Tchéky Karyo

Tchéky Karyo, born on October 4, 1953, in Istanbul and raised in Paris, is a respected French actor with Turkish-Sephardic roots. After training at the Théâtre Cyrano and the National Theater in Strasbourg, he gained international fame as “Bob” in Nikita (1990, directed by Luc Besson). His best-known films include La Balance (1982), Nikita (1990, directed by Luc Besson), Dobermann (1997, directed by Jan Kounen), The Good Thief (2002, directed by Neil Jordan), The Core (2003, directed by Jon Amiel), Taking Lives (2004, directed by D. J. Caruso) and Belle & Sebastian (2017). He appeared in DIE RÄUBER (2015, directed by Frank Hoffmann and Pol Cruchten), a drama in which he plays the boss of a gang involved in a family conflict in the context of high finance. On television, he has played central roles in series such as The Missing (2014–2016, role: Julien Baptiste), Baptiste (2019–2021, continuing the story of Julien Baptiste), The Name of the Rose (2019, miniseries), ZeroZeroZero (2020), and Boat Story (2023). With his versatility and presence in both European and international productions, Tchéky Karyo is one of the most influential character actors of his generation.