Charles Berling (born 30 April 1958) is a French actor, director and screenwriter.
Life and career
Charles Berling, son of a navy doctor, is also the nephew of the literary critic Raymond Picard. His mother, Nadia, "only daughter of (French) settlers in Morocco" was born in Meknes (Morocco); she died in 2004.Françoise Dargent, "Charles Berling : les secrets de ma mère", Le Figaro, 11 octobre 2011Marion Vignal, "Charles Berling: "Rester insolent, c'est vital"", L'Express, 17 septembre 2011
When he was two years old he left Paris for Brest, then Toulon, then, at seven, Tahiti.. At the age of fifteen, he discovered theatre through a drama workshop created by his older brother at Lycée Dumont-d'Urville in Toulon.
He later studied acting at the Belgian school INSAS, in Brussels. before beginning a career in theatre and film. He is the father of the actor Émile Berling.
In October 2025, he joined the cast of Nicole Garcia's upcoming film Milo.
Filmography
Year Title Role Director Notes 1982 Meurtres à domicile Inspector Focard Marc Lobet 1988 Le crépuscule des loups The SS soldier Jean Chapot TV movie Les nouveaux chevaliers du ciel Jacquier Patrick Jamain TV series (1 episode)1989 Laura und Luis Frank Strecker TV Mini-Series Condorcet Michel Soutter TV Mini-Series1990 Sniper Macet Klaus Biedermann TV movie Monstre aimé Frédéric Compain TV movieAlso Writer1992 Salt on Our Skin Roger Andrew Birkin La femme à l'ombre The lawyer Thierry Chabert TV movie 1993 Just Friends André Marc-Henri Wajnberg Louis, the Child King Roger Planchon Couples et amants Jean John Lvoff 1994 Coming to Terms with the Dead François Pascale Ferran Nominated - César Award for Most Promising Actor Dernier stade Frédéric Noilla Christian Zerbib Consentement mutuel Laurent Bernard Stora Un dimanche à Paris Romaric Hervé Duhamel 1995 Nelly and Mr. Arnaud Jerôme Claude Sautet Pullman paradis Lucien Génin Michèle Rosier Le fabuleux destin de Madame Petlet Camille de Casabianca L'âge des possibles Man at phone Pascale Ferran TV movie La grande collection Jules Jeanne Labrune TV series (1 episode)1996 Ridicule Grégoire Ponceludon de Malavoy Patrice Leconte Lumière Award for Best ActorNominated - César Award for Best Actor Love, etc. Pierre Marion Vernoux 1997 Dry Cleaning Jean-Marie Kunstler Anne Fontaine Nominated - César Award for Best Actor Les Palmes de M. Schutz Pierre Curie Claude Pinoteau Obsession Pierre Moulin Peter Sehr 1998 L'Ennui Martin Cédric Kahn Nominated - César Award for Best Actor Those Who Love Me Can Take the Train Jean-Marie Patrice Chéreau Étoiles d'Or - Best Actor L'inconnu de Strasbourg Jean-Paul Valeria Sarmiento La cloche Charles Berling ShortAlso Director & Writer Un dimanche matin à Marseille Renaud Mario Fanfani Short Une femme à suivre Eddy Patrick Dewolf TV movie1999 The Bridge Matthias Frédéric Auburtin & Gérard Depardieu Fait d'hiver Louis Riquier Robert Enrico 2000 Sentimental Destinies Jean Barnery Olivier Assayas Nominated - César Award for Best Actor A Question of Taste René Rousset Bernard Rapp Stardom Philippe Gascon Denys Arcand Crime Scenes Fabian Frédéric Schoendoerffer Comedy of Innocence Serge Raúl Ruiz 2001 Savage Souls Reveillard Raúl Ruiz How I Killed My Father Jean-Luc Anne Fontaine 15 August Vincent Patrick Alessandrin Un jeu d'enfants Jacques Fauvel Laurent Tuel Fils de zup Inspector Boyer Gilles Romera 2002 Demonlover Hervé Le Millinec Olivier Assayas Cravate club Bernard Frédéric Jardin Hypnotized and Hysterical Arnaud Claude Duty Jean Moulin Jean Moulin Yves Boisset TV movie2003 Père et fils David Michel Boujenah I'm Staying! Antoine Diane Kurys The Assassinated Sun Jean Sénac Abdelkrim Bahloul 2004 Secret Agents Eugène Frédéric Schoendoerffer 2005 I Saw Ben Barka Get Killed Georges Figon Serge Le Péron & Saïd Smihi Edouard de Bois d'Enghien Michel Deville Grabuge ! Maurice Jean-Pierre Mocky La maison de Nina Maurice Gutman Richard Dembo Dalida Lucien Morisse Joyce Buñuel TV movie Permis d'aimer Jean Rachida Krim TV movie Inséparables Antoine Élisabeth Rappeneau TV series (3 episodes)2006 The Man of My Life Hugo Zabou Breitman Je pense à vous Worms Pascal Bonitzer Marie-Antoinette The voice Francis Leclerc & Yves Simoneau TV movie2007 Les murs porteurs Simon Rosenfeld Cyril Gelblat Notable donc coupable Fabien Borda Dominique Baron & Francis Girod TV movie 2008 Summer Hours Frédéric Marly Olivier Assayas (3) Quiet Chaos Boesson Antonello Grimaldi Par suite d'un arrêt de travail... Vincent Disse Frédéric Andréi L'abolition Robert Badinter Jean-Daniel Verhaeghe TV Mini-Series Myster Mocky présente Brad Jean-Pierre Mocky TV series (1 episode) 2009 Before Sundown The soldier Toby Morris Short2010 Insoupçonnable Henri Schaeffer Gabriel Le Bomin Krach Georges Fabrice Genestal 2011 Propriété interdite Benoît Hélène Angel Beirut Hotel Mathieu Danielle Arbid TV movie2012 What's in a Name ? Pierre Alexandre de La Patellière & Matthieu Delaporte Comme un homme Pierre Verdier Safy Nebbou Nos retrouvailles Philippe Cabrera Josée Dayan TV movie Le reste du monde The lawyer Damien Odoul TV movie 2013 It Boy Luc Apfel David Moreau 2014 The Clearstream Affair Renaud Van Ruymbeke Vincent Garenq 2015 On voulait tout casser Bilou Philippe Guillard Une nuit au Grévin Narrator Patrice Leconte TV movie Tu es mon fils Paul Didier Le Pêcheur TV movie2016 Elle Richard Paul Verhoeven Le coeur en braille Michel Boujenah Le premier coup The man Caroline Proust & Etienne Saldés Short Trepalium Paris Vincent Lannoo TV Mini-Series Marie Curie: The Courage of Knowledge2017 The Frozen Dead Martin Servaz Laurent Herbiet TV series Capitaine Marleau Carlos Dos Santos Josée Dayan TV series (1 episode) Reinventing Marvin 2019 Who You Think I Am Gilles Safy Nebbou 2026 A Woman's Life Henri Charline Bourgeois-Tacquet Nicole Garcia
Theater Year Title Author Director Notes1981 The Dybbuk S. Ansky Moshe Leiser Ça Sabra Ben Arfa & Charles Berling Marie-Pierre Meinzel 1982 Passage Hagard Compagnie des Mirabelles Compagnie des Mirabelles1983 Dernières Nouvelles de la peste Bernard Chartreux Jean-Pierre Vincent1984 The Homecoming Harold Pinter Stuart Seide Entre chiens et loups Christoph Hein Bernard Sobel Les Orphelins Jean-Luc Lagarce Christiane Cohendy 1985 The School for Wives Molière Bernard Sobel (2)1986 What Remains of a Rembrandt Torn into Four Equal Pieces and Flushed Down the Toilet Jean Genet Jean-Michel Rabeux Der Park Botho Strauß Claude Régy Les Voisins Michel Vinaver Alain Françon Succubations d’Incubes A.P.A. Charles Berling 1988 Le Public Federico García Lorca Jorge Lavelli The Green Cockatoo Arthur Schnitzler Michel Didym 1988–89 Dear Monster Javier Tomeo Jacques Nichet 1990 The Mother and the Whore Jean Eustache Jean-Louis Martinelli Conversations d'idiots Dominique Ducos Walter Le Moli1991 Une sale histoire Jean Eustache & Jean-Noël Picq Jean-Louis Martinelli (2) 1992 The Church Louis-Ferdinand Céline Jean-Louis Martinelli (3) 1993 With My Own Hands Pascal Rambert Pascal Rambert Le Chasseur de lions Javier Tomeo Jean-Jacques Préau Le Bavard Louis-René des Forêts Michel Dumoulin 1993–94 Merchants of Glory Marcel Pagnol & Paul Nivoix Jean-Louis Martinelli (4)1995 In a Year of 13 Moons Rainer Werner Fassbinder Jean-Louis Martinelli (5)1995–96 Roberto Zucco Bernard-Marie Koltès Jean-Louis Martinelli (6) 1996 La Cour des comédiens Antoine Vitez Georges Lavaudant Ordure (Dreck) Robert Schneider Charles Berling (2) 1997 L'Histoire du soldat Igor Stravinsky Emmanuel Plasson 1998 Oedipus the King Sophocles Jean-Louis Martinelli (7) 2001 Cravate club Fabrice Roger-Lacan Isabelle Nanty 2002 Voyage en Afrique Jacques Jouet Jean-Louis Martinelli (8) 2004 Hamlet William Shakespeare Moshe Leiser & Patrice Caurier (2) 2005 Pour ceux qui restent Pascal Elbé Charles Berling (3)2006-07 Caligula Albert Camus Charles Berling (4)2007 L'Histoire du soldat Igor Stravinsky Michael Lonsdale 2008-09 Endgame Samuel Beckett Charles Berling (5)2009 The Walk Bernard-Marie Koltès Michel Didym (2)2010 L'Infâme Roger Planchon Jacques Rosner Le Donneur de bain Dorine Hollier Dan Jemmett2011 Ithaka Botho Strauß Jean-Louis Martinelli (9)2012-13 Gould et Menuhin Christiane Cohendy Charles Berling (6)2013-14 Address Unknown Kressmann Taylor Delphine de Malherbe2014 Dreck Robert Schneider Charles Berling (7)2015 A View from the Bridge Arthur Miller Ivo van Hove Pending - Molière Award for Best Actor
Narrator March of the Penguins
Notes and sources
External links