Christopher Thompson (born 1966) is a French

actor An actor or actress is a person who portrays a character in a performance. The actor performs "in the flesh" in the traditional medium of the theatre or in modern media such as film, radio, and television. The analogous Greek term is (), lit ...

screenwriter A screenplay writer (also called screenwriter, scriptwriter, scribe or scenarist) is a writer who practices the craft of screenwriting, writing screenplays on which mass media, such as films, television programs and video games, are based. ...

, and

film director A film director controls a film's artistic and dramatic aspects and visualizes the screenplay (or script) while guiding the film crew and actors in the fulfilment of that vision. The director has a key role in choosing the cast members, pr ...

Early life

Thompson comes from a family deeply associated with theatrical arts. He is the son of film director and screenwriter

Danièle Thompson Danièle Thompson (born 3 January 1942) is a Monegasque film director and screenwriter. Thompson is the daughter of film director Gérard Oury, and actress Jacqueline Roman. She has written screenplays for a number of highly successful films i ...

, and his maternal grandfather is director

Gérard Oury Gérard Oury (born Max-Gérard Houry Tannenbaum; 29 April 1919 – 20 July 2006) was a French film director, actor and writer. Life and career Max-Gérard Houry-Tannenbaum was the only son of Serge Tannenbaum, a violinist of Russian-Jewish orig ...

(1919–2006); his sister is the actress Caroline Thompson. He is married to actress

Géraldine Pailhas Géraldine Pailhas (born 8 January 1971) is a French actress. She had her first international success in 1995 as ''Doña Anna'', the unfulfilled love of Johnny Depp in the comedy ''Don Juan DeMarco''. She is married to actor Christopher Thompso ...

. They have two children. Born in New York City in 1966, Thompson was raised in his parents' home country,

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

. Later he returned to the United States to attend

Brown University Brown University is a private research university in Providence, Rhode Island. Brown is the seventh-oldest institution of higher education in the United States, founded in 1764 as the College in the English Colony of Rhode Island and Providenc ...

Career

Actor

As an actor, Thompson's first major screen role was his portrayal of the revolutionary leader Saint-Just in '' La Révolution française'' (1989), a French television epic produced for the bicentennial of the

French Revolution The French Revolution ( ) was a period of radical political and societal change in France that began with the Estates General of 1789 and ended with the formation of the French Consulate in November 1799. Many of its ideas are conside ...

. His principal screen credits are in French productions, including the films '' L'Atlantide'' (1992) and ''

Giorgino ''Giorgino'' is a 1994 French thriller film directed by Laurent Boutonnat. Plot In the 1918 war-stricken Giorgio Volli returns to the orphanage where he had been working with children for a while. When arriving he finds out that the tragedy ha ...

'' (1994), and the television miniseries ''

The Count of Monte Cristo ''The Count of Monte Cristo'' (french: Le Comte de Monte-Cristo) is an adventure novel written by French author Alexandre Dumas (''père'') completed in 1844. It is one of the author's more popular works, along with ''The Three Musketeers''. L ...

'' (1998). His credits in English-language productions include supporting roles in '' Jefferson in Paris'' (1995) and ''

The Luzhin Defence ''The Luzhin Defence'' is a 2000 romantic drama film directed by Marleen Gorris, starring John Turturro and Emily Watson. The film centres on a mentally tormented chess grandmaster and the young woman he meets while competing at a world-class ...

'' (2001).

Screenwriter

Thompson collaborated with his mother on the screenplay of her first feature-length film, ''La Bûche'' (aka ''

Season's Beatings ''Season's Beatings'' (french: La Bûche) is a French comedy-drama film directed by Danièle Thompson, released in 1999. Plot Following the recent death of her second husband, for Christmas, Yvette tries to meet the three daughters from her firs ...

'', 1999). The two worked together again on the script of ''Decalage horaire'' (aka ''

Jet Lag Jet lag is a physiological condition that results from alterations to the body's circadian rhythms caused by rapid long-distance trans-meridian (east–west or west–east) travel. For example, someone flying from New York to London, i.e. from ...

'', 2001), and their script for ''Fauteuils d'orchestre'' (aka ''Orchestra Seats'' or '' Avenue Montaigne'', 2006) was a nominee in the category of Best Writing at the

César Awards The César Award is the national film award of France. It is delivered in the ' ceremony and was first awarded in 1976. The nominations are selected by the members of twelve categories of filmmaking professionals and supported by the French Mi ...

. A later collaboration, the comedy ''

Change of Plans ''Change of Plans'' (french: Le code a changé; literally, "The Code Has Changed," referring to the entry code for the outer door of the apartment complex where much of the film takes place) is a 2009 French film directed and written by Danièle ...

'', was released in 2009.

Director

*2010 Thompson made his debut as a director with a film he also scripted, ''Bus Palladium'', starring Marc-André Grondin. *2021 '' The Butcher's Daughter (Tendre et saignant) *2023 '' Bardot'', co-directed with Danièle Thompson

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Thompson, Christopher 1966 births Living people French male film actors French film directors French male screenwriters French screenwriters Brown University alumni French male stage actors French male television actors American emigrants to France