Mani Soleymanlou (born 1982) is a Canadian actor and playwright based in Montreal, Quebec.[1] He is most noted for his regular role as police officer Robert "Coco" Bédard in the television series Happily Married (C'est comme ça que je t'aime),[2] and his position as the current artistic director of the French theatre program at the National Arts Centre.[3]
Born in Tehran, Iran, he moved with his family to France in childhood before they moved again to Toronto, Ontario, when he was nine.[1] He was educated at the University of Ottawa and the National Theatre School of Canada,[4] and founded his own Montreal-based theatre company, Orange Noyée, in 2011.[1] He first became known for Un/One, Deux/Two and Trois/Three, a series of plays about immigrant identity;[5] initially staged individually, he later presented a version which saw all three plays performed as a continuous trilogy,[6] as well as the solo performance ZÉRO on related themes.[1]
He was appointed artistic director of the NAC French theatre in 2020.[3] In the same year he was one of the hosts of the 22nd Quebec Cinema Awards, which were presented as a webcast due to the COVID-19 pandemic.[7]
Filmography
Film
| Year
|
Title
|
Role
|
Notes
|
| 2010
|
Gerry
|
Cameraman
|
|
| 2011
|
Les Photos de Marie
|
Martin
|
|
| 2011
|
Boucherie Halal
|
Hedi
|
|
| 2013
|
The Little Queen (La petite reine)
|
Agent Wada
|
|
| 2014
|
Nouvelles, nouvelles
|
Priest
|
|
| 2014
|
Take Me (Prends-moi)
|
Mani
|
|
| 2015
|
Rabid Dogs (Enragés)
|
Man in accident
|
|
| 2015
|
Les brigands de l'hôtel bleu
|
Mike
|
|
| 2018
|
Malek
|
Réza
|
|
| 2018
|
For Those Who Don't Read Me (À tous ceux qui ne me lisent pas)
|
Martin
|
|
| 2019
|
A Brother's Love (La Femme de mon frère)
|
Jasmin
|
|
| 2023
|
The Skates (Les Patins)
|
Father
|
|
| 2024
|
Universal Language (Une langue universelle)
|
Iraj Bilodeau
|
|
| 2024
|
Miss Boots (Mlle Bottine)
|
Paul
|
|
| 2025
|
Two Women (Deux Femmes en or)
|
|
|
Television
| Year
|
Title
|
Role
|
Notes
|
| 2009
|
Les hauts et les bas de Sophie Paquin
|
Policeman
|
|
| 2010
|
Les Rescapés
|
Fabrice
|
|
| 2015–2018
|
Marche à l'ombre
|
Ahmed Fhougali
|
|
| 2016
|
Connexion en cours
|
Mani
|
|
| 2016–2020
|
Madame Lebrun
|
Père Fabien
|
|
| 2016
|
O'
|
Dr. Nazem
|
|
| 2017
|
En famille
|
Karim
|
|
| 2018
|
Hubert et Fanny
|
Yaniss
|
|
| 2018
|
Lâcher prise
|
Hakim
|
|
| 2019
|
La Faille
|
Dave Bélanger
|
|
| 2020–2022
|
Happily Married (C'est comme ça que je t'aime)
|
Robert « Coco » Bédard
|
|
| 2020
|
Can You Hear Me? (M'entends-tu?)
|
Frank
|
|
| 2020
|
Épidémie
|
Dr. Quentin Buis
|
|
| 2021
|
Survivre à ses enfants
|
Kamyar
|
|
| 2021
|
Virage
|
Tristan
|
|
| 2023
|
Avant le crash
|
Patrick
|
|
| 2024
|
In Memoriam
|
Victor
|
|
Theatre
| Year
|
Title
|
Notes
|
| 2012
|
Un/One
|
|
| 2013
|
Deux/Two
|
|
| 2014
|
Trois/Three
|
|
| 2015
|
Ils étaient quatre
|
|
| 2015
|
Cinq à sept
|
|
| 2016
|
Les lettres arabes 2
|
|
| 2017
|
Huit
|
|
| 2017
|
Le Wild West Show de Gabriel Dumont
|
|
| 2018
|
Neuf (titre provisoire)
|
|
| 2018
|
Dix
|
|
| 2019
|
Zéro
|
|
| 2021
|
2042
|
|
| 2022
|
Un. Deux. Trois.
|
|
Awards
References
- ^ a b c d Gail Johnson, "For Mani Soleymanlou, the search for identity is back to ZÉRO". Stir, February 4, 2022.
- ^ Norimitsu Onishi, "A Cop Called Coco, an Actor Named Mani, a Quebecer Exploring Quebec". The New York Times, December 30, 2022.
- ^ a b Brad Wheeler, "Mani Soleymanlou named new artistic director of National Arts Centre’s French Theatre". The Globe and Mail, August 18, 2020.
- ^ Peter Hum, "Mani Soleymanlou appointed next artistic director of NAC French theatre". Ottawa Citizen, August 18, 2020.
- ^ Allan Woods, "Quebec en scene: Mani Soleymanlou and the Quebecois quest for identity". Toronto Star, September 12, 2014.
- ^ Gail Johnson, "With Un.Deux.Trois, Mani Soleymanlou brings the largest production to date in the history of Franco-Canadian theatre to Vancouver". Stir, November 4, 2022.
- ^ Demers, Maxime (May 21, 2020). "Un Gala Québec Cinéma en mode confinement". Le Journal de Montréal (in French). Retrieved May 21, 2020.
- ^ Nicholas Sokic, "Universal Language leads CSA 2025 film noms". Playback, March 26, 2025.
- ^ Fanny Bourel, "Une langue universelle en tête des nominations du Gala Québec Cinéma". Radio Canada International, October 8, 2025.
External links