Olivier Martinez Biography

Olivier Martinez (born 12 January 1966) is a French film actor. He became known after roles in several French films such as Un, deux, trois, soleil (1993), which garnered him the César Award for "Most Promising Actor", The Horseman on the Roof (1995), and The Chambermaid on the Titanic (1997). He has also appeared in Hollywood-produced features, including Before Night Falls (2000), Unfaithful (2002) and S.W.A.T. (2003).

Early life

Martinez was born in Paris, France, to a working-class family. His father was a Spanish professional boxer born in Spanish Morocco and his mother was a French secretary. He studied at the CNSAD and began his acting career in his native France in 1990. Martinez was raised Roman Catholic.

Career

In 1994, Martinez won a César Award as "Most Promising Actor" for his role in Un, deux, trois, soleil (1993). This was followed by a leading role in Jean-Paul Rappeneau period film The Horseman on the Roof (Le Hussard sur le Toit) in 1995 in which he starred alongside Juliette Binoche as an Italian nobleman. The film was hailed as the most expensive French film at that time in history but failed to reach its $35 million budget. In 1996/7 he appeared in Bertrand Blier's romantic comedy My Man (Mon Homme) alongside Anouk Grinberg, Gérard Lanvin, and Valeria Bruni Tedeschi. Later in 1997 he played a leading role in Bigas Luna's drama The Chambermaid on the Titanic (La Femme de chambre du Titanic) alongside Romane Bohringer, set during the time of the Titanic's sinking voyage in 1912. Martinez portrays a French foundry worker who wins a strongman contest and the prize of a trip to view the departing maiden voyage of the ill fated Titanic. The film was well-received; Mick LaSelle of the San Francisco Chronicle praised what he felt was a rare honest portrayal of male sexuality by Martinez.

Martinez first came to mainstream attention in Hollywood films with his performance in Julian Schnabel's Before Night Falls (2000) opposite Javier Bardem and Johnny Depp. The screenplay is based on the autobiography of the same name of Reinaldo Arenas, which was published in English in 1993. The film was highly critically acclaimed, although Martinez's performance was overshadowed by that of Bardem in the eyes of critics. He was later noted for his performance opposite Diane Lane in Unfaithful (2002). He has since appeared in a television adaptation of The Roman Spring of Mrs. Stone (2003), S.W.A.T. (2003) and Taking Lives (2004). He also starred as Gabriel in the 2007 movie adaptation of Blood and Chocolate, a popular book.

Personal life

Martinez has dated a string of models and actresses and, in his younger years, acquired a reputation in the tabloids as a womanizer. He dated actress Mira Sorvino and singer Kylie Minogue for several years and also English model and actress Rosie Huntington-Whiteley.

Martinez began dating actress Halle Berry in 2010 after meeting on the set of their film Dark Tide. They confirmed their engagement in March 2012. On 22 November 2012, Martinez was treated at a Los Angeles hospital after being injured in a physical altercation with Canadian model Gabriel Aubry, Berry's former partner and father of her daughter. Aubry and Berry had been involved in a custody battle centered on Berry's desire to move with her daughter and Martinez to his native France, a request denied by a judge less than two weeks prior to the altercation, on the grounds that it would interfere with Berry and Aubry's joint custody arrangement. The custody dispute was resolved at the end of November. Berry and Martinez married in a private ceremony in France on 13 July 2013. Their son was born in Los Angeles on October 5th, 2013.

Filmography

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1990	Navaro	Rollo	Episode "Barbès de l'aube à l'aurore"
1990	Plein Fer	Pascal
1992	Odyssée Bidon	Phil
1992	IP5: L'île aux Pachydermes	Tony
1992	Les Paroles invisibles
1993	1, 2, 3, Sun	Petit Paul
1995	Le Hussard sur le toit	Angelo Pardi
1996	Mon Homme	Jean-François
1997	La Femme de chambre du Titanic	Horty
1999	La Ciudad de los prodigios	Onofre Bouvila
2000	Nosotras	David
2000	La Taule	Le Muet
2000	Toreros	Manuel
2000	Before Night Falls	Lázaro Gómez Carriles
2000	Bullfighter	Jack
2002	Semana santa	Quemada
2002	Unfaithful	Paul Martel
2003	The Roman Spring of Mrs. Stone	Paolo di Lio	Television film
2003	S.W.A.T.	Alex Montel
2004	Taking Lives	Paquette
2007	Blood and Chocolate	Gabriel
2011	Dark Tide	Jeff Mathieson
2012	Cybergeddon	Gustov Dobreff
2012	Cybergeddon Zips	Gustov Dobreff
2013	The Physician	Shah Ala ad-Daula	Filming
	Deauville	Ryan	Filming