François Arnaud
Arnaud in 2018
Born
François Landriault-Barbeau

(1985-07-05) July 5, 1985
Montreal, Quebec, Canada
OccupationActor
Years active2007–present

François Arnaud (né Landriault-Barbeau, born July 5, 1985),[1][2], is a Canadian actor. He is known for his roles as Cesare Borgia on Showtime's period drama series The Borgias, Manfred Bernardo on NBC's Midnight, Texas, and Tommy Castelli on Lifetime's UnReal.

Early life

Arnaud was born and raised in Montreal, Quebec. The first play he saw was 'Curano' at age nine. He was so inspired that he went home and tried to learn the monologues.[3] He auditioned for drama school with a play called 'The Bull' written by a Canadian.[3] In 2007, Arnaud trained at the Conservatoire d'art dramatique in Montreal.[4]

Career

Arnaud started his career in his home country by landing a role in a comedy series called Taxi 0-22 and guest starring in several other Canadian shows.[5] He also starred as Antonin Rimbaud in the French-Canadian film I Killed My Mother,[6] directed by Xavier Dolan. Arnaud received a VFCC Award for Best Supporting Actor in a Canadian Film for the role,[7] and credits this with getting an agent in Hollywood which helped him audition for bigger parts.[8]

Arnaud became known for his performance as Cesare Borgia in the Showtime series The Borgias which filmed in Hungary.[4][9]

He portrayed Oscar in the NBC drama series Blindspot.[10] He also starred in Midnight, Texas[11] portraying the role of a troubled psychic, Manfred Bernardo from 2017 to 2018. The show filmed in Albuquerque and Arnaud enjoyed exploring the mountains and waterfalls near by during his five months there.[12]

In 2016, Arnaud filmed Permission in New York City. Later, Arnaud filmed sci-fi thriller Origami, a French-Canadian film that was shot in his home town of Montreal. The film was so physically and psychologically exhausting for Arnaud that he could not work for a month so took respite in a cabin in the woods.[12]

In 2017, Arnaud filmed indie film, She's in Portland with Tommy Dewey that was released in 2020.[12]

Arnaud featured in an episode of Emmy and Golden Globe Award winning show, Schitt's Creek as Sebastien Raine, David's ex-boyfriend and photographer.[13]

In 2019, the film Rapid Eye Movement was released which saw Arnaud playing a radio DJ whose ratings are falling so he plays a stunt by going without sleep to break a world record. Arnaud shot this in Times Square in a glass booth where he interacted with passersby.[14] Also in 2019, Arnaud started shooting a psychological thriller called 'Home' about a young couple dealing with raising a newborn. He plays opposite Emily Hampshire, whom he met while working on Schitt's Creek, and cast because Emily would only accept her role if Arnaud would be allowed to play her husband.[14]

Arnaud at the 2009 Toronto International Film Festival

Arnaud portrayed Dan Moody in The Moodys over two seasons until its cancellation in 2021.[15]

Personal life

On 19 November 2020, Arnaud came out as bisexual on his Instagram.[16] In May 2023, he announced he had been dating actor Marc Bendavid for a year.[17]

Arnaud confesses to being a skeptical atheist who does not believe in the supernatural, but states that he still does not want it to get close to him. He regularly experiences sleep paralysis.[12] He has a tattoo of a house on his back which is based on a drawing by Egon Schiele from 1912 called House with Bell Tower.[12]

Arnaud enjoys reading Sally Rooney novels such as Normal People and Conversations with Friends because they have the best ending sentences.[14]

E.T. is a childhood favourite of Arnaud's and he estimates he has seen it over four hundred times.[3]

Arnaud can speak English and French, and learned Spanish in high school. He travelled to Latin America and had a Chilean girlfriend that helped him get a good handle of the Spanish language, though he didn't use the language for a decade before working on The Borgias, which required it.[3]

Filmography

Film
Year Title Role Notes
2009 I Killed My Mother (J'ai tué ma mère) Antonin Rimbaud
2009 Heat Wave (Les Grandes chaleurs) Yannick Ménard
2013 Copperhead Warner Pitts
2013 Moroccan Gigolos Nicholas
2014 Amapola Luke
2014 Big Sky Clete
2015 Caesar Mark Antony
2015 The Girl King Karl Gustav Kasimir
2015 Rabid Dogs (Enragés) Vincent
2016 The Man Who Was Thursday Gabriel Syme
2016 Jean of the Joneses Jeremiah Rosen
2016 The People Garden Jamie
2017 Permission Dane
2017 Origami David
2018 Rapid Eye Movement Rick Weider
2020 She's in Portland Luke
2020 Paint Conner Fontaine
2020 Esther's Choice Michael Short
2021 Goodbye Happiness (Au revoir le bonheur) Nicolas
2022 Norbourg Vincent Lacroix
2022 Marlowe Nico Peterson Post-production
2022 The Switch (La Switch) Leblanc
2022 Two Days Before Christmas (23 décembre) Alex
TBA Home Jared Post-production
Television
Year Title Role Notes
2007 C.A. Serveur resto Maude Episode: "Réseau rencontre"
2008 Taxi 0-22 Marc-André 3 episodes
2008 The Double Life of Eleanor Kendall Stefan Television film
2009–2010 Yamaska Théo Carpentier 15 episodes
2011–2013 The Borgias Cesare Borgia 29 episodes (Main role)
2014 Apocalypse: World War I Narrator 5 episodes
2015–2016 X Company Rene Villiers 4 episodes
2015–2016, 2020 Blindspot Oscar 18 episodes
2017 Schitt's Creek Sebastien Raine Episode: "Sebastien Raine"
2017 High School Lover Christian Booth Television film
2017–2018 Midnight, Texas Manfred Bernardo Main role
2018 UnREAL Tommy Castelli 8 episodes
2019–2021 The Moodys Dan Moody Main role
2022 Surface Harrison Main role
2023 Plan B Patrick Landry Main role
2023 Yellowjackets Paul 4 episodes
2023 Quantum Leap Curtis Bailey Episode: "This Took Too Long!"

References

  1. ↑ "davidremington.com". Archived from the original on April 26, 2012. Retrieved May 23, 2012.
  2. ↑ "François Arnaud". TV.com. Archived from the original on 7 December 2014. Retrieved 9 August 2012.
  3. 1 2 3 4 "François Arnaud: Post-Renaissance Man". Interview Magazine. 2013-06-25. Retrieved 2021-06-29.
  4. 1 2 "François Arnaud | The Marilyn Denis Show". www.marilyn.ca. Archived from the original on 25 March 2017. Retrieved 24 March 2017.
  5. ↑ Hollywood.com Staff (2014-12-10). "Francois Arnaud | Biography and Filmography | 1985". Hollywood.com. Retrieved 2017-09-08.
  6. ↑ Saltz, Rachel (12 March 2013). "'I Killed My Mother,' a Xavier Dolan Film". The New York Times. Retrieved 24 March 2017.
  7. ↑ "Francois Arnaud Biography". www.buddytv.com. Archived from the original on 2017-08-06. Retrieved 2013-06-26.
  8. ↑ devnym (2017-04-15). "COVER STORY - FRANCOIS ARNAUD". Moves | Fashion & Lifestyle... Online. Retrieved 2021-06-29.
  9. ↑ "Francois Arnaud Talks THE BORGIAS Season 2, the Third Season, Deleted Scenes, and More". Collider. 26 March 2013. Retrieved 24 March 2017.
  10. ↑ Petski, Denise (9 October 2015). "Francois Arnaud Joins NBC Drama 'Blindspot'; LisaGay Hamilton In 'The Wilding'". Deadline. Retrieved 24 March 2017.
  11. ↑ Andreeva, Nellie (7 March 2016). "'Midnight, Texas': François Arnaud Set As The Lead In NBC Drama Pilot". Deadline. Retrieved 24 March 2017.
  12. 1 2 3 4 5 "François Arnaud". Interview Magazine. 2017-07-24. Retrieved 2021-06-29.
  13. ↑ "'Schitt's Creek' actor François Arnaud comes out as bisexual". NBC News. Retrieved 2021-06-29.
  14. 1 2 3 "Exclusive Interview: Pop-Culturalist Chats with Rapid Eye Movement's François Arnaud". Pop-Culturalist. 2019-09-16. Retrieved 2021-06-29.
  15. ↑ White, Peter (2021-06-18). "'The Moodys' Canceled At Fox After Two Seasons". Deadline. Retrieved 2021-06-29.
  16. ↑ Padgett, Donald (21 September 2020). "'The Borgias' François Arnaud Comes Out as Bisexual to Fight Stigma". Out. Retrieved 22 September 2020.
  17. ↑ Arnaud, Francois (2023-05-26). "Francois Arnaud instagram announcement". Instagram.
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