Romain Duris

Romain Duris, born on 28 May 1974 in Paris, France, emerged from a culturally rich family—his father an engineer‑architect with connections to Revolutionary archivist Armand‑Gaston Camus, and his mother a dancer descended from the 18th‑century Swedish painter Alexander Roslin. Growing up alongside his sister Caroline, a pianist who later contributed to his film soundtracks, Duris was immersed in both the visual and performing arts, an environment that nurtured his later versatility on screen. Though he initially pursued higher education in the arts and experimented with music—forming a jazz‑funk band and playing drums in an acid‑jazz group—his breakthrough came unexpectedly in 1993 when a casting director spotted him waiting in line and offered him a role in Cédric Klapisch’s Le péril jeune (1994). This chance encounter launched a prolific acting career that has spanned three decades, marked by a blend of charismatic charm and gritty intensity. Duris is perhaps best remembered for his portrayal of Xavier Rousseau, the charismatic French exchange student in Klapisch’s Spanish Apartment trilogy (L'Auberge Espagnole, Russian Dolls, Chinese Puzzle), roles that solidified his status as a pan‑European cultural icon. His performance in Jacques Audiard’s The Beat That My Heart Skipped (2005) earned him the Lumière Award for Best Actor and a César nomination, showcasing his capacity for deep, emotionally resonant work. Since then, he has demonstrated remarkable range, embodying gangsters in Dobermann, romantic leads in Heartbreaker, and heroic figures such as Arsène Lupin, while also appearing in international productions like All the Money in the World (2017). Off‑screen, Duris resides near La Bastille in Paris with his partner, actress Olivia Bonamy, and together they raise two sons, Luigi (born 2009) and a younger sibling born in 2013, balancing family life with a demanding film schedule.