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 (), l ...

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, ...

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 Caroline Thompson (born April 23, 1956) is an American novelist, screenwriter, film director, and producer. She wrote the screenplays for the Tim Burton-directed films '' Edward Scissorhands'' and '' Corpse Bride'' and the Burton-produced '' T ...

. He is married to actress Géraldine Pailhas. 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 regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan ar ...

. Later he returned to the United States to attend Brown University.

Career

Actor

As an actor, Thompson's first major screen role was his portrayal of the revolutionary leader Saint-Just in ''

La Révolution française ''La Révolution Française'' is a French rock opera by Claude-Michel Schönberg and Raymond Jeannot, book by Alain Boublil and Jean-Max Rivière, created in 1973. The show premiered at the Palais des Sports de Paris. Synopsis With the French ...

'' (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'' (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 ''Jefferson in Paris'' is a 1995 historical drama film, directed by James Ivory, and previously entitled ''Head and Heart''. The screenplay, by Ruth Prawer Jhabvala, is a semi- fictional account of Thomas Jefferson's tenure as the Ambassador of ...

'' (1995) and '' The Luzhin Defence'' (2001).

Screenwriter

Thompson collaborated with his mother on the screenplay of her first feature-length film, ''La Bûche'' (aka '' Season's Beatings'', 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 Avenue Montaigne () is a street in the 8th arrondissement of Paris, France. Origin of the name Avenue Montaigne was originally called the Allée des Veuves (widows' alley) because women in mourning gathered there, but the street has changed m ...

'', 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 Min ...

. A later collaboration, the comedy '' Change of Plans'', 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 Marc-André Grondin (born March 11, 1984) is a Canadian actor, known for his role as Xavier Laflamme in the 2011 ice hockey film '' Goon''. He also played Zachary Beaulieu in Jean-Marc Vallée's film ''C.R.A.Z.Y.'' (2005), for which he won a Jutr ...

. *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