Christopher Thompson (born 13 August 1966) is a French

actor An actor (masculine/gender-neutral), or actress (feminine), is a person who portrays a character in a production. The actor performs "in the flesh" in the traditional medium of the theatre or in modern media such as film, radio, and television. ...

screenwriter A screenwriter (also called scriptwriter, scribe, or scenarist) is a person who practices the craft of writing for visual mass media, known as screenwriting. These can include short films, feature-length films, television programs, television ...

, and

film director A film director or filmmaker is a person who controls a film's artistic and dramatic aspects and visualizes the screenplay (or script) while guiding the film crew and actors in the fulfillment of that Goal, vision. The director has a key role ...

Early life

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

(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 '' Th ...

. He is married to actress

Géraldine Pailhas Géraldine Pailhas (born 8 January 1971) is a French actress. Career In 1992, she won the César Award for Most Promising Actress for her role in ''La neige et le feu'', directed by Claude Pinoteau. She had her first international success in ...

. 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 located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

. Later he returned to the United States to attend

Brown University Brown University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Providence, Rhode Island, United States. It is the List of colonial colleges, seventh-oldest institution of higher education in the US, founded in 1764 as the ' ...

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. 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'' () is an adventure novel by the French writer Alexandre Dumas. It was serialised from 1844 to 1846, and published in book form in 1846. It is one of his most popular works, along with ''The Three Musketeers'' (184 ...

'' (1998). His credits in English-language productions include supporting roles in '' Jefferson in Paris'' (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 temporary physiological condition that occurs when a person's circadian rhythm is out of sync with the time zone they are in, and is a typical result from travelling rapidly across multiple time zones (east–west or west–east). ...

'', 2001), and their script for ''Fauteuils d'orchestre'' (aka ''Orchestra Seats'' or ''

Avenue Montaigne The Avenue Montaigne () is a street in the 8th arrondissement of Paris, 8th arrondissement of Paris, France. Origin of the name The Avenue Montaigne was originally called the Allée des Veuves ("Widows' Alley") because women in mourning gathered ...

'', 2006) was a nominee in the category of

Best Original Screenplay The Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay is the Academy Award (also known as an Oscar) for the best screenplay not based upon previously published material. It was created in 1940 as a separate writing award from the Academy Award for Best ...

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 Ju ...

. *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