Denis Podalydès (; born 22 April 1963) is a French actor, scriptwriter, and theatre director. Podalydès has appeared in more than 140 films and television shows since 1989. He starred in The Officers' Ward, which was entered into the 2001 Cannes Film Festival.
Podalydès has been nominated for four César Awards: Best Supporting Actor for Summer Things, The Conquest, and Sorry Angel, and Best Original Screenplay for Granny's Funeral. He is the younger brother of filmmaker Bruno Podalydès, with whom he frequently collaborates.
Career Born to a family of Greek descent, Podalydès a former student of the Paris Conservatoire national supérieur d'art dramatique, and became a pensionnaire of the Comédie-Française in 1997, and then a sociétaire in 2000, now considered as one of their major actors.Du rififi au Français, France Culture, Revue de presse culturelle 16 January 2012.Le Parisien: L'argent fâche la Comédie Française (13 January 2012). He became the 505th sociétaire on 1 January 2000. Before joining that company he had appeared in Sophonisbe by Corneille (1988), L'Épreuve and Les Sincères by Marivaux (1989), La Double Inconstance by Marivaux and Ruy Blas by Victor Hugo (1990), Le Misanthrope by Molière, and Bérénice by Racine (1992), Les Fausses Confidences by Marivaux (1992), and Anatol by Arthur Schnitzler in 1995.
Director From 2006, he began directing for the stage, with several classics: Cyrano de Bergerac by Edmond Rostand, then in 2008 Fantasio by Alfred de Musset. In 2011, with Emmanuel Bourdieu and Éric Ruf, staged Le Cas Jekyll by Christine MontalbettiLe Cas Jekyll In February 2013, he directed L'Homme qui se hait, by Emmanuel Bourdieu at the Théâtre national de Chaillot.L'Homme qui se hait, La Terrasse, No. 205, 18 December 2013
In the world of opera, Podalydès directed Don Pasquale by Gaetano Donizetti in 2012 at the Théâtre des Champs-Élysées.Denis Podalydès rend justice à la folie de Donizetti, Le Monde, 16 February 2012 He followed that in 2017 with Rossini's Le Comte Ory at the Opéra Comique, Paris,Blanmont, Nicholas. Report from Paris. Opera, March 2018, Vol.69 No.3, p296-7. and Falstaff at the Opéra de Lille conducted by Antonello Allemandi in May 2023.Feggetter, Graeme. Report from Lille. Opera, July 2023, Vol.74 No.7, p813-4. He directed Faust in May 2025 at the Opéra de Lille (shared with the Opéra-Comique) in the original 1859 version, with spoken dialogue but without its ballet, which one reviewer compared to Ian Judge's 1985 production for ENO with its "19th century Parisian costumes, top hats and sombre colours, [which] emphasized the dark underbelly of that society".Feggetter, Graeme. Report from Lille. Opera, September 2025, Vol.76 No.9, p1356-57.
Filmography Year Title Role Director Notes 1989 Xenia Matthieu Patrice Vivancos 1991 Mayrig Tehlirian Henri Verneuil 1992 Versailles Rive-Gauche Arnaud Bruno Podalydès Short Mes fiançailles avec Hilda David Eric Bitoun Short 1994 Something Fishy Martin Tonie Marshall Voilà Father Bruno Podalydès Short 1995 Inner City Human Resources director Jean-François Richet Soigneurs dehors! Clément Pascal Deux Short La mal-aimée The young father Bertrand Arthuys TV movie 1996 La Belle Verte Papapote Coline Serreau L'échappée belle Sanchez Étienne Dhaene Le journal du séducteur Accompanying male nurse Danièle Dubroux My Sex Life... or How I Got into an Argument Jean-Jacques Arnaud Desplechin Je suis ton châtiment Guillaume Bréaud Short Le fou de la tour Daniel Luc Béraud TV movie 1997 La divine poursuite Marc Michel Deville Un point c'est tout The man Linda Arzouni Short 1998 En plein coeur Martorel Pierre Jolivet The Perfect Guy Julien Olivier Ducastel & Jacques Martineau Étoiles d'Or - Best Male Newcomer Dieu seul me voit Albert Bruno Podalydès La mort du Chinois Gérard Jean-Louis Benoît À Venise Pierre Emmanuel Bourdieu Short L'hypothèse rivale Normand Bergeron Short 1999 Rien sur Robert Martin Pascal Bonitzer Children of the Century Sainte-Beuve Diane Kurys La voleuse de Saint-Lubin The lawyer Claire Devers 2000 À l'attaque! Yvan Robert Guédiguian Les frères Soeur Jacques Soeur Frédéric Jardin Comedy of Innocence Pierre Raúl Ruiz Les Misérables Scaufflaire Josée Dayan TV Mini-Seroes 2001 Liberté-Oléron Jacques Monot Bruno Podalydès Mortel Transfert Inspector Chapireau Jean-Jacques Beineix The Officers' Ward Henri François Dupeyron Malraux, tu m'étonnes! Titus Michèle Rosier Candidature Jean Dupuis Emmanuel Bourdieu Short Zaïde, un petit air de vengeance Thomas Meils Josée Dayan TV movie 2002 Safe Conduct Jean Aurenche Bertrand Tavernier Summer Things Jérôme Michel Blanc Nominated - César Award for Best Supporting Actor Un monde presque paisible Charles Michel Deville 2003 Vert paradis Lucas Emmanuel Bourdieu Une affaire qui roule Claude Carle Eric Veniard It's Easier for a Camel... Philippe Valeria Bruni Tedeschi The Mystery of the Yellow Room Joseph Rouletabille Bruno Podalydès 2004 Vipère au poing The narrator Philippe de Broca Le pont des Arts Guigui Eugène Green Welcome to Switzerland Thierry Léa Fazer 2005 Caché Yvon Michael Haneke Palais royal! Titi Valérie Lemercier Grey Souls Aimé Lafaille Yves Angelo The Perfume of the Lady in Black Joseph Rouletabille Bruno Podalydès 2006 Un an Louis-Philippe Laurent Boulanger The Da Vinci Code Flight Controller Ron Howard Le temps des porte-plumes Falmin Daniel Duval Que sont-ils devenus? The matador Bruno Podalydès Short Sartre, l'âge des passions Jean-Paul Sartre Claude Goretta TV movie Le Grand Charles Claude Mauriac Bernard Stora TV Mini-Series 2007 Max & Co Martin Samuel & Frédéric Guillaume La Vie d'artiste Bertrand Marc Fitoussi To Each His Own Cinema The manager Claude Lelouch Le quatrième morceau de la femme coupée en trois Dominique Laure Marsac Crassus The narrator Olivier Treiner Short Le pendu Legoff Claire Devers TV movie 2008 Sagan Guy Schoeller Diane Kurys Coupable Louis Laetitia Masson Intrusions Alexis Taget Emmanuel Bourdieu Quiet Chaos Thierry Antonello Grimaldi La Journée de la jupe Chief Labouret Jean-Paul Lilienfeld Coluche: l'histoire d'un mec Jacques Attali Antoine de Caunes Figaro Figaro Jacques Weber TV movie Un crime très populaire André Malraux Didier Grousset TV movie Chez Maupassant Count of Sallure Jean-Daniel Verhaeghe TV series (1 episode) Hard Himself Cathy Verney TV series (3 episodes) 2009 8 fois debout Mathieu Xabi Molia Park Benches Aimé Mermot Bruno Podalydès Eleanor's Secret Dad Dominique Monféry Neuilly Yo Mama! Stanislas de Chazelle Gabriel Julien-Laferrière Une affaire d'état Louis Flandin Eric Valette Rien de personnel Gilles Bergerol Mathias Gokalp 2010 Une exécution ordinaire The concierge Marc Dugain Tandis qu'en bas des hommes en armes Montaigne Samuel Rondière Short L'illusion comique Matamore Mathieu Amalric TV movie George et Fanchette Agricol Thiercellin Jean-Daniel Verhaeghe TV movie 2011 The Conquest Nicolas Sarkozy Xavier Durringer Nominated - César Award for Best Actor The First Man Professor Bernard Gianni Amelio Omar Killed Me Pierre-Emmanuel Vaugrenard Roschdy Zem La clé des champs The narrator Claude Nuridsany & Marie Pérennou Le grand restaurant II The rejected transvestite Gérard Pullicino TV movie Pasteur, l'homme qui a vu The narrator Alain Brunard TV movie Drumont, histoire d'un antisémite français Édouard Drumont Emmanuel Bourdieu TV movie 2012 In a Rush The publisher Louis-Do de Lencquesaing Camille Rewinds Alphonse Da Costa Noémie Lvovsky Granny's Funeral Armand Lebrecq Bruno Podalydès Nominated - César Award for Best Original Screenplay Du vent dans mes mollets Michel Gladstein Carine Tardieu You Ain't Seen Nothin' Yet Antoine d'Anthac Alain Resnais Ça ne peut pas continuer comme ça! Barry Dominique Cabrera TV movie 2013 For a Woman Maurice Diane Kurys The Conquerors Gilead Xabi Molia The Big Bad Wolf Doctor Stanislas de Lastic Nicolas & Bruno Love Is the Perfect Crime Richard Arnaud & Jean-Marie Larrieu Meurtre en trois actes Philippe Laclanche Claude Mouriéras TV movie 2014 Libre et assoupi Richard Benjamin Guedj Un village presque parfait Henri Stéphane Meunier La forêt Arkadi Arnaud Desplechin TV movie Marie Curie, une femme sur le front The narrator Alain Brunard TV movie Casting(s) Himself Pierre Niney TV series (1 episode) 2015 The Sweet Escape Rémi Bruno Podalydès 2016 Chocolat Louis Lumière Roschdy Zem The Jews Talmudist #2 Yvan Attal La Mécanique de l'ombre Clément Thomas Kruithof Le passe-muraille Émile Dutilleul Dante Desarthe TV movie Dans la tête d'un juré The narrator Emmanuel Bourdieu TV movie 2017 The Teacher François Foucault Olivier Ayache-Vidal Marie-Francine Emmanuel Doublet Valérie Lemercier Mr. & Mrs. Adelman The shrink Nicolas Bedos See You Up There The minister Albert Dupontel voice Paris etc Jacques Bernaud Zabou Breitman TV series (5 episodes) 2018 Bécassine Adalbert Proey-Minans Bruno Podalydès Sorry Angel Mathieu Christophe Honoré Nominated - César Award for Best Supporting Actor Neuilly sa mère, sa mère! Stanislas de Chazelle Gabriel Julien-Laferrière 2019 La Belle Époque François Nicolas Bedos An Officer and a Spy Maître Demange Roman Polanski Toute ressemblance Julien Demaistre Michel Denisot 2020 Delete History Bertrand Pitorin Benoît DelépineGustave Kervern French Tech Bruno Podalydès 2021 Presidents Coach Anne Fontaine Bloody Oranges Le ténor du Barreau Jean-Christophe Meurisse Anaïs in Love Daniel Moreau-Babin Charline Bourgeois-Tacquet Deception Philip Arnaud Desplechin 2022 Rise Henri Gautier Cédric Klapisch Le Monde d'hier Franck L'Herbier Diastème Irma Vep Police Prefect Olivier Assayas TV series (1 episode) La Grande Magie Charles Moufflet Noémie Lvovsky Classico Président OM Nathanaël Guedj and Adrien Piquet-Gauthier Julia(s) Victor Massenet Olivier Treiner 2023 All Your Faces Paul Jeanne Herry L'établi Junot Mathias Gokalp Homecoming Marc Catherine Corsini Bernadette Bernard Niquet Léa Domenach Making of Simon Cédric Kahn 2024 La Petite Vadrouille Albin Bruno Podalydès 2025 Guess Who's Calling! (Le Répondeur) Pierre Fabienne Godet 2026 Maigret and the Dead Lover Jules Maigret Pascal Bonitzer
Theater He was a Sociétaire of the Comédie-Française from 1997 to 2000.