Niels Arestrup (; 8 February 1949 – 1 December 2024) was a French-Danish actor, film director and screenwriter.
Early life and career Arestrup was born in Montreuil on 8 February 1949, into a family of modest means; his father was Danish and his mother was Breton. After failing his baccalaureate in 1968, he supported himself with a series of odd jobs whilst, inspired by her television appearances, studying acting under Tania Balachova. Subsequently, he began his career in theatre.
, he was the only winner of three César Awards for Best Supporting Actor, won for The Beat That My Heart Skipped and A Prophet, then Quai d'Orsay. The two first films were directed by Jacques Audiard.
In 2017, he won the Globes de Cristal Award for Best Actor in a Play for his work on Acting. In 2019, he won the Molière Award for Best Actor for his work on Red. He was previously nominated in this same category in 2000 for Copenhagen, in 2006 for Letters to a Young Poet, and in 2012 for Diplomacy.
Personal life and death
In 2012, after a ten year relationship, Arestrup married Isabelle Le Nouvel, an actress, screenwriter, and author. The same year, they had twins, a boy and a girl.
Arestrup died following a long illness in Ville-d'Avray, France, on 1 December 2024 at the age of 75.
Theatre Year Title Author Director 1970 Life Is a Dream Pedro Calderón de la Barca Jean Gillibert 1970–1971 The Misanthrope Molière Jean Gillibert The Game of Love and Chance Pierre de Marivaux Michel-H Dufresne 1972–1973 Crime and Punishment Fyodor Dostoyevsky André Barsacq 1973–1974 La Famille Lodewijk de Boer Derek Goldby 1975 The Hot l Baltimore Lanford Wilson Alexandre Arcady 1976 Gilles de Rais Roger Planchon Roger Planchon 1978 Deathwatch Jean Genet Claude Mathieu 1979 Platonov Anton Chekhov Gabriel Garran 1981–1982 The Cherry Orchard Anton Chekhov Peter Brook1982 The Lover Harold Pinter Philippe Ferran La Dernière Nuit de l'été Aleksei Arbuzov Yves Bureau 1983 Miss Julie August Strindberg Christian Benedetti & Andreas Voutsinas 1984 Dom Juan Molière Maurice Bénichou 1985 Fool for Love Sam Shepard Andreas Voutsinas 1986 B29 Alain Page Derek Goldby 1987 2050, le radeau de la mort Harald Müller Hans-Peter Cloos 1988 Three Sisters Anton Tchekhov Maurice Bénichou 1989 The Seagull Anton Tchekhov Andrei Konchalovsky Sade, concert d'enfers Enzo Cormann Philippe Adrien 1989–1990 The Misanthrope Molière Pierre Pradinas 1990 Tout contre un petit bois Jean-Michel Ribes Jean-Michel Ribes 1991 Ecrit sur l'Eau Éric-Emmanuel Schmitt Niels Arestrup 1993 Letters to a Young Poet Rainer Maria Rilke Niels Arestrup 1995 La Musica deuxième Marguerite Duras Bernard Murat 1996 Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? Edward Albee John Berry 1997–1998 Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? Edward Albee Jean-Luc Revol 1999 Étoiles Pierre Laville Maurice Bénichou 1999–2000 Copenhagen Michael Frayn Michael Blakemore 2000 Fernando Krapp m’a écrit cette lettre Tankred Dorst Bernard Murat 2001 Inserts John Byrum Niels Arestrup2002 Phèdre Jean Racine Jacques Weber Une nuit arabe Roland Schimmelpfennig Frédéric Bélier-Garcia 2003 Each In His Own Way Luigi Pirandello Bernard Murat2004 Quartet Heiner Müller Hans-Peter Cloos L'Homme, la bête et la vertu Luigi Pirandello Jean-Claude Idée 2005–2006 Letters to a Young Poet Rainer Maria Rilke Niels Arestrup 2007 Eva Nicolas Bedos Daniel Colas 2008 Beyrouth Hôtel Rémi de Vos Niels Arestrup 2011–2012 Diplomacy Cyril Gely Stéphan Meldegg 2014–2016 Le Souper Jean-Claude Brisville Daniel Benoin 2016–2018 Acting Xavier Durringer Xavier Durringer 2018–2019 Skorpios au loin Isabelle le Nouvel Jean-Louis Benoît 2019–2020 Red John Logan Jérémie Lippmann 2021–2023 88 fois l'infini Isabelle le Nouvel Jérémie Lippmann
Filmography
Cinema Year Title Role Director Notes 1974 Stavisky Rudolph Alain Resnais Miss O'Gynie et les hommes fleurs Yves 1976 Lumière Nano Jeanne Moreau The Big Night Léon Francis Reusser Je Tu Il Elle The driver Chantal Akerman Demain les mômes Philippe If I Had to Do It All Over Again Henri Lanot Claude Lelouch 1977 The Apprentice Sorcerers Danton Edgardo Cozarinsky The More It Goes, the Less It Goes Vincent 1978 The Song of Roland Oton Frank Cassenti 1979 Memoirs of a French Whore André Daniel Duval La passion d'une femme sans coeur Karl Short 1980 The Woman Cop Dominique Allier Yves Boisset 1981 Seuls Jean Francis Reusser Du blues dans la tête Dan 1982 One Man's War Narrator Edgardo Cozarinsky Documentary 1984 The Future Is Woman Gordon Marco Ferreri 1985 Diesel Nelson Robert Kramer Among Wolves Mike José Giovanni Sincerely Charlotte Mathieu Caroline Huppert 1986 Le goûter chez Niels Niels Short 1987 La rumba Commissioner Detaix Roger Hanin Charlie Dingo William Gilles Béhat Barbablù, Barbablù Gastone Fabio Carpi 1988 Ville étrangère Gregor Keuschnig 1989 Doux amer Jean 1991 Meeting Venus Zoltan Szanto István Szabó 1994 Délit mineur Claude Francis Girod 1998 Rewind Fabrice Rivail Sergio Gobbi 2000 Le pique-nique de Lulu Kreutz Jascha Steg Didier Martiny 2002 A Private Affair Monsieur Siprien Guillaume Nicloux Speak to Me of Love Richard Sophie Marceau 2005 The Beat That My Heart Skipped Robert Seyr Jacques Audiard 2006 Les fragments d'Antonin Professor Lantier 2007 Le candidat Georges Niels Arestrup La part animale Henri Chaumier The Diving Bell and the Butterfly Roussin Julian Schnabel 2009 A Prophet César Luciani Jacques Audiard L'affaire Farewell Vallier Christian Carion 2010 Sarah's Key Jules Dufaure Gilles Paquet-Brenner Small World Thomas Senn The Big Picture Bartholomé Éric Lartigau 2011 War Horse Grandfather Steven Spielberg You Will Be My Son Paul de Marseul 2012 Our Children André Pinget Joachim Lafosse 2013 The French Minister Claude Maupas Bertrand Tavernier 2014 96 hours Victor Kancel Frédéric Schoendoerffer The Dune Reuven Diplomacy Général von Choltitz Volker Schlöndorff 2015 By the Sea Michel Angelina Jolie Papa lumière Jacques 2017 Return to Montauk Walter Volker Schlöndorff See You Up There President Marcel Péricourt Albert Dupontel 2018 At Eternity's Gate Madman Julian Schnabel 2020 Villa Caprice Luc Germon Bernard Stora 2023 Divertimento Sergiu Celibidache Marie-Castille Mention-Schaar
Television Year Title Role Director Notes 1974 La dernière carte Wilhem Kasda TV movie Messieurs les jurés Jean-Roger Pasquier André Michel TV series (1 episode) 1977 Jean-Luc Markus Imhoof TV movie Cinéma 16 Brandy Bernard Dubois TV series (1 episode) 1978 Lulu Schwarz Marcel Bluwal TV movie 1979 Le tourbillon des jours Germain Jacques Doniol-Valcroze TV mini-series 1980 Bruges la morte Hugues Viane TV movie Le petit théâtre d'Antenne 2 The client TV series (1 episode) 1981 Les héritiers Serge Bruno Gantillon TV series (1 episode) Mon meilleur Noël The father Gabriel Axel TV series (1 episode) 1982 La cerisaie Lopakhine Peter Brook TV movie La danse de mort Kurt Claude Chabrol TV movie Le retour d'Elisabeth Wolff Stan Pilgrim Josée Dayan TV movie Les secrets de la princesse de Cadignan Rastignac Jacques Deray TV movie 1983 Les poneys sauvages Ben TV mini-series 1984 Mademoiselle Julie Jean Yves-André Hubert TV movie 1987 Série noire Angelo Daniel Duval TV series (1 episode) 1988 La ruelle au clair de lune Professor Hans Klemm Édouard Molinaro TV movie 1989 Manon Roland Danton Édouard Molinaro TV movie The Post Office Girl Ferdinand Farner Édouard Molinaro TV mini-series 1991 La grande dune Keiser Bernard Stora TV movie 1992 La femme abandonnée Oskar de Wilno Édouard Molinaro TV movie 1993 Albert Savarus Albert Savarus Alexandre Astruc TV movie 1995 Les derniers jours de la victime Mendizabal Bruno Gantillon TV movie 2000 La part de l'ombre Charles Oberlé Philippe Venault TV movie Fernando Krapp m'a écrit cette lettre Fernando Krapp Yves di Tullio & Bernard Murat TV movie 2002 Les enquêtes d'Éloïse Rome Van Rooten TV series (1 episode) 2006 Le Rainbow Warrior The Duke Pierre Boutron TV movie 2009 Suite noire Gérard Emmanuelle Bercot TV series (1 episode) 2016 Republican Gangsters Francis Laugier Ziad Doueiri TV series (8 episodes) 2017 Capitaine Marleau Hervé Gerfaut Josée Dayan TV series (1 episode) 2019 Calls Adam Timothée Hochet TV series (1 episode) 2022 Black Butterflies Albert Desiderio Olivier Abbou TV series (6 episodes)
As director/writer
Year Title Notes 1981 Du blues dans la tête Writer 2007 The Candidate Director and writer
Literature
Book Year Title 2001 Tous mes incendies
Accolades Year Award Category Film Result 1999 Prix du Syndicat de la critique Best Actor Copenhagen Molière Award Best Actor 2005 Molière Award Best Actor Letters to a Young Poet 2006 César Award Best Supporting Actor The Beat That My Heart Skipped 2010 César Award Best Supporting Actor A Prophet Los Angeles Film Critics Association Award Best Supporting Actor International Cinephile Society Best Supporting Actor International Online Cinema Award Best Supporting Actor Italian Online Movie Award Best Supporting Actor 2011 Molière Award Best Actor Diplomacy César Award Best Supporting Actor The Big Picture 2013 Seattle International Film Festival Best Actor You Will Be My Son 2014 César Award Best Supporting Actor The French Minister Globe de Cristal Awards Best Actor 2015 César Award Best Actor Diplomacy Valladolid International Film Festival Best Actor 2016 L'Association des Critiques de Séries Best Actor Baron Noir 2017 ACS Awards Best Actor Republican Gangsters Globe de Cristal Awards Best Actor in a Play Acting 2018 César Award Best Supporting Actor See You Up There 2020 Molière Award Best Actor Red 2023 ACS Awards Best Supporting Role in a TV Series : 40 minutes Black Butterflies
References
External links