François Civil | |
|---|---|
 Civil in 2025 | |
| Born | (1990-01-29)29 January 1990 (age 36)[1] |
| Occupation | Actor |
| Years active | 2005–present |
François Civil (French pronunciation:[fʁɑ̃swasivil]; born 29 January 1990)[1][2] is a French actor. He has appeared in both French and English-language productions and is known for his roles in films such asFrank (2014),As Above, So Below (2014),Five (2016),Burn Out (2017),Love at Second Sight (2019),The Wolf's Call (2019),Who You Think I Am (2019),Someone, Somewhere (2019),BAC Nord (2021), for voicingBuzz Lightyear in the French version of the animated filmLightyear (2022), and for playingD'Artagnan inThe Three Musketeers: D'Artagnan (2023) andThe Three Musketeers: Milady (2023). On television, he has starred in theDisney Channel teen sitcom seriesTrop la Classe! (2006), in theFrance 2 comedy-drama seriesCall My Agent! (2015–17), and in theNetflix comedy miniseriesFiasco (2024).
Civil won aChopard Trophy for Male Revelation at the2019 Cannes Film Festival, and has earned two nominations for theCésar Award for Best Supporting Actor; forBAC Nord in 2022 and forRise in 2023. He was named Actor of the Year byGQ France'sMen of the Year Awards in 2023.
Civil was born in the12th arrondissement of Paris on 29 January 1990,[1] to a French mother fromAvignon and aTahitian father.[2] His parents are both University professors of Spanish.[1][3][4] His paternal grandmother is Tahitian and his paternal grandfather isCatalan.[2] He has an older sister.[5]
In addition to his native French, Civil also speaks English, Spanish,[6] and a bit of Italian.[7]
Civil has adepigmentation of the skin of his arms and a lock of white hair since he was fifteen.[5] He told French magazineParis Match in 2019 that no doctor could tell him why, but he believes this happened due to stress.[5]
Civil started acting at the age of fourteen.[8][9] He signed up for an acting class because he wanted to get closer to a girl who was taking acting lessons.[10] The feeling was not mutual, but he ended up falling in love with theater.[11] After spotting him at a school play, the mother of one of the students who was also a casting director encouraged him to continue on this path and insisted that he should go to auditions.[1][9] Thanks to her, he passed a test and landed a role in his first film,Le Cactus.[12] Civil was also inspired to become an actor after watching the performance of Chinese actressZhang Ziyi inCrouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (2000).[13] In 2006, he made a brief stint at the French drama schoolCours Florent,[14] which he did not like.[15]
Civil was anhyperactive child and had trouble concentrating at school.[16][17] Theatre, music and sports such asbasketball helped him channel his energy and express himself.[17][15]
In 2005, while studying theater at the studio Le Magasin,[18] Civil made his feature film debut with a small role in the comedyLe Cactus, directed by Michel Munz and Gérard Bitton.[19] His second acting gig was an episode of the TV seriesLouis la Brocante.[20]
In 2006, he played the high school student Dread in theDisney Channel France teen sitcom seriesTrop la Classe!,[20][21] that led him to participate in the2007 Disney Channel Games representing France.[22]
Civil leftTrop la Classe! when directorLaurence Ferreira Barbosa offered him the leading role in her independent drama filmDying or Feeling Better (Soit je meurs, soit je vais mieux) released in 2008,[9] in which he played a young schoolboy who falls in love with twin sisters.[23] His performance, at the age of 18, earned him a nomination for theLumière Award for Most Promising Actor,[24] and a pre-nomination for theCésar Award for Most Promising Actor in 2009.[25][26] That same year, he appeared in the web-seriesTwenty Show released onMyspace,[27][28] which later became a TV film broadcast byArte in May 2009.[29]
He then continued his theater studies while filming for cinema and television, in particular with the main role in the short filmIn Our Blood (Dans nos veines), directed byGuillaume Senez,[30] for which he won the Best Actor award at theBrussels Short Film Festival[31] and the double award for interpretation (Jury Award and Audience Award) at the 15th Jean Carmet Festival in Moulins.[18]
In 2010, he was a part of the young cast of the filmBus Palladium, directed by Christopher Thompson.[32] That same year, he did not go to class for all of his senior year because he knew he wanted to pursue acting.[5] He finally presented himself to theBac exams and obtained it by chance.[2] He stayed in high school for a total of five years after repeating his sophomore year three times.[5]
In 2011, he starred in theWorld War II drama15 Lads (Nos résistances) directed byRomain Cogitore, in which he portrayed a member of theFrench Resistance[33] and received a second pre-nomination for the César Award for Most Promising Actor.[34] He also reprised his role as Dread in the TV seriesTrop la Classe Café!, and appeared in the erotic drama filmElles directed byMałgorzata Szumowska, in which he played the teenage son of the protagonist portrayed byJuliette Binoche.[35][36]
In 2013, he won the Premier Rendez-vous prize at theCabourg Film Festival for his performance in the comedy filmMacadam Baby, written and directed by Patrick Bossard.[37] Between 2013 and 2015, he starred onCanal+'sCasting(s), a short comedy series about the world of cinema created byPierre Niney andAli Marhyar.[19][38]
In 2014, he ventured into English-language productions, such as the independent British-Irish black comedy filmFrank, directed byLenny Abrahamson, in which he played Baraque, the bassist of the band Soronprfbs, led by the title character played byMichael Fassbender.[39] Civil and the other actors ofFrank performed the songs live in the film and in the album with the soundtrack.[40][41] The band performed at concerts in real life to promote the film,[42] such as the talk showThe Colbert Report on 6 August 2014.[43] Civil also played the urban explorer Papillon in the American horror filmAs Above, So Below, directed byJohn Erick Dowdle,[44][45] and had a supporting role in the American mini-seriesRosemary's Baby, directed byAgnieszka Holland.[18]
In 2015, he filmed a pilot for a TV series created byAlan Ball and produced byElton John forHBO calledVirtuoso, which would be set in the 18th century and feature young musical prodigies from all over Europe who studied at the prestigious Academy of Musical Excellence in Vienna, where he would play the young Spanish guitarist and flautist Isidoro,[46] but the channel did not pick it up as a series.[47]
After several appearances in French TV series, in 2015 Civil landed a recurring supporting role as aspiring actor Hippolyte Rivière in the popular comedy seriesCall My Agent! (Dix pour cent), created byFanny Herrero.[19][48] He also had a supporting role in the thrillerMade in France, directed byNicolas Boukhrief.[49]
In 2016, he became known to the general public when he co-starred alongsidePierre Niney in the comedy filmFive directed by Igor Gotesman,[25] based on a 2011 short film of the same name that Civil and Gotesman had starred in.[50] That same year, Civil and his co-stars fromFive appeared in the music video for the song "Reuf" by French rapperNekfeu, which was featured in the film's soundtrack.[51]
In 2017, he starred in the French action filmBurn Out directed byYann Gozlan.[52] He also played the youngest sibling ofAna Girardot andPio Marmaï in the dramaBack to Burgundy (Ce qui nous lie), directed byCédric Klapisch.[53]
He was a member of the jury of the "33 short films" section of the2018 Cabourg Film Festival,[54] and was also a member of the Revelation jury at the2018 Deauville American Film Festival presided byCédric Kahn.[55]
The year 2019 allowed him to lead several projects: first the geopolitical thrillerThe Wolf's Call (Le Chant du loup) byAntonin Baudry;[56] then inSafy Nebbou's psychological thrillerWho You Think I Am (Celle que vous croyez) alongside Juliette Binoche;[36] then he co-starred withJoséphine Japy in the romantic comedyLove at Second Sight (Mon Inconnue) directed byHugo Gélin,[57] which earned him the Best Actor award at theL'Alpe d'Huez Film Festival,[58] and he also reunited with Cédric Klapisch and Ana Girardot in the romantic comedySomeone, Somewhere (Deux moi),[59] for which he earned a nomination for theGlobe de Cristal Award for Best Actor.[60]
Civil won aChopard Trophy for Male Revelation at the2019 Cannes Film Festival.[13] That same year, he was a member of the jury for the 9th Nikon Film Festival presided by Marjane Satrapi,[61] and was also a member of the feature film jury at the 11th Beaune International Thriller Film Festival presided byBenoît Jacquot.[62]
In 2020, he appeared in one episode of the Canal+ comedy seriesLa Flamme, a spoof of reality dating competition shows.[63]
In 2021, he starred the filmBAC Nord directed byCédric Jimenez, in which he played a police officer from the Anti-Crime Squad (BAC) ofMarseille oppositeGilles Lellouche andKarim Leklou,[64] which earned Civil a nomination for theCésar Award for Best Supporting Actor for his performance.[65] He also had a supporting role as a motel manager whose right forearm had a prosthesis with a baseball glove replacing his hand in the comedy TV filmLa Vengeance au Triple Galop,[66] a parody of the 1983 Australian TV seriesReturn to Eden, directed byAlex Lutz and Arthur Sanigou and broadcast by Canal+ on 4 October 2021.[67]
In 2022, he played the physiotherapist Yann in the comedy dramaRise (En corps) by Cédric Klapisch,[68] for which he received his second César nomination for Best Supporting Actor.[69] He also lent his voice to the characterBuzz Lightyear in the French version of the animated filmLightyear,[70] and he voiced the character Phillip Graves in the French version of the video gameCall of Duty: Modern Warfare II.[71]
In 2023, he portrayedD'Artagnan in two new French film adaptations ofAlexandre Dumas' 1844 novelThe Three Musketeers directed byMartin Bourboulon;The Three Musketeers: D'Artagnan andThe Three Musketeers: Milady.[72]D'Artagnan became his biggest commercial success, with over 3 million tickets sold in France.[73] The same year, he played an undercover police officer who infiltrates a group of environmental activists inRomain Cogitore's romantic thrillerA Place to Fight For (Une zone à défendre), the first French original film fromDisney+.[74]
In November 2023, Civil was named Actor of the Year byGQ France'sMen of the Year Awards.[75]
In 2024, Civil starred in the dramaThe Good Teacher (Pas de vagues), directed byTeddy Lussi-Modeste,[76] inBeating Hearts directed by Gilles Lellouche,[77] and inFiasco, a comedy miniseries co-created by Pierre Niney and Igor Gotesman forNetflix.[78]
In 2025, Civil starred inArnaud Desplechin's dramaTwo Pianos, in which he portrays a pianist who lives an impossible love story.[79]
In September 2025, Civil was cast asCharles Darnay in the upcomingBBC One British miniseriesA Tale of Two Cities, adapted from thenovel of the same name byCharles Dickens.[80]
Civil is an amateur photographer.[81] A series of photos taken by him entitled "Cambodia" were exhibited at the Atelier Couronnes in Paris between October and November 2017 during the Rencontres Photographiques du 10ème.[82][83]
In an interview forMadame Figaro in April 2019, Civil announced that he was working on a photographic project around his anxiety about the passing of time and aging, and that this project would see the light of day "in perhaps twenty years".[10]
Civil is also a musician.[5] He plays bass, guitar and piano.[2] From 2009 to 2018,[84] he was a member of an electro-folk/alternative-rock group called Collective Kingdom,[85] for which he was the singer,[10] the guitarist and the composer.[17]
In March 2014, he composed the score for the short filmLa Nuit de Pierre Niney,[86] directed by his long-time friendPierre Niney for the promotion of the perfumeLa nuit de l'homme byYves Saint Laurent.[87]
In December 2022, he composed along with Ferdinand Cros the music for the short filmHere & Now starring his longtime friend Pierre Niney[50][88] for theDior perfume Bois d'Argent.[89]
He has been playingbasketball since he was a teenager,[17][90] androck climbing since 2016.[15][91]
In May 2021, Civil became the new ambassador of the Italian high jewelry brandBulgari.[92]
In September 2018, following the resignation of the French Minister of EcologyNicolas Hulot, Civil co-signed the column "The greatest challenge in the history of humanity", calling on the government to take "firm and immediate" action in the face of the danger ofglobal warming.[93]
In June 2023, Civil expressed his support to the French environmental activists known as "Zadists".[88] He toldLe Parisien in July 2023 that starring in the filmA Place to Fight For (2023) was an engagement, even if it was anecdotal compared to that of the Zadists; and that he was very proud to star in this film because it sheds light on theZAD and pays tribute to "these people who sacrifice a lot of their lives for the planet".[94]
In March 2024, Civil expressed his support to the#MeToo movement in French cinema and to actressesJudith Godrèche andAnouk Grinberg, for the liberation of women's voices and against sexist and sexual violence in French cinema.[95][96]
On 4 June 2024, he signed a petition addressed to French PresidentEmmanuel Macron demanding France to officially recognize theState of Palestine.[97]
On 28 June 2024, Civil shared twoInstagram Stories encouraging his followers to vote against the French far-right partyNational Rally and against their candidate for French prime minister,Jordan Bardella, for the then-upcomingFrench parliamentary elections whose first round took place on 30 June 2024.[98] On 6 July 2024, a day before the second round of the elections, he shared a post against the National Rally candidates.[99]
| † | Denotes film or TV productions that have not yet been released |
| Year | Title | Role | Director | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2005 | Le cactus | Young Patrick | Gérard Bitton Michel Munz | |
| 2007 | Molière | Louis Béjart | Laurent Tirard | |
| 2008 | Daddy Cool (15 ans et demi) | Festival goer | François Desagnat Thomas Sorriaux | |
| Dying or Feeling Better (Soit je meurs, soit je vais mieux) | Martial | Laurence Ferreira Barbosa | ||
| Sur ta joue ennemie | Milan | Jean-Xavier de Lestrade | ||
| Flirts | Xavier | Lionel Dos Santos | Short | |
| 2009 | In Our Blood (Dans nos veines) | Lionel | Guillaume Senez | Short |
| Omar | Arthur | Sébastien Gabriel | Short | |
| 2010 | Bus Palladium | Mario | Christopher Thompson | |
| 2011 | 15 Lads (Nos résistances) | François/Racine | Romain Cogitore | |
| Une pure affaire | Tom | Alexandre Coffre | ||
| Five | Timothée | Igor Gotesman | Short | |
| Elles | Florent | Małgorzata Szumowska | ||
| 2012 | Vacances | Romain | Frédéric Doll | Short |
| 2013 | The Stroller Strategy (La stratégie de la poussette) | François | Clément Michel | |
| Fonzy | Hugo | Isabelle Doval | ||
| It Boy (20 ans d'écart) | Student | David Moreau | ||
| Pour le rôle | François | Pierre Niney | Short | |
| 2014 | Frank | Baraque | Lenny Abrahamson | |
| As Above, So Below | Papillon | John Erick Dowdle | ||
| Macadam Baby | Thomas | Patrick Bossard | ||
| Les Baumettes | Jean-Louis Raphel | Hugo Gélin | Short | |
| 2016 | Made in France | Christophe | Nicolas Boukhrief | |
| Five | Timothée | Igor Gotesman | ||
| 2017 | Back to Burgundy (Ce qui nous lie) | Jérémie | Cédric Klapisch | |
| Burn Out | Tony | Yann Gozlan | ||
| 2019 | Love at Second Sight (Mon Inconnue) | Raphaël Ramisse/ Zoltan | Hugo Gélin | |
| Who You Think I Am (Celle que vous croyez) | Alex Chelly | Safy Nebbou | ||
| The Wolf's Call (Le Chant du loup) | Chanteraide | Antonin Baudry | ||
| Someone, Somewhere (Deux moi) | Rémy Pelletier | Cédric Klapisch | ||
| 2021 | BAC Nord | Antoine | Cédric Jimenez | |
| 2022 | Rise (En corps) | Yann | Cédric Klapisch | |
| Lightyear | Buzz Lightyear | Angus MacLane | Voice; French version | |
| 2023 | The Three Musketeers: D'Artagnan | D'Artagnan | Martin Bourboulon | |
| A Place to Fight For (Une zone à défendre) | Greg | Romain Cogitore | Disney+ film | |
| The Three Musketeers: Milady | D'Artagnan | Martin Bourboulon | ||
| 2024 | The Good Teacher (Pas de vagues) | Julien | Teddy Lussi-Modeste | |
| Beating Hearts (L'Amour ouf) | Clotaire | Gilles Lellouche | ||
| 2025 | Two Pianos | Mathias Vogler | Arnaud Desplechin |
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2006 | Louis la brocante | Arthur | TV series; 1 episode |
| Trop la Classe! | Dread | TV series; 1 season | |
| 2007 | Disney Channel Games | Himself | TV series; 9 episodes |
| Autopsy | Paco Mercadier | TV movie | |
| 2008 | P.J. | Axel Avranche | TV series; 1 episode |
| Twenty Show | Victor | Web-series; 1 season | |
| 2009 | Sweet Dream | TV series; 1 season | |
| Twenty Show: The Film | Victor | TV movie | |
| Enquêtes réservées | Antoine Morrand | TV series; 1 episode | |
| 2011 | Simple | Enzo | TV movie |
| Hard | Tony | TV series; 2 episodes | |
| Trop la Classe Café! | Dread | TV series; 1 season | |
| Emma | Jérôme | TV movie | |
| Tiger Lily, quatre femmes dans la vie | Ziggy | Miniseries; 6 episodes | |
| 2013 | Le clan des Lanzac | Julien Verneuil | TV movie |
| Alias Caracalla, au coeur de la Résistance | Maurice de Chaveigné | Miniseries; 2 episodes | |
| 2013–15 | Casting(s) | François | TV series; 22 episodes |
| 2014 | Rosemary's Baby | Jacques | Miniseries; 2 episodes |
| 2015 | L'héritière | Guillaume | TV movie |
| 2015–17 | Call My Agent ! (Dix pour cent) | Hippolyte Rivière | TV series; 10 episodes |
| 2017 | Calls | Tom | TV series; 1 episode |
| 2020 | La Flamme | Luc | TV series; 1 episode |
| 2021 | La Vengeance au Triple Galop | Rodney Stingwing | TV movie |
| 2024 | Fiasco | Tom / Bartabé | Miniseries; 7 episodes[100] |
| 2026 | A Tale of Two Cities† | Charles Darnay | Miniseries; main role |
| Year | Title | Role | Notes | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | Call of Duty: Modern Warfare II | Philip Graves | Voice role; French version | [71] |
| Year | Title | Author | Director | Notes | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2010–11 | Le Carton | Clément Michel | Arthur Jugnot | Palais des Glaces | [14] |
| Year | Award | Category | Work | Result | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2009 | Lumière Awards | Most Promising Actor | Dying or Feeling Better | Nominated | [24] |
| Festival Jean-Carmet | Jury Award - Best Actor | In Our Blood | Won | [101] | |
| Audience Award - Best Actor | Won | [101] | |||
| 2010 | Brussels Short Film Festival | Best Actor | Won | [31] | |
| 2013 | Cabourg Film Festival | Premier Rendez-Vous | Macadam Baby | Won | [37] |
| 2019 | L'Alpe d'Huez Film Festival | Best Actor | Love at Second Sight | Won | [58] |
| Cannes Film Festival | Chopard Trophy for Male Revelation | N/a | Won | [13][102] | |
| 2020 | Globes de Cristal Award | Best Actor | Someone, Somewhere | Nominated | [60] |
| 2022 | César Awards | Best Supporting Actor | BAC Nord | Nominated | [65] |
| 2023 | César Awards | Rise | Nominated | [69] | |
| GQ France Men of the Year Awards | Actor of the Year | N/a | Won | [75] | |
| 2024 | French Association of Series Critics Awards | Best Supporting Actor | Fiasco | Nominated | [103] |
Après un bref passage par le cours Florent qui ne lui a pas plu, François Civil a écumé les castings
la musique de feu Collective Kingdom, le groupe dont il était le guitariste et le compositeur.
HBO shot a pilot last year for Ball's 18th century musical drama Virtuoso, but did not pick it up to series.
