Alexandre Astier (born 16 June 1974) is a French writer, director, editor, scriptwriter, humorist, actor and composer.
Astier is most known as the creator, director, writer, editor, composer, and lead actor of the French television series Kaamelott, in which he also plays King Arthur.
Life and career
Alexandre Astier was born in Lyon on June 16, 1974, to Joëlle Sevilla and Lionnel Astier, both actors and producers mostly in Lyon's theatre scene.
Alexandre Astier studied music at the conservatory and at the American School of Modern Music of Paris. He also studied acting and screenwriting.
Four of Astier's seven children have featured in Kaamelott, and both his parents are main characters in the series. His daughters Ariane and Jeanne Astier play respectively Mehben and Mehgan, the daughters of Karadoc and Maevanwi (in the episodes Pupi and Exiles). His son Neil (who also appears as Karadoc and Mevanwi's son in Pupi) plays young Arthur in the season Book V, and in the final scene of Book VI. His son Ethan plays Arthur's dream heir in Book V. Moreover, the mother of his first five children, Anne-Gaëlle Daval, is head of the costume designs on Kaamelott and the short film Dies Irae.
In 2012, he plays Johann Sebastian Bach in his humorous show "Que ma joie demeure !" at the theater.
In 2014, his comic show "L'Exoconférence" begins at the theater in September.
Passionate of technologies, he confirms in 2018 on twitter, that Kaamelott's film adaptation has been written with a bepo keyboard on a raspberry pi, running Wordgrinder text-editor software.
He also owns a castle in Ardèche area, where he can store lot of his music instruments into a specific room.
Debut at the theatre
Alexandre Astier first got attention from the Lyon's public thanks to the play Le Jour du froment. He also acted in Nous crions grâce, a play written and directed by Jacques Chambon, to whom he gave the role of Merlin in Kaamelott.
Cinema In 2001, he was the co-screenwriter and the songwriter of the short movies Soyons sport and Un soupçon fondé sur quelque chose de gras.
In 2002 he was the director of Dies Irae, a 14-minute short movie that is also the first draft of the Kaamelott TV show.
In 2006, he featured in Hey Good Looking!, a French movie by Lisa Azuelos. The same year, he appeared in Asterix at the Olympic Games by Frédéric Forestier and Thomas Langmann, and in Home Sweet Home by Didier Le Pêcheur.
In 2009, he played the role of the ex-husband of Sophie Marceau in LOL (Laughing Out Loud), another comedy by Lisa Azuelos.
In 2012, he presented his first feature film as a director, David et Madame Hansen, in which he played the main protagonist alongside Isabelle Adjani.
In 2014, he was the co-director and the screenwriter of Asterix: The Mansions of the Gods.
In 2015, he appeared in the film All Three of Us, directed by Kheiron.
In 2018, he wrote an original screenplay for a new Asterix movie: Asterix: The Secret of the Magic Potion. Like Asterix: The Mansions of the Gods, he co-directed it with Louis Clichy.
In 2025, he plays the role of a drunken shrink in the second season of Bref. He had already appeared as a cameo in the first season.
Kaamelott Alexandre Astier became famous as the writer, director and actor in the TV show he produced. Kaamelott is inspired by the story of King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table. This humorous series is broadcast on the French channel M6. The episodes lasted three and a half minutes until 2007. Then, the format changed to seven minutes and finally reached fifty-five minutes per episode in the last season Book VI.
He also composes the music of the series. He has the ambition to extend the TV show to the cinema as a trilogy, but not before 2012, since Alexandre Astier plans to work as a director on another movie before launching Kaamelott on the big screen.
In June 2010, invited on the set of the show "J'irai LOLer sur vos tombes", he unveiled his project to publish a series of graphic novels titled Kaamelott Resistance as a transition between the TV format and the future cinema films.
Filmography
Film Year Title Role Notes2001Un soupçon fondé sur quelque chose de grasN/AShortSoyons sportFrancis2002Dies IraeKing Arthur2004AnacondaVincent 2006 Hey Good Looking!Gilles 2007Recrue d'essenceMaxime RouxShort 2008 Asterix at the Olympic GamesMordicus Also dialogue writer Coluche, l'histoire d'un mec Reiser Home Sweet Home Joubert 2009 LOL (Laughing Out Loud) Alain ZygomatiquesDr. Paul LamarradeShort 2011 Les Aventures de Philibert, capitaine puceau Clotindre d'Artois 2012 David et Madame HansenDavid Also director, writer, producer and editor 2013 Pop Redemption Traffic Police Chief 2014 Quantum Love Eric All Three of Us The Shah of Iran Asterix: The Mansion of the GodsCenturion Somniferus (voice)Also writer14 millions de crisFatherShort2015What We Do in the ShadowsVladislav the PokerFrench dub2018Asterix: The Secret of the Magic PotionCenturion Somniferus (voice)Also writer 2021 Kaamelott: The First Chapter King ArthurAlso director, writer, producer and editor2025Kaamelott: The Second Chapter Part 12026Laughing Out Loud 2.0AlainIron BoyMichel (voice)Minions & MonstersMax (voice)French dub
Television Year Title Role Notes 2001 Belle Grand-Mère 2 : La Trattoria Marcello TV movie 2002 Lyon Police SpécialCafé Owner Episode: "Apprivoisement" 2005–2009 Kaamelott King Arthur TV seriesMain role, 446 episodes DirectorWriterEditor 2007 Elie Annonce Semoun Eric Reptile MiniseriesDirect-to-videoOff PrimeHimself3 episodes2008MademoiselleWorldWide Company C.E.OEpisode: "Episode 13"14-18, le bruit et la fureur NarratorDocumentary2009Hero CorpAraignée Man2 episodes2010La CommanderieInquisitor Robert MatemaleEpisode: "L'arrivée du Duc d'Anjou"2011Le Front Populaire, à nous la vie !NarratorDocumentary2012, 2025BrefUndisguised Party Guest/Therapist5 episodes2012Adventure TimePrince Gumball (voice)French dub2013Scènes de ménagesJosé's Biker FriendEpisode: "Entre amis"La télé commandeTeleviewer1 episode2015Einstein et la relativité générale, une histoire singulière Albert Einstein (voice)Documentary2022Le Grand Restaurant : La guerre de l'étoileGeorges MichalonTV movie2025Asterix and Obelix: The Big FightUnhygienix (voice) Netflix mini-series
Video games Year Title Role Notes 2017 Mass Effect Andromeda Lieutenant August Bradley French dub
Web series Year Title Role Notes 2012–2013 Le Golden Show Cosette/M.Bison/Alan Mysterious 3 episodes
See also Kaamelott
References
External links