Tomer Sisley Biography

Tomer (Gazit) Sisley (born August 14, 1974) is a French humorist and actor.

Life and career

Sisley was born in Berlin, Germany. His parents were born in Israel, his grandparents in Lithuania, Bielorussia, and Yemen. His family is Jewish. His parents separated when he was five years old. At 9 he left Berlin to live with his father in the south of France. At twelve, he already spoke 4 languages (German, Hebrew, French and English). His father, Joseph, was a scientist in dermatological research.

Tomer is known as being the 1st French standup comedian to have won the Just For Laughs Festival, the biggest comedy festival in the world, in 2003. He is considered the first comedian to introduce real Standup comedy in France, where until then, the popular one-man shows used to portray mostly impressions and sketches. His standup routine became a huge hit, partly thanks to a three and half minute bit where he said his mother was Jewish and his father an Arab. Though not true, no one wanted to believe it was a joke, and it hence allowed him to joke about both religions. The media immediately saw him as "the answer to racism". Tomer joked, "I think my parents met on a battlefield". "...last time I visited my uncle he kept me as a hostage for 6 months." "...if I respect all the restrictions of both my religions... the only thing I would be allowed to do is drink water on Wednesday night after sunset!" Although based on a joke, the "Jewish and Arab" bit became one of the biggest comedy successes in France, and is now considered a classic. His standup show is known as a reference for the generation of comedians who followed him. He was compared by Elle Magazine, Libération, and ParisMatch to Richard Pryor. In the rest of his show he talked about religions, prison, fear, celibacy, sport, health, racism, and sex. Tomer said "Kader Aoun and I wrote the show in such way that you never know what's coming next. As soon as you think you got the pace, we change it! Every five minutes of the show were written in different ways and styles. Why stick to observational humor, or political, or personal, etc.. why not do everything at the same time? That's my humor!"

Tomer studied 10 years with acting coach Jack Waltzer, known for coaching Dustin Hoffman in Tootsie, and having had John Voight, Gina Davis, Sharon Stone, and Robert Duval in his class. Tomer said "I always wanted to be an actor, since I was 5 years old. Standup comedy was just to get people to see me, see I exist."

In 2008 Tomer ranked 38th sexiest male in the Top 100 famous Isa Magazine. The same year he starred in the lead role in Largo Winch, a French James Bond-like super production in which he is known for having done all his stunts. Largo Winch was sold in 58 different countries and Tomer immediately entered the Top 10 actor's list in France.

Tomer then became very rare in the movie business, refusing all the scripts he was offered. He said "I'm not interested in acting just for acting. I'm interested in interesting parts in interesting scripts. I had to fight so hard to get to work as an actor; I don't want to loose that smile I have every morning when I go on set" After refusing a part in the latest James Bond, Tomer said to a Var Matin journalist "Well... may be that was a mistake. ...but the part didn't speak to my guts. Had they offered me a much smaller part but with something to chew on, I would have jumped on it!"

In 2011 Tomer accepted the leading part in a low budget French film "Sleepless Night". The movie immediately was bought by Tribeca Films, Robert Deneiro's distribution company, and Warner Brothers bought the rights for a remake. Sleepless Night ranked #1 best foreign independent film in the first half of 2012. Sleepless Night shows a fight scene in a restaurant's kitchen, choreographed by Tomer himself, considered one of the most realistic fight scenes ever by many journalists who saw the movie at the Tribeca Film Festival, Toronto Film Festival, or Rome Film Festival. Tomer said "the reason why it looks so real is that it's not a fighting choreography, but an acting scene. It's not about the kicks and the punches! It's about a tragedy! It's not an action movie at all!"

Tomer spends a lot of his free time practicing all kind of different sports and martial arts. In Largo Winch 2, 2011, he performed a unique fight while skydiving from a plane with his parachute not attached. Although the scene appeared bombastic, Tomer really jumped 111 times for that sequence and did the whole fight himself, training with the babylones, at the time world champions in freestyle skydiving. He is a very good horse rider (6 years of jumping, from age 14 to 20), practiced 5 years of Krav Maga, before trying out jiu-jitsu and boxing. Tomer says he loves everything that flies or goes fast. He has his own paraglider, is a licensed helicopter pilot, and races cars for Audi. He even raced a Lotus Renault Formula 1 on the Budapest track against Romain Grosjean in December 2011. But when asked about his hobbies Tomer answers "my passion is acting, not jumping from airplanes or fighting. Sadly it's easier to find a good sport than to find a good script"

Filmography

• 1996 : Studio Sud (TV)
• 1998 : L'Immortel (TV)
• 2003 : Dédales by René Manzor
• 2003 : Bedwin by Nadia el Fani
• 2005 : Virgil by Mabrouk el Mechri
• 2006 : Toi et moi by Julie Lopes-Curval
• 2007 : Truands by Frédéric Schoendoerffer
• 2008 : Largo Winch by Jérôme Salle
• 2011 : Largo Winch 2 by Jérôme Salle : Largo Winch
• 2011 : Sleepless Night by Frédéric Jardin
• 2013 : We're the Millers by Rawson Marshall Thurber : Chacon