Stephen Manas (; born 27 July 1992)
is a French actor and music composer.
Manas spent some of his early career in India, the Philippines, Japan, and the United Kingdom before returning to France. He is best known for his recurring role as Richard Montlaur in the
Apple TV+
Apple TV+ is an American subscription over-the-top streaming service owned by Apple. The service launched on November 1, 2019, and it offers a selection of original production film and television series called Apple Originals. The service w ...
comedy series ''
Ted Lasso
''Ted Lasso'' ( ) is an American sports film, sports comedy-drama television series developed by Jason Sudeikis, Bill Lawrence (TV producer), Bill Lawrence, Brendan Hunt, and Joe Kelly. It is based on a character Sudeikis portrayed in a series ...
'', starring
Jason Sudeikis
Daniel Jason Sudeikis ( ; born September 18, 1975) is an American actor, comedian, screenwriter, and producer. In the 1990s, he began his career in improv comedy and performed with ComedySportz, iO Chicago (Improv Olympic), and The Second City. I ...
.
Early life
Manas was born on 27 July 1992,
[ in ]Saint-Germain-en-Laye
Saint-Germain-en-Laye () is a Communes of France, commune in the Yvelines Departments of France, department in the Île-de-France in north-central France. It is located in the western suburbs of Paris, from the Kilometre Zero, centre of Paris. ...
, Yvelines
Yvelines () is a department in the western part of the Île-de-France region in Northern France. In 2019, it had a population of 1,448,207.[Megève
Megève (; ) is a commune in the Haute-Savoie department in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region in Southeastern France with a population of more than 3,000 residents. The town is well known as a ski resort near Mont Blanc in the French Alps. Co ...]
, a ski resort village in the southeastern Alps in Haute-Savoie
Haute-Savoie () is a Departments of France, department in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes Regions of France, region of Southeastern France, bordering both Switzerland and Italy. Its Prefectures in France, prefecture is Annecy. To the north is Lake Gene ...
, Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes
Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes (; AURA) or ; or ; . is a Regions of France, region in southeast-central France created by the 2014 territorial reform of French regions; it resulted from the merger of Auvergne and Rhône-Alpes. The new region came into e ...
region, France.[ As his mother was a ski instructor, he found a love for skiing, martial arts, and outdoor sports at a young age.] He realized he wanted to work in the film industry after watching ''Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone
''Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone'' is a fantasy novel written by British author J. K. Rowling. It is the first novel in the ''Harry Potter'' series and was Rowling's debut novel. It follows Harry Potter, a young wizard who disco ...
''.[ He was also interested in music, and played several instruments.][
At the age of 17, Manas moved to ]Lyon
Lyon (Franco-Provençal: ''Liyon'') is a city in France. It is located at the confluence of the rivers Rhône and Saône, to the northwest of the French Alps, southeast of Paris, north of Marseille, southwest of Geneva, Switzerland, north ...
to enter an international research school in marketing and communication. Shortly after, he was spotted on the street by an acting scout and was cast for a small role in an independent film. He continued his studies at the University of Paris 1 Pantheon-Sorbonne
A university () is an institution of tertiary education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. ''University'' is derived from the Latin phrase , which roughly means "community of teachers and scholars". Uni ...
. After his graduation with a Master 2 in international marketing and communication research, he worked in the business world, but was unsatisfied with his career.[ He then chose to focus on acting. He spent most of his weekends practising acting, shooting student short films, and playing music.][
]
Career
Acting
Manas's first role was in the movie ''Ma premiere fois'', directed by Marie-Castille Mention-Schaar. He appeared in many dramas on French television channels 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 part ...
, TMC, and M6 during his studies in Paris. After a talent agency based in India cold-called him and offered him a three-year contract, he moved to India where he immersed himself in the Bollywood industry, building his acting résumé.[
After two years living and working between Bollywood and Mumbai, then Manila and Tokyo, he returned to France in 2018.][ Once back in Paris, Manas was chosen for the role of Christian in the short film ''Out of Frame/Hors Champ''. He won multiple awards for this role.
In August 2019, as a first-time guest at the ]Cannes Film Festival
The Cannes Film Festival (; ), until 2003 called the International Film Festival ('), is the most prestigious film festival in the world.
Held in Cannes, France, it previews new films of all genres, including documentaries, from all around ...
, Manas met an agent specializing in international casting. A month later, he joined the cast of the new series Apple TV+
Apple TV+ is an American subscription over-the-top streaming service owned by Apple. The service launched on November 1, 2019, and it offers a selection of original production film and television series called Apple Originals. The service w ...
, ''Ted Lasso
''Ted Lasso'' ( ) is an American sports film, sports comedy-drama television series developed by Jason Sudeikis, Bill Lawrence (TV producer), Bill Lawrence, Brendan Hunt, and Joe Kelly. It is based on a character Sudeikis portrayed in a series ...
'' in a recurring role, playing Richard Montlaur, a young French player on a Premier League football team in England. The series stars Jason Sudeikis
Daniel Jason Sudeikis ( ; born September 18, 1975) is an American actor, comedian, screenwriter, and producer. In the 1990s, he began his career in improv comedy and performed with ComedySportz, iO Chicago (Improv Olympic), and The Second City. I ...
, Hannah Waddingham
Hannah Waddingham (born 28 July 1974) is an English actress, singer, and television presenter. She is known for playing businesswoman Rebecca Welton in ''Ted Lasso'' (2020–present), for which she won a Primetime Emmy Award and two Critics' Ch ...
, Brendan Hunt, Nick Mohammed
Nicholas George Mohammed is a British actor, comedian and writer. He has portrayed the character Mr. Swallow across both stage and television for over a decade. He is the creator of the Sky One comedy series ''Intelligence (British TV series), ...
, Juno Temple
Juno Temple (born 21 July 1989) is an English actress. She is known for her roles in the comedy series ''Ted Lasso'' (2020–2023) and in the fifth season of the crime drama series '' Fargo'' (2023–2024). She earned Primetime Emmy Award nomi ...
, Jeremy Swift
Jeremy Paul Swift (born 27 June 1960) is an English actor. He studied drama at Guildford School of Acting from 1978 to 1981 and worked almost exclusively in theatre throughout the 1980s, working with companies such as Deborah Warner's Kick Thea ...
, Phil Dunster
Philip James Dunster is an English actor. He is known for his roles in the Sky One drama '' Strike Back'' (2017–2018), the Channel 4 science fiction series ''Humans'' (2018), the ITV comedy-drama '' The Trouble with Maggie Cole'' (2020), the ...
, and Brett Goldstein
Brett Goldstein (born July 17th, 1980) is an English actor, comedian, writer, producer, and podcaster. Known for his role as Roy Kent in the Apple TV+ sports comedy series ''Ted Lasso'', he received the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Suppo ...
.
Music
Manas started playing music at 8 years old. He first played clarinet in an orchestra in Megève until he was 15, then switched to saxophone and at 18, he learned piano and guitar. He began composing music in 2016. As of 2020, he had his own musical production, Sound-it.
Filmography

Film
Television
Music composition
Awards and nominations
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Manas, Stephen
1992 births
Living people
People from Saint-Germain-en-Laye
Male actors from Île-de-France
French male film actors
French male television actors
21st-century French male actors
Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne University alumni