Eriq Ebouaney (born 3 October 1967) is a French actor. He is best known for his portrayal as the Congolese Prime Minister Patrice Lumumba in the 2000 film Lumumba, as "Blacktie" in Brian De Palma's Femme Fatale and as "Ice" in the 2008 action film Transporter 3 in which he starred opposite Jason Statham. Recently, Eriq appeared in the 2025 Indian-Malayalam film L2: Empuraan, playing the role of Kabuga.
Early life Ebouaney was born in Angers, France, the son of Cameroonian immigrants. As a child he didn't show any interest in acting and was set on becoming a businessman. However, at the age of 30, he joined a theatre company and left his job as a sales manager to become a professional actor.
Career He made his film debut in 1996 in the Cédric Klapisch directed film Chacun cherche son chat. He landed a leading role in the 2000 film Lumumba in which he portrayed Prime Minister Patrice Lumumba. The film was shot in Beira, Mozambique.
In 2002, he starred in Brian De Palma's Femme Fatale alongside Antonio Banderas. In 2004, he played the character of Jean Claude in Mark Bamford's debut feature Cape of Good Hope. In 2005 he starred in the award-winning Ridley Scott film, Kingdom of Heaven, in which he starred alongside Michael Sheen, Liam Neeson, Orlando Bloom, David Thewlis, Martin Hancockand Ghassan Massoud .
In 2006, he starred in The Front Line and La piste.
In 2008, he played a supporting role in the critically acclaimed Australian film Disgrace featuring American actor John Malkovich, a small role in the Italian film Bianco e nero and later was cast as "Ice" in Transporter 3, featuring British actor Jason Statham.
Filmography Year Title Role Director Notes1995 Mon très cher frère Ousmane Raphaël Girardot Short film 1996 When the Cat's Away The cabinetmaker Cédric Klapisch1997 XXL Omar Ariel Zeitoun Seventh Heaven Benoît Jacquot Direct Myriam Donasis Short film 1998 Louise (Take 2) Siegfried La mort du chinois Bekate Jean-Louis Benoît 1999 The Children of the Marshland Jean Becker2000 Lumumba Patrice Lumumba Raoul Peck Nominated - Black Reel Award for Outstanding Independent Film Actor Bàttu Cheick Oumar Sissoko 2001 My Wife Is an Actress Club bouncer Yvan Attal Les Rois mages Babar Didier Bourdon & Bernard Campan Lettre à Abou Émilie Deleuze Short film Villa mon rêve Touré Dialo Didier Grousset Television film L'instit Blaise Antoine Lorenzi Television; 1 episode2002 Femme Fatale Black Tie Brian De Palma A Map of the Heart Strassenhändler Dominik Graf 2003 Le silence de la forêt Gonaba Bassek Ba Kobhio & Didier Ouenangare Los Reyes Magos Balthazar Antonio Navarro Voiceover Ciel d'asile Patrice Philippe Bérenger Television film Les Cordier, juge et flic Sissoko Jean-Pierre Vergne Television series; 1 episode2004 Cape of Good Hope Jean Claude Mark Bamford Crimson Rivers II: Angels of the Apocalypse The cop Olivier Dahan Cause toujours ! The disinfection employee Jeanne Labrune San-Antonio Jérémie Blanc Frédéric Auburtin Central nuit St Jean Franck Vestiel Television series; 1 episode2005 Kingdom of Heaven Firuz Ridley Scott Paris-Dakar The man Caroline Jules Short film Inspecteur Sori Sori Mamady Sidibé Television film 2006 The Nativity Story Balthazar Catherine Hardwicke La piste Kadjiro Éric Valli The Front Line Joe Yumba David Gleeson Cabaret Paradis The commissioner Shirley and Dino Africa Paradis M'Doula Sylvestre Amoussou 2007 Hitman Bwana Ovie Xavier Gens Magic Paris The man Alice Winocour Short film Reporters Diallo Suzanne Fenn & Ivan Strasburg Television series; 1 episode2008 35 Shots of Rum Blanchard Claire Denis Disgrace Petrus Steve Jacobs Transporter 3 Ice Olivier Megaton Black and White Bertrand Cristina Comencini Ca$h Letallec Éric Besnard Comme les autres The social worker Vincent Garenq La dernière main Marcellus Thomas Le Hir & Djamal Mohamed Short film Blood Money Jonas Bergue Martin Ngongo Short film R.I.S, police scientifique The Campus President Christophe Barbier Television series; 1 episode2009 Thirst Emmanuel Research Director Park Chan-wook La Horde Adewale Markudi Yannick Dahan & Benjamin Rocher King Guillaume The priest Pierre-François Martin-Laval Lignes de front Mister the Beast Jean-Christophe Klotz Sous le fard The vigil Maud Ferrari Short film Omar Omar's father Sébastien Gabriel Short film Duty Calls Client Sébastien CiradeShort film Julie Lescaut Rémi Mertens Alain Choquart & Thierry Petit Television series; 3 episodes 2010 Thelma, Louise et Chantal The real estate La ligne blanche François Olivier Torres Le temps de la kermesse est terminé Lieutenant Bado Frédéric Chignac Henry Karanja Alessandro Piva 600 kilos d'or pur Melchior Éric Besnard (2) Fais danser la poussière Souleyman Christian Faure Television film Carlos Hassan Al-Turabi Olivier Assayas Television series 2011 Black Gold Hassan Dakhil Jean-Jacques Annaud Case départ Isidore Lionel Steketee, Fabrice Eboué, ... Implosion Wilhelm Sören Voigt Television film 2012 Stalingrad Lovers Jupiter Fleur Albert Italian Movies Zahur Matteo Pellegrini Métal Hurlant Chronicles Kaskoff Guillaume Lubrano Television series; 1 episode Clash Abel Diop Pascal Lahmani Television series; 1 episode 2013 Dakar Trottoirs Master Hubert Laba Ndao Le collier du Makoko Henri-Joseph Koumba Bididi Faim de vie Jessica-Salomé Grunwald Short film Aya of Yop City Hyacinthe Marguerite Abouet & Clément Oubrerie Voiceover Jo Amadou Sheree Folkson, Charlotte Sieling, ... Television series; 5 episodes2014 3 Days to Kill Jules McG Le Crocodile du Botswanga Lieutenant Yaya Lionel Steketee & Fabrice Eboué (2) SMS The big cop Gabriel Julien-Laferrière Paranoia Park The guardian Bruno Mercier Ligne de protection The judge Virginie Kahn Short film Death in Paradise Theo Frazier Robert Quinn Television series; 1 episode Falco Simon's father Alexandre LaurentTelevision series; 1 episode 2015 Boomerang The psy François Favrat All Three of Us Adama Kheiron Catherine ou les atomes d'une âme paumée Doctor Daniel Koundé Alix Véronèze Maman(s) Alioune Maïmouna Doucouré Short film Secteur IX B The voice Mathieu Kleyebe Abonnenc Short film En Immersion Kalach Philippe Haïm Television series 2016 Bastille Day Baba James Watkins Le gang des Antillais Politik Jean-Claude Flamand-Barny Zhong guo tui xiao yuan Asaid Tan Bing 419 Jay Jay Eric Bartonio Le Passé devant Nous Michel Nathalie Teirlinck Ca va marcher Eric Guillaume Karoubi Television series 2017 China Salesman Sheik Asaid Tan Bing2018 Belleville Cop Ladji Toure Rachid Bouchareb2019DominoEzra TarziBrian De Palma2020 Earth and Blood Adama Julien Leclercq Rogue City Stephan Jankovic Olivier Marchal 2023–2024 The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon Fallou Boukar Television series; 9 episodes 2025 L2: Empuraan Kabuga Prithviraj Sukumaran Indian film
References
External links
Official website