Omar Sy
Omar Sy | |
|---|---|
 Sy at the 2013 San Diego Comic-Con International | |
| Born | 20 January 1978 |
| Occupation | Actor |
| Years active | 2000–present |
| Spouse | Hélène (m. 2007; 5 children) |
Omar Sy (born 20 January 1978) is a French actor and comedian. He is best known in France for his duo with Fred Testot, Omar et Fred, and for his role in The Intouchables, and internationally for his roles in X-Men: Days of Future Past and Jurassic World.[1] He received a César Award for Best Actor on 24 February 2012 for his role in The Intouchables and in doing so also became the first actor of African descent to win the French award.
Early life and education
The fourth of eight children,[2] Omar Sy was born in Trappes in the Yvelines department, France.[1] His parents are both immigrants from West Africa.[2] His Mauritanian mother worked as a house-cleaner, and his Senegalese father worked in a factory.[2] He has Fulani origins.[3] He was raised in low-income suburban housing projects.[2][3]
Career
He started his career after high school in 1996[3] with Radio Nova as a comedian where he met comedy partner Fred Testot.[1] Afterwards, he appeared in the TV show Le Cinéma de Jamel on Canal+, with Jamel Debbouze. He then created a TV show called Le Visiophon.[1] This was followed by various TV and stage shows such as Je ne fais pas mon âge, Service après-vente des émissions, Omar et Fred: le spectacle. In 2005, Service après-vente des émissions was adapted into short sketches of 2 or 3 minutes on Canal+. (In 2012, Canal+ announced that the programme had been dropped from its schedule.)
He appeared in the television game show Fort Boyard in 2006.
Omar then went to Los Angeles, where he lent his voice to Zip in the French version of the Tomb Raider Legend video game. He previously had also voiced a sheep in Disney's Brother Bear.[1]
In 2008, he appeared in "Bienvenue chez les Bylkas", a video clip by Sinik. In 2009, he voiced some of the characters of Logorama with his partner Fred Testot.
In 2011, he starred in The Intouchables, playing a streetwise young man who becomes the personal care assistant to a wealthy quadriplegic (played by François Cluzet). This film enjoyed tremendous popular success, with more than 19 million tickets sold. It topped the French box office in 2011 and became the best selling French film of all time at the French box office. As a result, Omar Sy was voted third favourite French personality behind Yannick Noah and Zinédine Zidane. The role earned him the 2012 Globe de Cristal for Best Actor. He also received a nomination for a Satellite Award for Best Actor.[4] He and co-star François Cluzet jointly were bestowed the Best Actor Award at the Tokyo International Film Festival. Additionally, he won the César Award for Best Actor in 2012 for the same film.
On 30 December 2012, Omar Sy was voted favourite personality in France, based on a poll run by Le Journal du Dimanche, ahead of fellow actor Gad Elmaleh.
In 2014, Sy appeared in X-Men: Days of Future Past, in which he played the character Bishop. He also stars in Samba, directed by Olivier Nakache and Éric Toledano. He co-starred in the fourth film of the Jurassic Park saga, Jurassic World,[1] which was released in June 2015.[5]
Personal life
On 5 July 2007, he married Hélène, the mother of his five children,[3][6] in Tremblay-sur-Mauldre. They were together ten years before marrying.[6] The family resides in a house in Yvelines Montfort-l'Amaury.[6]
Filmography
| Year | Title | Role | Director | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | Granturismo | Voice | Denis Thybaud | Short |
| 2001 | La Tour Montparnasse Infernale | Taxi | Charles Nemes | |
| La concierge est dans l'ascenseur | Olivier Coussemacq | Short | ||
| Omar et Fred | Various | TV Series | ||
| 2002 | Le Boulet | A Malian | Alain Berberian & Frédéric Forestier | |
| Asterix & Obelix: Mission Cleopatra | Painter | Alain Chabat | ||
| Samourais | Tyson | Giordano Gederlini | ||
| The Race | UNO Seargent | Djamel Bensalah | ||
| Ces jours heureux | Brice | Olivier Nakache & Éric Toledano | Short | |
| Si j'étais lui | Gabriel | Philippe Triboit | TV Movie | |
| 2003 | La Beuze | Michel Dembélé | François Desagnat & Thomas Sorriaux | |
| 2004 | Le Carton | Lorenzo | Charles Nemes | |
| Coming-out | Max | Olivier Ayache-Vidal | Short | |
| 2005–12 | SAV des émissions | Various | Several | TV Series |
| 2006 | Those Happy Days | Joseph | Olivier Nakache & Éric Toledano | NRJ Ciné Awards – Most Promising Actor Nominated – NRJ Ciné Award for The Best Kiss (with Marilou Berry) Nominated – Raimu de la Comédie for The Best Supporting Actor |
| Les multiples | Jimmy | Several | TV Series | |
| 2007 | Garage Babes | Hamidou | Julien Pelgrand | |
| Moot-Moot | Isidore | Several | TV Series | |
| 2008 | Seuls two | Sammy Bouglioni | Éric Judor & Ramzy Bedia | |
| 2009 | Micmacs | Remington | Jean-Pierre Jeunet | |
| Arthur and the Revenge of Maltazard | Snow | Luc Besson | ||
| Lascars | Narbé | Emmanuel Klotz & Albert Pereira-Lazaro | ||
| Tellement proches | Bruno | Olivier Nakache & Éric Toledano | ||
| King Guillaume | Jean Peter | Pierre-François Martin-Laval | ||
| Safari | Youssouf Hammal | Olivier Baroux | ||
| Envoyés très spéciaux | Jimmy | Frédéric Auburtin | ||
| La Loi de Murphy | Father Joachim Ortega | Christophe Campos | ||
| 2010 | Allez raconte! | Voice | Jean-Christophe Roger | |
| Le pas Petit Poucet | Grand Poucet | Christophe Campos | TV Movie | |
| Histoires de vies | Mo | TV Series (1 Episode) | ||
| 2011 | Les Tuche | The Monk | Olivier Baroux | |
| The Intouchables | Bakary "Driss" Bassari | Olivier Nakache & Éric Toledano | César Award for Best Actor Tokyo International Film Festival – Best Actor (Share with François Cluzet) Lumières Award for Best Actor Globes de Cristal Award for Best Actor Etoiles d'Or Award for Revelation of the Year Santa Barbara International Film Festival – Virtuoso Award Nominated – Black Reel Award for Best Actor Nominated – Black Reel Award for Best Breakthrough Performance Nominated – European Film Award for Best Actor Nominated – Satellite Award for Best Actor – Motion Picture | |
| Fish'n Chips | Fish | TV Series (52 episodes) | ||
| 2012 | De l'autre côté du périph | Ousmane Diakhaté | David Charhon | |
| Les Seigneurs | Wéké N'Dogo | Olivier Dahan | ||
| Mais qui a retué Pamela Rose ? | Mosby | Olivier Baroux & Kad Merad | ||
| Crazy Pink Limo | The Philosopher | Joséphine de Meaux | Short | |
| Bref | Himself | TV Series (1 Episode) | ||
| 2013 | Mood Indigo | Nicolas | Michel Gondry | |
| Good People | Khan | Henrik Ruben Genz | ||
| 2014 | X-Men: Days of Future Past | Bishop | Bryan Singer | |
| Samba | Samba Cissé | Olivier Nakache & Éric Toledano | ||
| Mune: Guardian of the Moon | Sohone | Benoît Philippon & Alexandre Heboyan | ||
| 2015 | Jurassic World | Barry | Colin Trevorrow | Also in Lego Jurassic World |
| Burnt | Michel | John Wells | ||
| 2016 | Chocolat | Clown Chocolat | Roschdy Zem | |
| The Angry Birds Movie | Red | Fergal Reilly Clay Kaytis |
French dub | |
| Norm of the North | Norm[7] | Trevor Wall | French dub | |
| Inferno | Christoph Bouchard | Ron Howard | ||
| Demain tout commence | Samuel | Hugo Gélin | ||
| 2017 | Knock | Lorraine Lévy | ||
| 2018 | Arctic Justice: Thunder Squad | Aaron Woodley | Voice |
References
- ^ a b c d e f Biography on Première.fr
- ^ a b c d e Beardsley, Eleanor (28 June 2012). "In France, A Star Rises From An Oft-Neglected Place". NPR.org. National Public Radio. Retrieved 2 April 2015.
- ^ a b c d "Omar Sy, den orörbara!" [Omar Sy, the untouchable!]. AzurCultures.com (in Swedish). 10 January 2013. Retrieved 2 April 2015.
- ^ Lodge, Guy (3 December 2012). "Satellite Award noms run the gamut from 'Silver Linings Playbook' to 'Skyfall'". Hitfix.com. Archived from the original on 27 March 2013. Retrieved 2 April 2015.
- ^ Fritz, Ben (22 May 2014). "'X-Men: Days of Future Past': A Guide to the Mutants". Speakeasy blog. Wall Street Journal. Retrieved 2 April 2015.
{{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in:|work=(help) - ^ a b c "Omar Sy Et Sa Femme Helene : Un Couple Amoureux En 5 Infos" [Omar Sy and His Wife Helene: A Loving Couple — 5 Facts]. PureTrend.com (in French). 22 June 2014. Retrieved 2 April 2015.
- ^ http://www.allocine.fr/article/fichearticle_gen_carticle=18653896.html
External links
- Use dmy dates from March 2013
- 1978 births
- Best Actor César Award winners
- Best Actor Lumières Award winners
- French male film actors
- French male television actors
- French Muslims
- French people of Mauritanian descent
- French people of Senegalese descent
- Living people
- People from Trappes
- 21st-century French male actors
- 20th-century French male actors
- French people of Fulbe descent
- French expatriate male actors in the United States