominated - Chicago Film Critics Association Award for Best Actor Nominated - Italian Online Movie Award for Best Actor Nominated - Los Angeles Film Critics Association Award for Best Actor Nominated - Lumière Award for Best Actor Nominated - National Society of Film Critics Award for Best Actor Nominated - New York Film Critics Circle Award for Best Actor Nominated - Online Film Critics Society Award for Best Actor Nominated - Village Voice Film Poll - Best Actor Nominated - International Online Cinema Awards - Best Actor • L'étoile du jour — Elliot — Sophie Blondy • 2013 — Barricade: le film — Short • Fatigués d'être beaux — The duke — Anne-Laure Daffis (2), Léo Marchand (2) — Short • Marussia — The tramp — Eva Pervolovici • Age of Uprising: The Legend of Michael Kohlhaas — The theologist — Arnaud des Pallières • Les grandes marées — Marc — Mathias Pardo — Short • Méandres — Voice — Elodie Bouedec, Florence Miailhe, Mathilde Philippon-Aginski — Short • Je sens plus la vitesse — Joanne Delachair — Short • Jiminy — Otto Hoffmann — Arthur Môlard — Short • 2014 — Dassault, l'homme au pardessus — Marcel Dassault — Olivier Guignard — TV movie • Journey to the West — Dragon — Tsai Ming-liang • Liberté, égalité, cheveux lissés — The white man — Elefterios Zakaropoulos — Short • Agafay — Olivier Nikolcic — Short • Iron Ivan — Eugene de Paris — Gleb Orlov • Le mystère des jonquilles — Sam — Jean-Pierre Mocky • Pitchipoï — Pierre Schulmann — Charles Najman • Fracas — Kévin Noguès — Short • 2015 — Graziella — Antoine — Mehdi Charef • Eva no duerme — Koenig — Pablo Agüero • Phasme — Jean — Maéva Ranaivojaona — Short • History's Future — Lottery Ticket Seller — Fiona Tan • Me and Kaminski — Karl-Ludwig — Wolfgang Becker • 21 Nights with Pattie — André — Arnaud Larrieu & Jean-Marie Larrieu • Full House — The Hangman — Quentin Bocksberger — Short • 2016 — Boris Without Béatrice (Boris sans Béatrice) — The Unknown — Denis Côté • Louis-Ferdinand Céline, deux clowns dans la catastrophe — Louis-Ferdinand Céline — Emmanuel Bourdieu • 2018 — À nos pères — Monsieur Loyal — Franchin Don • The Mountain — Jack — Rick Alverson • The Emperor of Paris — Maillard — Jean-François Richet • The Night Eats the World — Alfred — Dominique Rocher • 2020 — Night of the Kings (La Nuit des rois) — Silence — Philippe Lacôte • Gagarine — Gérard — Fanny Liatard and Jérémy Trouilh • 2022 — Human Flowers of Flesh — Galoup — Helena Wittmann • 2024 — It's Not Me — Leos Carax (6) • 2025 — L'Étranger — Salamano — François Ozon • 2026 — Redoubt (Värn) — Karl-Göran Persson — John Skoog • 2026 — In the Night — Man — Mikai Karl — Music Video by Beck