"The Seventh Life of Simon Abkarian" - an interview with Simon ABKARIAN

The article published in issue No. 1 (22) of ashkhar.org, presented as an interview with actor and director Simon Abkarian, is devoted to the creative path and worldview of one of the most renowned Franco-Armenian figures of theater and cinema.

Introduction and Context
The material opens with an overview of Abkarian's cinematic and theatrical career, whose name is associated with a number of films on Armenian themes: "Aram" by Robert Kechichian, "Ararat" by Atom Egoyan, "Mauvaises fréquentations" (Bad Company) by Frédéric Balekdjian, "Voyage en Arménie" (Journey to Armenia) by Robert Guédiguian, and Guédiguian's new work about Missak Manouchian — a hero of the French Resistance. His status as a Molière Award laureate and his years-long collaboration with Ariane Mnouchkine's theater company "Théâtre du Soleil" are also noted.

Acting Persona
Particular attention is given to the roles typical of Abkarian — immigrants, dissenters, "bad guys" — behind which, according to the testimony of colleagues and directors, lies a profound humanity. The assessments of Michel Bernier, Laurent Pelly, and Robert Guédiguian are cited, emphasizing the combination of tragedy and inner strength in his acting.

Biography
The interview includes an autobiographical section in which Abkarian speaks about:

• his childhood in France and Lebanon, and his family's relocation due to the civil war of 1976;
• his studies at a Jesuit Armenian school in Beirut;
• the beginning of his acting career in Los Angeles under Gérald Papazian;
• his eight years of work at the "Théâtre du Soleil" (1985–1993), which he calls a school of genuine acting craft.

Theatrical Directing
Considerable space is devoted to Abkarian's own work as a director, in particular to his staging of the play "Pénélope, ô Pénélope," in which the Homeric plot is intertwined with the history of his own family — his father's departure to war in Lebanon and his subsequent return. The role of his wife, Catherine Schaub, as his constant creative partner, is emphasized.

Philosophy of Creativity
The concluding part of the interview reveals the actor's life principles: fidelity to his own individuality, a rejection of careerism, a conception of faith as conviction in the authenticity of what happens on stage, and a special relationship to the memory of the dead as a source of creative inspiration.

The article's key conclusion is that the success and versatility of Simon Abkarian as a theater and film actor, as well as a playwright and director, are rooted in his striving to preserve his inner integrity and his connection to his personal biographical and historical experience, which makes his work a profoundly personal and, at the same time, universal artistic statement.