Alexandre Astier
French writer, director, editor and actor
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Alexandre Astier (born 16 June 1974) is a French writer, director, editor, scriptwriter, humorist, actor and composer.
Astier is most known as the creator, director, writer, editor, composer, and lead actor of the French television series Kaamelott, in which he also plays King Arthur.[1]
Life and career
Alexandre Astier was born in Lyon on June 16, 1974, to Joëlle Sevilla and Lionnel Astier, both actors and producers mostly in Lyon's theatre scene.
Alexandre Astier studied music at the conservatory and at the American School of Modern Music of Paris.[2] He also studied acting and screenwriting.
Four of Astier's seven children have featured in Kaamelott, and both his parents are main characters in the series. His daughters Ariane and Jeanne Astier play respectively Mehben and Mehgan, the daughters of Karadoc and Maevanwi (in the episodes Pupi and Exiles). His son Neil (who also appears as Karadoc and Mevanwi's son in Pupi) plays young Arthur in the season Book V, and in the final scene of Book VI. His son Ethan plays Arthur's dream heir in Book V. Moreover, the mother of his first five children, Anne-Gaëlle Daval, is head of the costume designs on Kaamelott and the short film Dies Irae.[3]
In 2012, he plays Johann Sebastian Bach in his humorous show "Que ma joie demeure !" at the theater.[4]
In 2014, his comic show "L'Exoconférence" begins at the theater in September.
Passionate of technologies, he confirms in 2018 on twitter, that Kaamelott's film adaptation has been written with a bepo keyboard[5] on a raspberry pi, running Wordgrinder text-editor software.[6]
He also owns a castle in Ardèche area,[7] where he can store lot of his music instruments into a specific room.[8]
Debut at the theatre
Alexandre Astier first got attention from the Lyon's public thanks to the play Le Jour du froment. He also acted in Nous crions grâce, a play written and directed by Jacques Chambon, to whom he gave the role of Merlin in Kaamelott.
Cinema
In 2001, he was the co-screenwriter and the songwriter of the short movies Soyons sport and Un soupçon fondé sur quelque chose de gras.
In 2002 he was the director of Dies Irae, a 14-minute short movie that is also the first draft of the Kaamelott TV show.
In 2006, he featured in Hey Good Looking!, a French movie by Lisa Azuelos. The same year, he appeared in Asterix at the Olympic Games by Frédéric Forestier and Thomas Langmann, and in Home Sweet Home by Didier Le Pêcheur.
In 2009, he played the role of the ex-husband of Sophie Marceau in LOL (Laughing Out Loud), another comedy by Lisa Azuelos.[9]
In 2012, he presented his first feature film as a director, David et Madame Hansen, in which he played the main protagonist alongside Isabelle Adjani.[10]
In 2014, he was the co-director and the screenwriter of Asterix: The Mansions of the Gods.
In 2015, he appeared in the film All Three of Us, directed by Kheiron.
In 2018, he wrote an original screenplay for a new Asterix movie: Asterix: The Secret of the Magic Potion. Like Asterix: The Mansions of the Gods, he co-directed it with Louis Clichy.
In 2025, he plays the role of a drunken shrink in the second season of Bref. He had already appeared as a cameo in the first season.[11]
Kaamelott
Alexandre Astier became famous as the writer, director and actor in the TV show he produced. Kaamelott is inspired by the story of King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table.[12] This humorous series is broadcast on the French channel M6. The episodes lasted three and a half minutes until 2007. Then, the format changed to seven minutes and finally reached fifty-five minutes per episode in the last season Book VI.
He also composes the music of the series.
He has the ambition to extend the TV show to the cinema as a trilogy, but not before 2012, since Alexandre Astier plans to work as a director on another movie before launching Kaamelott on the big screen.
In June 2010, invited on the set of the show "J'irai LOLer sur vos tombes", he unveiled his project to publish a series of graphic novels titled Kaamelott Resistance as a transition between the TV format and the future cinema films.
Filmography
Film
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2001 | Un soupçon fondé sur quelque chose de gras | N/A | Short |
| Soyons sport | Francis | ||
| 2002 | Dies Irae | King Arthur | |
| 2004 | Anaconda | Vincent | |
| 2006 | Hey Good Looking! | Gilles | |
| 2007 | Recrue d'essence | Maxime Roux | Short |
| 2008 | Asterix at the Olympic Games | Mordicus | Also dialogue writer |
| Coluche, l'histoire d'un mec | Reiser | ||
| Home Sweet Home | Joubert | ||
| 2009 | LOL (Laughing Out Loud) | Alain | |
| Zygomatiques | Dr. Paul Lamarrade | Short | |
| 2011 | Les Aventures de Philibert, capitaine puceau | Clotindre d'Artois | |
| 2012 | David et Madame Hansen | David | Also director, writer, producer and editor |
| 2013 | Pop Redemption | Traffic Police Chief | |
| 2014 | Quantum Love | Eric | |
| All Three of Us | The Shah of Iran | ||
| Asterix: The Mansion of the Gods | Centurion Somniferus (voice) | Also writer | |
| 14 millions de cris | Father | Short | |
| 2015 | What We Do in the Shadows | Vladislav the Poker | French dub |
| 2018 | Asterix: The Secret of the Magic Potion | Centurion Somniferus (voice) | Also writer |
| 2021 | Kaamelott: The First Chapter | King Arthur | Also director, writer, producer and editor |
| 2025 | Kaamelott: The Second Chapter Part 1 | ||
| 2026 | Laughing Out Loud 2.0 | Alain |
Television
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2001 | Belle Grand-Mère 2 : La Trattoria | Marcello | TV movie |
| 2002 | Lyon Police Spécial | Café Owner | Episode: "Apprivoisement" |
| 2005–2009 | Kaamelott | King Arthur | TV series Main role, 446 episodes Director Writer Editor |
| 2007 | Elie Annonce Semoun | Eric Reptile | Miniseries Direct-to-video |
| Off Prime | Himself | 3 episodes | |
| 2008 | Mademoiselle | WorldWide Company C.E.O | Episode: "Episode 13" |
| 14-18, le bruit et la fureur | Narrator | Documentary | |
| 2009 | Hero Corp | Araignée Man | 2 episodes |
| 2010 | La Commanderie | Inquisitor Robert Matemale | Episode: "L'arrivée du Duc d'Anjou" |
| 2011 | Le Front Populaire, à nous la vie ! | Narrator | Documentary |
| 2012, 2025 | Bref | Undisguised Party Guest/Therapist | 5 episodes |
| 2012 | Adventure Time | Prince Gumball (voice) | French dub |
| 2013 | Scènes de ménages | José's Biker Friend | Episode: "Entre amis" |
| La télé commande | Televiewer | 1 episode | |
| 2015 | Einstein et la relativité générale, une histoire singulière | Albert Einstein (voice) | Documentary |
| 2022 | Le Grand Restaurant : La guerre de l'étoile | Georges Michalon | TV movie |
| 2025 | Asterix and Obelix: The Big Fight | Unhygienix (voice) | Netflix mini-series |
Video games
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2017 | Mass Effect Andromeda | Lieutenant August Bradley | French dub |
