François Arnaud (actor)

Arnaud was born on July 5, 1985,^[1] in Montreal, Quebec, Canada.^[2] He is French Canadian.^[3] The first play he saw was Cyrano de Bergerac at age nine; inspired by the performance, he went home and tried to learn the monologues.^[4] Arnaud graduated from Collège Jean-de-Brébeuf with an arts degree.^[5] He later trained at the Conservatoire d'art dramatique de Montréal.^[6]

Arnaud started his career in his home country by landing a role in a comedy series called Taxi 0-22 and guest starring in several other Canadian shows.^[7] He also starred as Antonin Rimbaud in the French-Canadian film J'ai tué ma mère (I Killed My Mother),^[8] an Oedipal coming-of-age drama directed by Xavier Dolan.^[9] Arnaud received a VFCC Award for Best Supporting Actor in a Canadian Film for the role,^[10] and credits this with getting him an agent in Hollywood who helped him get auditions for larger roles.^[11]

Arnaud became known for his performance as Cesare Borgia in the Showtime series The Borgias.^[6][12] He portrayed Oscar in the NBC drama series Blindspot.^[13] He also starred in Midnight, Texas^[14] portraying the troubled psychic Manfred Bernardo from 2017 to 2018. The show filmed in Albuquerque and Arnaud enjoyed exploring the mountains and waterfalls nearby during his five months there.^[15]

In 2016, Arnaud filmed Permission in New York City. Later, Arnaud filmed sci-fi thriller Origami, a French-Canadian movie that was shot in his home town of Montreal. The film was so physically and psychologically exhausting for Arnaud that he could not work for a month afterwards so he retreated to a cabin in the woods.^[15] In 2017, Arnaud filmed the indie film, She's in Portland with Tommy Dewey, which was released in 2020.^[15]

Arnaud featured in an episode of Schitt's Creek as Sebastien Raine, David's ex-boyfriend and photographer.^[16] In 2019, the film Rapid Eye Movement was released which saw Arnaud playing a radio DJ. Arnaud shot this in Times Square in a glass booth where he interacted with passersby.^[17] Also in 2019, Arnaud started shooting a psychological thriller called Home. He plays opposite Emily Hampshire, whom he met while working on Schitt's Creek. He was cast because Emily would only accept her role if Arnaud played her husband.^[17] Arnaud portrayed Dan Moody in The Moodys over two seasons until its cancellation in 2021.^[18]

In 2024, Arnaud starred in the music video for "How Far Will We Take It?" by Orville Peck and Noah Cyrus.^[19] In 2025, Arnaud starred as ice hockey player Scott Hunter in the Canadian gay sports romance television series Heated Rivalry. His performance in the role received universal critical acclaim.^[20][21] The show is based on Canadian writer Rachel Reid's Game Changers book series.^[22][23][24] Arnaud also filmed German director Wiebke von Carolsfeld's upcoming drama Someone's Daughter.^[9]

Arnaud came out as bisexual on his Instagram on November 19, 2020.^[25][26] In May 2023, he announced he had been dating actor Marc Bendavid for a year.^[27]

Arnaud speaks French and English. He learned Spanish in high school and later traveled to Latin America, where a Chilean girlfriend helped improve his command of the language. However, he did not use Spanish for a decade before his role in Amapola, which was set in Argentina.^[4]

In March 2026, Arnaud and his Heated Rivalry co-star Hudson Williams shared a joint message on their Instagram stories addressing hateful comments from some fans.^[28] The post read, "Don't call yourself a fan if you share racist/homophobic/biphobic/misogynistic/ageist/ableist/parasocial/bigoted comments of any kind ... None of us need your hateful 'love' ... We all respect and support and love each other and are on the same side ... if you can't accept that gtfoh."^[28]