News: Simon Abkarian

If all goes well, the actor playing the titular deceased character in this week’s French flick I Saw Ben Barda Get Killed could be set to follow in the footsteps of fellow countrymen Jean Reno and Gerard Depardieu and make the leap into bigger-budget English-language movies. The 44-year-old has been working insanely hard over the last few years, and has just had his first English-language role in the biggest film of next month – the new James Bond movie Casino Royale. His part may be fairly small – he’s only a henchman – but will nonetheless almost certainly increase his profile enough to open up fresh opportunities.