François Damiens

With a Flemish grandfather and a Walloon grandfather François Damiens is definitely a pure Belgian product. Possibly you’ve never heard his name before, but know that in the French-speaking part of Belgium and in France he’s something of a deity, a half-god that descended from the Olympus to grace us with his roles in big Belgian and French comedies such as DIKKENEK and NOTHING TO DECLARE. But before he achieved the cult status that he enjoys today, when he was still a mere mortal, he actually studied International Trade, which didn’t go further than an internship in Australia that bored him to tears. Once he was back in Belgium, he started working for Belgian television chain RTL TVI. As an assistant to Jean-Michel Zecca on a candid camera program, his extraordinary talent for improvisation amazes and the student quickly becomes the master. In 2006, he appears opposite Jean Dujardin in OSS 117: CAIRO, NEST OF SPIES, a parody of James Bond and one of France’s biggest cult movies of the 21th century, and spouts cult phrases at the speed of a machine gun in DIKKENEK. From then his rising star cannot be stopped anymore. He may not have been very successful at International Trade and frankly, we’re happy about that! Selective filmography: Dikkenek (2006), Nothing to declare (2011), La délicatesse (2011), La Famille Bélier (2014) Le Tout Nouveau Testament (2015) Mon Ket (2018), Les Complices (2023).