Eriq Ebouaney

Biography:

French actor Eriq Ebouaney was born on October 3, 1967. His most well-known roles include that of “Blacktie” in Brian De Palma’s Femme Fatale, the Congolese Prime Minister Patrice Lumumba in the 2000 movie Lumumba, and “Ice” in the 2008 action movie Transporter 3, in which he costarred with Jason Statham.

Ebouaney, the son of Cameroonian immigrants, was born in Angers, France.  He had little interest in acting as a child and was determined to become a businessman. But when he was 30, he quit his work as a sales manager to pursue a career in acting and joined a theater group.

In 1996, he starred in the film Chacun cherche son chat, which was directed by Cédric Klapisch. He was cast in the starring role of Prime Minister Patrice Lumumba in the 2000 movie Lumumba. Filming took place in Beira, Mozambique.

He costarred with Antonio Banderas in Brian De Palma’s Femme Fatale in 2002. He portrayed Jean Claude in Mark Bamford’s first motion picture, Cape of Good Hope, released in 2004. He costarred with Michael Sheen, Liam Neeson, Orlando Bloom, David Thewlis, Martin Hancock, and Nathalie Cox in the 2005 Ridley Scott picture Kingdom of Heaven, which won numerous awards.

He starred in La piste and The Front Line in 2006. He had a brief part in the Italian film Bianco e nero, a supporting character in the critically acclaimed Australian film Disgrace (2008), starring American actor John Malkovich, and a later appearance as “Ice” in the British actor Jason Statham’s Transporter 3.