Born in Gonesse, Val d'Oise of Armenian descent, Abkarian spent his childhood in Lebanon. He moved to Los Angeles, where he joined an Armenian theater company managed by Gerald Papazian. He returned to France in 1985, settling in Paris.
He has appeared in about thirty films, the most notable being Atom Egoyan's Ararat, and Yes, in which he played the lead role. Abkarian played the role of villain Alex Dimitrios in the most recent James Bond film, Casino Royale. The character is a government contractor and arms dealer working against Bond.
He is supposed to play the lead role of a modern-times rebel in the movie "La Bombe Humaine" (Human Bomb), a political thriller written by Laurent Touil-Tartour, for a shooting in 2007. He has also played Dariush Bakhshi, the Iranian Special Consul, in the BBC drama Spooks.
Filmography
* Ararat (2002), Arshile Gorky
* The Truth About Charlie (2002)
* Aram (2002), Aram
* Yes (2004), unnamed, shares lead role
* Le Voyage en Arménie (2006), Sarkis Arabian
* Casino Royale (2006), (Alex Dimitrios)
* Persepolis
He has appeared in about thirty films, the most notable being Atom Egoyan's Ararat, and Yes, in which he played the lead role. Abkarian played the role of villain Alex Dimitrios in the most recent James Bond film, Casino Royale. The character is a government contractor and arms dealer working against Bond.
He is supposed to play the lead role of a modern-times rebel in the movie "La Bombe Humaine" (Human Bomb), a political thriller written by Laurent Touil-Tartour, for a shooting in 2007. He has also played Dariush Bakhshi, the Iranian Special Consul, in the BBC drama Spooks.
Filmography
* Ararat (2002), Arshile Gorky
* The Truth About Charlie (2002)
* Aram (2002), Aram
* Yes (2004), unnamed, shares lead role
* Le Voyage en Arménie (2006), Sarkis Arabian
* Casino Royale (2006), (Alex Dimitrios)
* Persepolis