Denis Lavant
Biography
Denis Lavant (born June 17, 1961) is a French film actor known for his distinctive face and the physically demanding aspects of the roles he plays, which often involve slapstick, acrobatics or dance, as well as for his long-standing association with director Leos Carax. Lavant has played the lead role in all but one of Carax's films. Lavant is also known for his starring roles in Claire Denis' Beau Travail and Harmony Korine's Mister Lonely, which features Carax in a supporting role.
Known For
The Little Murders of Agatha Christie
2009
0Square
2012
The Traveller
2019
The Night Eats the World
2018
Holy Motors
2012
The Emperor of Paris
2018
The Stranger
2025
Midnight Sun
2016
The Lovers on the Bridge
1991
A Very Long Engagement
2004
The Inquisition
2026
Beau Travail
2000
Filmography
The Little Murders of Agatha Christie
as André Custe · 2009
Square
as Self · 2012
The Traveller
as Alberto · 2019
The Night Eats the World
as Alfred · 2018
Holy Motors
as Mr. Oscar / Banker / Beggar / Father / Accordionist / Killer · 2012
The Emperor of Paris
as Maillard · 2018
The Stranger
as Salamano · 2025
Midnight Sun
as Pierre Carnot · 2016
The Lovers on the Bridge
as Alex · 1991
A Very Long Engagement
as Six-Soux · 2004
The Inquisition
as Self - Narrator (voice) · 2026
Beau Travail
as Galoup · 2000
Tokyo!
as Merde' (segment "Merde") · 2008
Silver Skates
as Fourier · 2020
My Little Princess
as Ernst · 2011
Mauvais Sang
as Alex · 1986
It's Not Me
as Monsieur Merde · 2024
Gagarine
as Gérard · 2020
The Countess of Monte Cristo
The Bra
as Kamal · 2019
One Nation, One King
as Marat · 2018
Age of Uprising: The Legend of Michael Kohlhaas
as The Theologist · 2013
Night of the Kings
as Silence · 2021
Me and Kaminski
as Karl-Ludwig · 2015
The Wounded Man
as Wanderer · 1983
Girls with Balls
as Barman · 2019
In the Land of Arto
as Rob · 2025
Deep in the Woods
as Stephane · 2000
Don Juan
as Pierrot · 1998
Je sens plus la vitesse
· 2013
Les Misérables
as Montparnasse · 1982
3 Days in Quiberon
as Fisherman Poet · 2018
The Rope
Body of Crime
· 2023
Boy Meets Girl
as Alex · 1984
DRIVE IN Holy Motors
as Self · 2013
Mister Lonely
as Charlie Chaplin · 2008
Hitler in Hollywood
as Denis Lavant · 2011
Going and Coming Back
as Simon Lerner's patient · 1985
X14
· 2022
In the Name of Blood
as Jacques · 2025
The Mountain
as Jack · 2019
Hotel Fantasma
· 2025
Mr. X
as Self · 2014
Sibyl
as (Archive footage) · 2025
Figurant
· 2019
Tralala
as Climby · 2021
Fracas
· 2024
Erratics
as Lucien Le Saint · 2026
Melody for a Hustler
as L'auto-stoppeur · 1998
21 Nights with Pattie
as André · 2015
Tell Me Iggy
as Self · 2022
Hood Witch
as Jules · 2023
Luminal
as Ryu · 2004
The End
as (voice) · 2026
Entre Nous
as Un militaire · 1983
The Temptation of St. Tony
as Count Korzybski · 2009
Captain Ahab
as Capitaine Achab · 2008
Long Live Life
as Caviar delivery man · 1984
Morning Star
as Elliot · 2012
Fol
Inquisitions
as L'inquisiteur · 2026
La Squale
as Le joker · 2000
Wild Animals
as Emil · 1997
Waster
as Waster
Thunder Voice
as Prophet · 2023
Eva Doesn't Sleep
as Koenig · 2015
Une année au front : dans les coulisses de "Un long dimanche de fiançailles"
as Self · 2005
Wild Camp
as Blaise · 2005
The Lonely
· 2009
Tuvalu
as Anton · 1999
Cornelius, the Howling Miller
as Doctor de Chomo · 2018
Boris Without Beatrice
as L'Inconnu · 2016
Men Show Movies & Women Their Breasts
as Self (uncredited) · 2014
Kazarken: As We Dig
as Chiron, le centaure · 2016
In All My Journeys I Am Returning
· 2026
South Sentinel
as Commandant de Royer · 2022
Poisson rouge
as Père de Guillaume · 2023
Les Williams
· 2009
Fan Club
as Damien · 2018
Married/Unmarried
as Love · 2001
Hop-o'-My-Thumb
as The ogre · 2011
Le mystère des jonquilles
as Sam · 2014
My Intelligent Comedy
as Allen · 2018
The Iron Ivan
as Eugene de Paris · 2014
Pitchipoï
as Pierre Schulmann · 2015
Austerlitz
as Jacques Austerlitz · 2015
Two Night Owls in Paris
as Le bouquiniste · 2024
Le discours
as Le politicien · 2022
Journey to the West
as Dragon · 2014
L'Impossible Monsieur Simon
as Self · 2023
After Midnight
as (voice) · 1983
Correspondances: Dostoïevski
as reader · 2003
Once Around the Park
as Berville · 1989
Vous êtes jeunes, vous êtes beaux
as Monsieur Loyal · 2019
Les Grandes Marées
as Marc · 2013
Le monde à l'envers
as Yann Kerebel · 1998
Tired of Being Handsome
· 2013
The Chess Game
as Max · 1994
L'Ombre sur la plage
· 1982
Language Does Not Lie
as Narrator (voice) · 2004
Visiblement je vous aime
as Denis · 1995
Les Cowboys n'ont pas peur de mourir
as (voice) · 2009
The Nipple Whisperer
as Maurice Sanders · 2021
Marcel Dassault, l'homme au pardessus
as Marcel Dassault · 2013
Graziella
as Antoine · 2015
Silent Streams
· 2019
Who the Fuck Are You
as Psychiatrist · 2019
Eye of the Astronomer
as Jean Kepler · 2012
The Boy Who Owns the World
as Kasimir · 2024
De force avec d'autres
as Denis · 1993
Petit Papa Noël va mourir aujourd'hui
· 2023
Que demande le peuple
Happy New Year London
as Gerrard Ames · 2007
La merveilleuse odyssée de l'idiot Toboggan
as (voice) · 2002
7 jours 4000 ans
as (Voix)
Mona and I
as Pierre · 1990
All Effort of Men
as Narrator (voice) · 2022
Miserable Miracle
as Narrator (French) · 2023
Je, François Villon, voleur, assassin, poète
as Bezon · 2010
Human Flowers of Flesh
as Galoup · 2023
Louis-Ferdinand Céline
as Louis-Ferdinand Céline · 2016
Bacon-Freud, face à face
as Voix-off · 2025
Dante's Divine Comedy
as Narrator / Virgil / Dante
Aymeline
as Franco Fontane · 2022
The Blue Star
as Le Narrateur · 2020
Biette
as Self · 2013
Redoubt
as Karl-Göran Persson · 2026
History's Future
as Lottery Ticket Seller · 2016
En ningún lugar, Don Luis Buñuel
as Self · 2013
Makunaíma XXI
Dark Forests
as Voice · 2015
Walter Benjamin, el aura del camino
as Self · 2024
Demons to Diamonds
as The prisoner · 2025
Marussia
as Clochard · 2013
Ogaden
· 2014
Mark Rothko (1903-1970) : un humaniste abstrait
as Self - Narrator (voice) · 2003
Hymn to Merde
as Merde · 2009
Jiminy
as Otto Hoffmann · 2013
The Green Eyes
· 2023
Şoför
as The Driver · 2001
Scaramouche Scaramouche
as Scaramouche · 2018
Hyacinthe
as Reda · 2025
L’OSSERVATORE DELL’EST
· 2025
Gray House
as Self · 2017
Atlantika
· 2011
La nuit du vivant, voyage au cœur de la pourriture
as Narrateur
Paris Ficelle
as Joe · 1982
The Escapade
as Jacques · 2019