Olivier Martinez

The French actor was born in Paris in 1966, and after numerous successes in the '90s in France went on to achieve international stardom. After training at the French Conservatoire National Superieur d'Art Dramatique, Martinez made his mark in theatre, television, and finally the big screen.

His film debut was a role in Jean-Jacques Beineix's "IP5: The Island of Pachyderms" (1992) alongside Yves Montand. In 1994 he won the César Award as "Most Promising Actor" for his performance in Bertrand Blier's drama "1, 2, 3, Sun" ("Un, deux, trois, soleil" - 1993) alongside Marcello Mastroianni. Martinez achieved international recognition shortly after this in Jean-Paul Rappeneau's "The Horseman on the Roof" ("Le Hussard sur le toit" - 1995) in which he played a dashing 19th-century Italian cavalry officer in love with a married woman (Juliette Binoche). His other films include Bertrand Blier's "My Man" ("Mon Homme" - 1996), Bigas Luna's "The Chambermaid on the Titanic" ("La femme de chambre du Titanic" - 1997) and Eric Barbier's "Toreros" (2000) with Claude Brasseur.

He achieved worldwide recognition for his parts in Julian Schnabel's "Before Night Falls" (2000) opposite Johnny Depp and Javier Bardem, and as Diane Lane's lover in Adrian Lyne's "Unfaithful" (2002) with Richard Gere.

His works include "SWAT" (2003), in which he starred opposite Samuel L. Jackson, Colin Farrell and Michelle Rodriguez; Robert Allan Ackerman's version of "The Roman Spring of Mrs. Stone" (2003) alongside Anne Bancroft and Helen Mirren; the thriller "Taking Lives" (2004) alongside Angelina Jolie, Ethan Hawke and Kiefer Sutherland; "Blood and Chocolate" (2007); and "Dark Tide" (2012).

Beta Cinema