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 ...

) 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 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. 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, which attracted over 10 million viewers on

TF1 TF1 (; standing for ''Télévision Française 1'') is a French commercial television network owned by TF1 Group, controlled by the Bouygues conglomerate. TF1's average market share of 24% makes it the most popular domestic network. TF1 is par ...

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; on television he featured as Ben in several episodes of the first series of a popular drama ''Clara Sheller'', opposite Frédéric Diefenthal and Mélanie Doutey, 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's 2006 novel '' A Spot of Bother'' 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 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 '' ...

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

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, 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'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 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 makeu ...

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 French writer Gustave Flaubert, published in 1856. The eponymous character lives beyond her means in order to escape the banalities and em ...

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 documentar ...

in 2017. Cyril Descours is a black belt in

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

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 t ...

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

: Yannick * 2011 : '' Madame Solario'' by René Féret : Eugène Harden * 2013 : ''Boys Band Théorie'' (short) by Christophe Charrier : Nathan * 2014 : '' Passer l'hiver'' by Aurélia Barbet : Michel, the man in the van * 2015 : '' Ciel Rouge'' by Olivier Lorelle : Philippe Merlen * 2017 : '' Chez nous'' by Lucas Belvaux : 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 (

) * 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 ...

) * 2004–2005 : '' Clara Sheller'' (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 The "Béryl incident" was a French nuclear test, conducted on May 1, 1962, during which nine soldiers of the 621st Groupe d'Armes Spéciales unit were heavily contaminated by radioactivity. The test took place at In Eker, Algeria, then a French de ...

) * 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 recog ...

(

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, pl ...

) * 2007 : ''L'Affaire Christian Ranucci : Le Combat d'une mère'' by Denys Granier-Deferre : 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 :

Citizen Genet Citizenship is a "relationship between an individual and a state to which the individual owes allegiance and in turn is entitled to its protection". Each state determines the conditions under which it will recognize persons as its citizens, and ...

( HBO) (in English) * 2008 : ''

La reine et le cardinal ''La Reine et le Cardinal'' is a 2009 French television film directed by Marc Rivière and starring Alessandra Martines and Philippe Torreton in the title roles. It is based on events in the early years of the reign of Louis XIV of France. The dram ...

'' by Marc Rivière –

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 Ve ...

as a 20 year-old (France 2) * 2010 : '' Un village français'' (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 prov ...

) * 2015 : ''La Fin de la nuit'' by Lucas Belvaux : Thomas Pian (RTB/France 3) * 2017 : ''Peur sur la base'' by Laurence Katrian : Nathan Berken (France 3) * 2017 : ''Mystère au Louvre'' by Léa Fazer : Frédéric Delage (France 2) * 2019 : ''Laëtitia'' (mini-series) by Jean-Xavier de Lestrade : Le Juge Martinot (France 2) * 2020 : ''De Gaulle, l’éclat et le secret'' (series) by François Velle : Geoffroy Chodron de Courcel (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 Jean Giraudoux * 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 trilog ...

'' of Beaumarchais * 2001 : '' Les Femmes savantes'' 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'' of Yasmina Reza * 2001 : ''

Le Dindon ''Le Dindon'' (The Turkey) is a three-act farce by Georges Feydeau, first produced in Paris in 1896. It depicts the unsuccessful attempts of the central character – the ''"wikt:dindon de la farce, dindon"'' (roughly "the fall guy") to seduce a ...

'' of Georges Feydeau * 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'' (196 ...

* 2003 : ''

Romeo and Juliet ''Romeo and Juliet'' is a 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 lifetime and, along with ''Ham ...

'' 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 natio ...

* 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'' of

Alfred de Musset Alfred Louis Charles de Musset-Pathay (; 11 December 1810 – 2 May 1857) was a French dramatist, poet, and novelist.His names are often reversed "Louis Charles Alfred de Musset": see "(Louis Charles) Alfred de Musset" (bio), Biography.com, 2007 ...

* 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 Assy ...

'' of Edgar Alemany (CAGE Compagnie) * 2019-22 : ''Edmond'' of Alexis Michalik ( Théâtre du Palais-Royal) : 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