French-Danish actor and director Niels Arestrup, best known to international audiences for playing a Corsican crime boss in Jacques Audiard’s Cannes Grand Prix, Oscar-nominated A Prophet, has died at the age of 75.
His wife, actress and writer Isabelle Le Nouvel, announced the news, saying Arestrup had died on Sunday (December 1) following “a courageous battle against illness” at their home outside of Paris.
Arestrup won best supporting actor César awards for his 2009 A Prophet performance and for playing the petty gangster father in Audiard’s 2005 BAFTA-winning The Beat That My Heart Skipped. He earned a third César award for Bertrand Tavernier’s 2013 political satire The French Minister (Quai d’Orsay).
His career spanned more than five decades and included roles in high-profile international films like Steven Spielberg’s 2011 First World War equine epic War Horse, Angelina Jolie’s 2015 romance By The Sea, and Julian Schnabel’s 2018 Vincent van Gogh biographical drama At Eternity’s Gate.
He is also known in France for Albert Dupontel’s 2017 multiple César-winning historical war drama See You Up Theresee. Arestrup took a turn in the director’s chair for 2006 political drama Le Candidat starring Yvan Attal in which he also starred.
He was also an acclaimed stage performe and acted in several recent French TV series including the political drama Baron Noir and thriller Black Butterflies.
Homages to the actor from the French film industry poured in following Sunday’s announcement. Culture minister Rachid Dati expressed her condolences on X, writing: “We were dazzled by the strength of his acting and his magnetic presence in front of the cameras of Jacques Audiard, Bertrand Tavernier, Julian Schnabel and Albert Dupontel. He will remain one of our greatest actors.”
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