Isaach de Bankolé

Isaach de Bankolé
Isaach de Bankolé in Karlovy Vary (2009)
Born	12 August 1957 Abidjan, Côte d'Ivoire
Occupation	Actor
Years active	1984–present
Spouse(s)	Cassandra Wilson (m. 2000)

Isaach or Isaac de Bankolé (born 12 August 1957) is an Ivorian actor.^[1][2]

Early life and education

He was born in Abidjan, to Yoruba parents from Benin.^[3] His grandparents are from Nigeria.^[4] He studied Acting at Cours Simon and earned an M.A. from the University of Paris.

Career

He has appeared in over fifty films, including Jim Jarmusch's Night on Earth, Ghost Dog: The Way of the Samurai, Coffee and Cigarettes and The Limits of Control.^[5] He has been based in the United States since 1997.^[3] He appeared in the movie Machetero, in the role of journalist interviewing an imprisoned Puerto Rican revolutionary, along with the members of the New York City-based punk band Ricanstruction.

He has also appeared in Lars von Trier's Manderlay. He portrayed Steven Obanno, a terrorist, in the 2006 James Bond film Casino Royale, and "The Lone Man", an assassin in Jim Jarmusch's film, The Limits of Control (2009).^[6] In 2013, he starred as Ayodele Balogun in Andrew Dosunmu's Mother of George, which premiered at the 2013 Sundance Film Festival and was the closing night selection for Maryland Film Festival 2013.

Personal life

Isaach is fluent in Yorùbá, Bambara, English, French, German and speaks some Italian.^[3] He is married to musician Cassandra Wilson.

Filmography

• L'Addition (1984) (uncredited)
• Comment draguer tous les mecs (1984) – Honoré Clair
• L'Arbalète (1984)
• Black Mic Mac (1986) – Lemi
• Taxi Boy (1986) – Touré
• Noir et blanc (1986)
• Les keufs (1987) – Blaise Lacroix/Insp. Lacroix
• Chocolat (1988) – Protée
• Ada dans la jungle (1988) – Bumbo
• Comment faire l'amour avec un nègre sans se fatiguer (1989) – Vieux
• Vanille fraise (1989) – Hippolyte N'Go
• S'en fout la mort (1990) – Dah
• Night on Earth (1991) – Driver (Paris)
• The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles (1992) (TV series) – Sgt. Barthelmy
• Heart of Darkness (1994) (TV) – Mfumu
• Casa de Lava (1995) – Leão
• The Keeper (1995) – Jean Baptiste

Director Jim Jarmusch (left) and de Bankolé (right) promoting The Limits of Control at the San Sebastian International Film Festival in September 2009.

• A Soldier's Daughter Never Cries (1998) – Mamadou
• Otomo (1999) – Otomo
• Ghost Dog: The Way of the Samurai (1999) – Raymond
• Cherry (1999) – Menu Man
• Traveling Miles: Cassandra Wilson (2000)
• Bàttu (2000) – Saar
• 3 A.M. (2001) – Angus
• The Sopranos: Amour Fou (TV Series) (2001) – Father Obosi
• The Killing Zone (2003) – Malcolm
• Coffee and Cigarettes (2003) – Isaach (segment "No Problem")
• Homework (2004) – Jean
• From Other Worlds (2004) – Abraham
• L'Évangile selon Aimé (2005) (TV) – Aîmé
• Manderlay (2005) – Timothy
• The Skeleton Key (2005) – Creole Gas Station Owner
• Before It Had a Name (2005) – Waiter
• Stay (2005) – Professor
• Getting High (2006) – Hunter
• Miami Vice (2006) – Neptune
• Casino Royale (2006) – Steven Obanno
• The Diving Bell and the Butterfly (2007) – Laurent
• The Fifth Patient (2007) – Cpt. Mugambe
• Battle in Seattle (2007) – Abasi
• The Guitar (2008) – Roscoe Wasz
• Machetero (2008) – Jean Dumont, French journalist
• 24: Redemption (2008) (TV) – Prime Minister Ule Matobo
• 24 (2009) (TV series) – Ule Matobo
• The Limits of Control (2009) – Lone Man
• White Material (2010) – The Boxer
• White Collar (2014) – series 6 – Europol Detective
• I Am Slave (2010) – Bah
• NCIS: Los Angeles (2011)
• Mother of George (2013)
• Where the Road Runs Out (2013) – George
• Run (2014) – Assa
• Calvary (2014) – Simon
• Mirage (2014)
• Oppenheimer Strategies (2015)
• The Last Witch Hunter (2015) – Schlesinger

Awards

• 1987 César Award for Most Promising Actor for his role in Black Mic Mac.

References

1. "New York Times". Movies.nytimes.com. Retrieved 2 April 2012.
2. "Isaach De Bankolé An Unexpected Gentleman". MADMUSEUM. Retrieved October 21, 2014.
3. Segun Oguntola (June 6, 2011). "Isaach De Bankolé: A Flower of the Tribe". Nigerians in America. Retrieved May 20, 2014.
4. "Jim Jarmusch interviews Isaach De Bankole" (in German). Filmgalerie451.de. Retrieved 2 April 2012.
5. "The Limits of Control". The Guardian. United Kingdom. Retrieved October 21, 2014.
6. Dargis, Manohla (30 April 2009). "New York Times". Movies.nytimes.com. Retrieved 2 April 2012.

External links

• Isaach de Bankolé at the Internet Movie Database
• Isaach de Bankolé at AllMovie