Gérard Watkins

Gérard Watkins (born 4 July 1965) is a British and French actor, playwright, director, and songwriter.

He graduated from Lycée de St Germain en Laye in 1983.

As a stage actor, he has performed in over forty productions in Paris with such directors as Véronique Bellegarde, Julie Beres, Jean-Claude Buchard, Elizabeth Chailloux, Michel Didym, André Engel, Frederic Fisbach, Marc François, Daniel Jeanneteau, Philipe Lanton, Jean-Louis Martinelli, Lars Noren, Claude Régy, Yann Ritsema, Bernard Sobel, Viviane Theophilides, and Jean-Pierre Vincent.

Among his critically acclaimed performances are Ian in Sarah Kane's Blasted, Edmond in King Lear, and Rosalind in As You Like It. In the cinema, he is perhaps best known for his role in the 2008 film Taken as Patrice Saint Clair, the sex trafficking kingpin who runs the operation that kidnapped the protagonist's 17-year-old daughter, but he has also performed with directors such as Julie Lopes-Curval, Jérome Salle, Yann Samuel, Julian Schnabel, Hugo Santiago, and Peter Watkins. Since 1994, he has directed his own theatre company, the Perdita Ensemble, where he has staged all of his plays, The Secret Capital, Follow Me, The Tower, In the Faraway Forest, Icone, Identity, Lost (Replay), and I Don't Remember Very Well.

He is fluent in both English and French.

He was awarded the Grand Prix de littérature dramatique in 2010 for his play Identité.

Filmography Year Title Role Notes 1986 On a volé Charlie Spencer Le soldat américain du film 1987 Sécurité publique 1987 Travelling avant 1992 L'ambassade en folie Techtronics guard #1 2000 La Commune (Paris, 1871) Gérard Bourlet 2002 Le Loup de la côte Ouest Harry 2003 Love Me If You Dare Julien's father 2004 They Came Back Le fils du maire 2006 Je me fais rare Acteur 1 2007 The Diving Bell and the Butterfly Le Docteur Cocheton 2008 La Fabrique des sentiments Michel 2008 Taken Patrice Saint-Clair 2008 Largo Winch Cattaneo 2009 La Femme invisible Paul 2009 Hidden Diary Gilles 2009 Going South The father 2010 Rebecca H. (Return to the Dogs) Detective 2014 Colt 45 Calhoun 2016 The Odyssey Le maître de cérémonie 2018 Naked Normandy Volker 2019 Savages (Les Sauvages) TV series 2021 The Accusation L'avocat général 2025 Stereo Girls Pierre