Lambert Wilson | |
|---|---|
 Wilson in 2017 | |
| Born | Lambert Nicolas Willson (1958-08-03)3 August 1958 (age 67) Neuilly-sur-Seine, France |
| Occupation | Actor |
| Years active | 1977–present |
| Father | Georges Wilson |
Lambert Nicolas Wilson (French:[lɑ̃bɛʁwilsɔn];néWillson, 3 August 1958) is a French actor. He is a seven-timeCesar Award nominee, four forBest Actor and three forBest Supporting Actor. Internationally, he is known for playingThe Merovingian inThe Matrix film series, beginning withThe Matrix Reloaded.
Wilson is the son ofGeorges Wilson, who was an actor, theatrical manager and director of theThéâtre National Populaire.[1] As a teenager, he had little interest in the French theatre and aimed to become an "American actor" and appear in Hollywood pictures. He studied acting at theDrama Centre London to learn English. He played his first movie role in the 1977 American filmJulia, directed byFred Zinnemann.
Five years later, he played his first starring role in another film by Zinneman,Five Days One Summer, oppositeSean Connery. But the film was not a commercial success, and neither wasSahara in which Wilson co-starred withBrooke Shields.[2] Wilson ultimately found success in his home country: during the 1980s, he became popular with French audiences by appearing in successful films such asLa Boum 2,The Public Woman andRendez-vous. At the time, he was often cast either as tormented characters or in romantic parts, although he found himself more convincing in the former kind of roles.[3]
Wilson screen tested forThe Living Daylights (1987) for the role ofJames Bond, appearing in test footage oppositeMaryam d'Abo (theBond girl inThe Living Daylights) asTatiana Romanova, re-enacting scenes fromFrom Russia with Love (1963). In 1991, Wilson was featured in a series ofCalvin Klein ads for its Eternity perfume brand, featuringChristy Turlington, reuniting for a poster ad in 1998.[4]
In musical theatre Wilson has appeared as Count Carl-Magnus Malcolm in the 1995National Theatre London production ofA Little Night Music, where "every word and note was fiercely projected",[5] and of which a recording was later issued. In 2007 he was Voltaire/Pangloss (bilingually) inRobert Carsen's production ofCandide at theThéâtre du Châtelet in Paris.[6] He appeared as Eric Thomson inResnais's2003 film version of the 1925 comédie musicalePas sur la bouche byYvain.
Wilson releasedMusicals on theEMI label in 1989 (re-issued in 2004), withJohn McGlinn conductingOrchestre Philharmonique de Monte-Carlo. It features him singing songs of the American Musical Theatre catalogue, those well-known ("Maria" fromWest Side Story, "There But For You Go I" from Lerner & Loewe'sBrigadoon, "The Cafe Song" fromLes Misérables, "Johanna" fromStephen Sondheim'sSweeney Todd), rare ("Love Song" fromKurt Weill andAlan Jay Lerner'sLove Life, "It Must Be So" fromLeonard Bernstein'sCandide, and "Silly People", which was cut from Sondheim'sA Little Night Music), and those in-between ("Finishing the Hat" fromSunday in the Park with George, "You Do Something to Me" fromCole Porter'sFifty Million Frenchmen, "Never Will I Marry" fromFrank Loesser'sGreenwillow).[citation needed]
He has directed stage presentations ofAlfred de Musset'sLes Caprices de Marianne starring Laure Marsac at Paris'Bouffes du Nord as well asJean Racine'sBérénice starringKristin Scott Thomas and Didier Sandre atAvignon and thenChaillot.[citation needed]
In 1989, his performance asAbbé Pierre in the filmHiver 54, l'abbé Pierre, for which he received theJean Gabin prize, won him critical accolades. In the late 1980s and early 1990s, however, his screen career suffered from a series of box office failures, such asThe Possessed andEl Dorado.
He later said that the French producers had come, at the time, to regard him as "box office poison". He eventually won back the favour of French audiences by appearing in the successful comediesSame Old Song (1997) andJet Set (2000).[7]
Wilson was cast in the role ofThe Merovingian inThe Matrix Reloaded (2002) andThe Matrix Revolutions (2003), perhaps his best-known role in the American cinema. Being completely fluent in English, his strong French accent in the film is fabricated for the role.[2] The role also popularised theEdiety tie knot, now commonly referred to as "The Merovingian".[8]
In November 2012, he was selected as a member of the main competition jury at the 2012International Film Festival of Marrakech. In April 2013, Wilson was invited byMINUSTAH (United Nations Stabilization Mission in Haiti) to visit Haiti in the capacity of helping with various UN-backed environment and cultural programmes.[9]
He was the master of ceremonies for the opening and closing ceremonies of the2014 and2015 Cannes Film Festival.
In February 2016, he released a tribute album calledWilson chante Montand to the singerYves Montand to commemorate the 25th anniversary of the death of the artist. Among the 17 tracks on the album there isMais qu’est-ce que j’ai ? which was composed byHenri Betti with the lyrics byÉdith Piaf in 1947. The musical arrangements of the 17 songs were made by Bruno Fontaine. Also in 2016, he portrayedJacques Cousteau in the biopicThe Odyssey.[10]
Wilson's commitment to safeguarding the environment is manifest in his support of Greenpeace and Agir pour l'Environnement amongst others. He works on behalf of the Fondation Abbé-Pierre and theMouvement Emmaüs in France to eradicate hunger and poverty. Wilson is an ambassador for Les Toiles Enchantées (an association that brings contemporary cinema to hospitals and hospices for children), andparrain (patron) for a proposed new cinema at theInstitut Français in London.
Wilson is Chevalier and Officier des Arts et des Lettres and Chevalier and Officier de l'Ordre National du Mérite. He was raised to Commandeur de l’Ordre du Mérite by PresidentEmmanuel Macron in 2017.
In January 2018 he engaged to assist the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations (FAO)[11] in communications regarding work to eradicate world hunger and poverty ("Working for Zero Hunger"). The same year he starred inVolontaire byHélène Fillières.
In 2021, Wilson reprised his role of The Merovingian fromThe Matrix franchise inThe Matrix Resurrections.[12]
| † | Denotes works that have not yet been released |
| Year | Title | Role | Language | Director | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1978 | Gaston Phébus | Yvain | French | Bernard Borderie | 6 episodes |
| 1980 | Cinéma 16: Les filles d'Adam | Gilbert | French | Éric Le Hung | TV film |
| Au feu le préfet | Patrick Callaghan | French | Alain Boudet | ||
| L'Inconnue d'Arras | The grandfather | French | Raymond Rouleau | ||
| 1981 | Quatre femmes, quatre vies: La Maison bleue | Jean-Paul Taillandier | French | Robert Mazoyer | |
| La dernière nuit | The assistant executioner | French | Didier Decoin | ||
| Histoire contemporaine | Henri de Brèce | French | Michel Boisrond | Miniseries | |
| 1982 | The Trojan War Will Not Take Place | Paris | French | Raymond Rouleau | TV film |
| 1983 | La Caravane | Éric | French | Roger Gillioz | |
| 1986 | La Storia | Carlo Vivaldi / Davide Segre | Italian | Luigi Comencini | |
| 1992 | Strangers | The Guy | English | Joan Tewkesbury | |
| Frankenstein | Dr. Henry Clerval | English | David Wickes | ||
| 1994 | Une qui promet | Ferdinand | French | Marianne Lamour | |
| Les Caprices de Marianne | Octave | French | Jean-Daniel Verhaeghe | ||
| Rage and Outrage: The Dreyfus Affair | Drumont | French | Raoul Sangla | ||
| 1995 | Pour une vie ou deux | Noël Gregorio | French | Marc Angelo | |
| 1996 | Le Secret d'Iris | Pierrot | French | Élisabeth Rappeneau | |
| 1997 | Quand le chat sourit | French | Sabine Azéma | ||
| 2000 | Don Quixote | Duke | English | Peter Yates | |
| 2001 | Le divin enfant | Father Marc Aubray | French | Stéphane Clavier | |
| 2004 | Colette, une femme libre | Henry de Jouvenel | French | Nadine Trintignant | Miniseries; 2 episodes |
| 2009 | The Philanthropist | Yves Moehringer | English | Duane Clark | Episode: "Paris" |
| 2012 | The Hollow Crown | Charles, King of France | English | Thea Sharrock | Episode: "Henry V" |
| 2013 | Manipulations | Franck Barrot | French | Laurent Herbiet | TV film Nominated:Monte-Carlo Television Festival, Best Performance by an Actor |
| 2022 | Totems | Charles Contignet | French | Frédéric Jardin Jérôme Salle Antoine Blossier | Amazon TV Series |
| 2023 | Star Wars: Visions | Jon (voice) | English | Julien Chheng | Episode: "The Spy Dancer" |
| 2024 | La Maison [fr] | Vincent Ledu | French | Fabrice Gobert Daniel Grou | Apple TV+ series - main role |
| 2027 | Harry Potter † | Nicolas Flamel | English | TBA | HBO series - recurring role |
| Year | Title | Role | Language | Director | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2003 | Enter the Matrix | The Merovingian | English | The Wachowskis | Voice role |
| 2005 | The Matrix Online |
