Best Belgian Actor

Jan Decleir was born on 14 February 1946 in Niel, Flanders, Belgium. He is an actor, known for Character (1997), The Memory of a Killer (2003) and Daens (1992). He has been married to Brechtje Louwaard since 1 April 2006. He was previously married to Caroline van Gastel.

Sven De Ridder was born on July 17, 1974 in Wilrijk, Flanders, Belgium as Sven Jozef Eduard De Ridder. He is an actor, known for De bunker (2015), Cordon (2014), Bowling Balls (2014) and Pippa (2016). He has a long history of working in the theatre as an actor but also as director of multiple stage plays. He has worked as actor for television and in films. He is also a frequently asked voice-over or actor of animation characters. He has been married to Chindy Wysmantel since August 13, 2013.

Geert Van Rampelberg graduated from the prestigious Belgian acting studio Studio Herman Teirlinck in 1998. Upon graduating he started theater company Olympique Dramatique with a couple of his class mates, widely popular and well-respected to this day. He made his television debut in 1997 and hasn't left the small screen since, playing guest and lead roles in several of Belgium's most well-known series. Since his 2003 film debut in the Belgian cult hit The Memory of a Killer (2003), audiences have come to know and love Geert as one of Belgium's most sough-after actors in film, TV, theater and voice work. In 2012 he received the Best Actor award at the Ostend Film Festival for his strong performance in the film Time of My Life. He was also part of the cast of the madly successful and moving Oscar-nominated The Broken Circle Breakdown (2012). In 2018 he stars as the lead of the prestigious new Belgian series De infiltrant (2018). Geert's leading man status has been solidified in Belgium, and we will be seeing more and more of him across the borders. In 2015 he was the Spanish-speaking lead in the Argentinian feature La tierra roja (2015), and in 2017 the French-speaking lead in the short 'Caverne'. Geert speaks fluent Dutch (mother tongue), French, English, and knows German and Spanish.

Johan Leysen was born on 19 February 1950 in Hasselt, Limburg, Belgium. He was an actor, known for The American (2010), A Hidden Life (2019) and Brotherhood of the Wolf (2001). He was married to Rita Horst. He died on 30 March 2023 in France.

Benoît Poelvoorde was born on 22 September 1964 in Namur, Wallonia, Belgium. He is an actor and writer, known for Man Bites Dog (1992), The Brand New Testament (2015) and Romantics Anonymous (2010).

Matthias Schoenaerts was born on December 8, 1977 in Antwerp, Belgium. His mother, Dominique Wiche, was a costume designer, translator, and French teacher, and his father was actor Julien Schoenaerts. He made his film debut at the age of 13 alongside his father in the Belgian film Daens (1992), which was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film. Schoenaerts enrolled in film school but was expelled for poor attendance in his second year. By age 21, he was enrolled at the Academy of Dramatic Arts in Antwerp and was acting professionally in small roles on Belgian television and in Belgian film. By the time he graduated in 2003, Schoenaerts was already named one of "Europe's Shooting Stars" by the influential marketing organization, European Film Promotion.

In 2002, he starred in Dorothée Van Den Berghe's directorial debut Meisje (2002), which was also his first feature film since Daens. With his role in Tom Barman's Any Way the Wind Blows (2003), he proved he was Flanders' young actor to watch.

In 2004, Schoenaerts produced and starred in the short film A Message from Outer Space (2004). He also appeared in Ellektra (2004) alongside his father.

In 2006, he had a small role as a member of the Dutch Resistance in Paul Verhoeven's Black Book (2006), and landed his first starring role in the Belgian film Dennis van Rita (2006), playing Dennis, a mentally-challenged man learning to adjust to life after a prison sentence for a rape he may not have committed.

Though Schoenaerts garnered critical praise for his role in "Love Belongs to Everyone", the film that would make him a star in his homeland came in 2008, in Erik Van Looy's Loft (2008), Schoenaerts played Filip, one of a group of married friends who share the rent on a downtown loft as a place to meet their respective mistresses. The dramatic thriller was a smash hit, becoming the top-grossing Flemish film of all time. In the same year, he also starred in the horror film Linkeroever (2008).

In 2009, he worked once again with director Dorothée Van Den Berghe, playing the hippie Raven in My Queen Karo (2009). In 2010, he played the lead role in Alex Stockman's techno-thriller Pulsar (2010).

In 2011, Schoenaerts starred in Michaël R. Roskam's Bullhead (2011), playing Jacky Vanmarsenille, a cattle farmer who becomes entangled with the underworld of bovine hormones and steroids. Impressed by the script, Schoenaerts committed to star in the film in 2005, and over the five years that it took first-time director Roskam to secure financing, the actor transformed his naturally thin body into that of a steroid-abusing brute. His powerful performance in the tragic role won awards at numerous film festivals and propelled "Bullhead" to an Academy Award nomination for Best Foreign Language Film in 2012.

In 2012, Schoenaerts got the lead role opposite Marion Cotillard in Jacques Audiard's Rust and Bone (2012); in the film he played Ali, an ex-boxer who falls in love with Cotillard's character. Like Audiard's previous films, "Rust and Bone" received a breathless reception at the Cannes Film Festival with a 10-minute standing ovation at the end of its screening and was a critical and box office hit in France. Schoenaerts' performance in the film earned him a César Award for Most Promising Actor in 2013.

Schoenaerts also starred in the Belgian short film Death of a Shadow (2012), which was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Live Action Short Film in 2013 and won the European Film Award for Best European Short.

In 2013, he starred in Blood Ties (2013) after being recommended for the film by his co-star in "Rust and Bone", Marion Cotillard. Following his breakthrough in "Rust and Bone", Matthias started a career in Hollywood and landed roles in American and British productions like Saul Dibb's Suite Française (2014), Alan Rickman's A Little Chaos (2014), Michaël R. Roskam's The Drop (2014), and Thomas Vinterberg's Far from the Madding Crowd (2015).

In 2015, Schoenaerts returned to French cinema in Alice Winocour's Disorder (2015), in which he plays an ex-soldier with PTSD. He also played one of the leads of Luca Guadagnino's A Bigger Splash (2015), opposite Tilda Swinton and Ralph Fiennes, and played the art-dealer Hans Axgil in Tom Hooper's The Danish Girl (2015).

He will reteam with Michaël R. Roskam in Racer and the Jailbird (2017) and also with Thomas Vinterberg in The Command (2018), in which Schoenaerts will play the captain of a Russian submarine.

Herbert Flack was born on 9 June 1949 in Antwerp, Belgium. He is an actor, known for Medisch Centrum West (1988), Thuis (1995) and Clan (2012). He is married to Mimi Peetermans.

Michaël Pas was born in Antwerp, Belgium in 1966. He graduated as master in Dramatic Arts at the esteemed Studio Herman Teirlinck in 1989. By then he had already made his film debut in Dominque Deruddere's Love is a dog from Hell (aka Crazy Love) , based on the works of Charles Bukowski. In his graduation year he landed the lead role in Robbe De Hert's auto-biopic Blueberry Hill, for which he got awarded in Ghent and Geneva.

At the same time he started a career in theatre, both in Belgium and the Netherlands. Theatre has always been and will always be a passion for this versatile actor. In 2006 he was nominated in Amsterdam for the prestigious Dutch theater award Louis d'Or, for his outstanding performance as August in August, August, August.

During the last 25 years, Michaël appeared in countless films and TV series, both as supporting and lead actor. Daens (directed by Stijn Coninx in 1992) in which he played a leading role, was nominated for the Oscar for Best Foreign Language Picture. The Belgian crime series Code 37, in which he co-starred was sold in several countries.

In 2011 Michaël joined the international cast of Lars Von Trier's Nymphomaniac.

At his moment he is shooting the third season of the successful Belgian TV series De Ridder.

In 2014 Michaël will join the international cast of Lee Tamahori 's Emperor, starring Adrien Brody.

Frank Aendenboom was born on 24 October 1941 in Antwerp, Belgium. He was an actor, known for Crimi Clowns (2012), Blueberry Hill (1989) and The Lion of Flanders (1984). He was married to Rosemarie Bergmans. He died on 31 March 2018 in Belgium.

Luc Philips was born on 2 January 1915. He was an actor and director, known for Bompa (1989), Chez Bompa Lawijt (1994) and Maigret (1964). He was married to Madga Hendrickx. He died on 26 July 2002 in Zoersel, Flanders, Belgium.

Wim Opbrouck was born on 5 February 1969 in Bavikhove, Flanders, Belgium. He is an actor and writer, known for Cobain (2018), Café Derby (2015) and Windkracht 10 (1997).

With over 100 projects in film, television and in theatre Gene Bervoets (1956) is one of Belgium's well-established actors. In 2015 he won the Ensor for Best Actor for his interpretation of bus driver Mario Dockers in Paradise Trips. Additionally, Bervoets has been nominated several times in the aforementioned category among which his nomination for a Golden Calf in 2009 for his role in De Laatste Dagen van Emma Blank. One of the prices brought home for Erotic Tales: The Waiting Room, written and directed by Jos Stelling, was a Golden Calf for Best Short Film. Most recently Bervoets is known for playing the leading role of Maurice Teirlinck, an ex-commander in the navy and fugitive, in Beau Séjour 2. Bervoets was part of the series Professor T., Tabula Rasa, Lockdown and Déjà Vu to name a few. In film he worked with directors including Alex van Warmerdam, Dominique Deruddere and Adil El Arbi & Bilall Fallah. At the moment Bervoets is on set with Willem Dafoe, working on a movie directed by Vasilis Katsoupis.

Kevin Janssens (°1979) studied at the Studio Herman Teirlinck (Antwerp) and got his first important role in his last year of his studies, when he was asked to play the leading role in a mini TV series about a boxer called KING OF THE WORLD, by Guido Henderickx. Continuously, he performed several serious leading roles in Belgium, in the popular TV Series WINDKRACHT : KOKSIJDE RESCUE and the crime series MISSING. He played in Jan Verheyens romantic comedy ZOT VAN A. and MAD ABOUT YOU by Hilde Van Mieghem. Since his performance in THE ARDENNES by Robin Pront, in a production of Oscar Nominated Producer Bart Van Langendonck for Savage Film, his career had a turning point. The film was selected for many festivals , amongst them the TORONTO INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL. He recently was seen in the French-Belgian production ABOVE THE LAW by François Troukens together with Olivier Gourmet, Bouli Lanners and Lubna Azabel , which had its world premiere at the Venice Film Festival and in Coralie Fargeats film REVENGE together with Mathilda Lutz, which is selected for SUNDANCE. He recently finished the shooting of a Dutch film called CATACOMBE by Victor D. Ponten and a Belgian TV series called OPEN WATER by Tom Lenaerts, where he both played the leading role. In the French film Les Confins Du Monde by Guillaume Nicloux , he has a small part next to Gérard Depardieu.

Award-winning Koen De Bouw (1964) is one of the leading actors in Belgium. He studied theatre at the prestigious Antwerp Studio Herman Teirlinck, and made his film debut in 1988 upon graduation. Since then he played leading parts in more than 30 Belgian and international films as well as a similar number of television series, several of them internationally awarded. Koen has had a long collaboration with top Belgian directors Jan Verheyen and Erik Van Looy, most recently Van Looy's 2016 film The Prime Minister (2016). His other film credits include starring in Van Looy's 2008 international cult hit Loft (2008). Koen stars opposite Matt Bomer and Kelsey Grammer in the Amazon series The Last Tycoon (2016), created by Billy Ray. In Belgium he can also be seen as "Jasper Teerlinck", the enigmatic lead of the hit #1 rated Belgian television series Professor T. (2015), running for 3 seasons in Belgium, with remakes in France and Germany. Other recent work of him are the series Red Light (2020), Niets te melden (2020), Bullets (2018), the Flemish-Dutch coproduction Grenslanders (2019) and the feature film Torpedo (2019). In 2020, he starred in the Oscarnominated film The Man Who Sold His Skin (2020). This year, he will be spotted in the serie Glad IJs (2021), but also in the films Nowhere (2022) and The Last Front (2024).

Frans Van De Velde was born on 6 April 1933 in Deurne, Flanders, Belgium. He was an actor, known for Pa heeft een lief (2000), Ramona (1991) and Lili & Marleen (1994). He died on 16 February 2017 in Antwerp, Belgium.

Gaston Berghmans, quite possibly Belgium's greatest comedian of all time, was born in 1926 in Merksem, a community which is part of the city of Antwerp. He had a very normal and healthy childhood and attended middle school to become a craftsman, just like his father before him.

Right before the Second World War, Gaston had been starring in some local plays in his off-time, and decided to become a professional comedian during the War, quitting his job as a handyman on ships in the port of Antwerp. In this period in his life, he met up with some guardian angels that would procure his future in the entertainment industry.

Later, he met up with Leo Martin, also born in Antwerp, but raised in Brussels. Together they formed the legendary comedy duo 'Gaston & Leo', that toured around theaters all over the country and made TV appearances with hilarious sketches. They also made some features movies including _"Zware jongens" (1984)_, _"De Paniekzaaiers" (1986)_ and _"Gaston en Leo in Hong Kong" (1988)_. Their last big thing together was a Sunday evening sketch show called _"Gaston & Leo Show" (1989)_, which aired from 1989 until 1993, when Leo died of cancer. When asked about this period later in his life, Gaston said that he felt like he had died along with his friend.

After losing Leo, Gaston starred in his own television show (_"Gaston Berghmans Show" (1994)_) for a few years, but he realized that things would never be the same again. After retiring from sketch comedy television in 2000, he only made a limited number of on-screen appearances, mostly in shows that tributed him. In 2008, he ended his acting career in the way he wanted to, with a large dramatic movie part in _"Christmas in Paris" (2008)_. That picture however flopped, making people demand him to get into another final project. Gaston kept refusing this, saying his health did not longer allow him to do so. After years of physical ups and downs, he eventually passed away on May 21, 2016 in a rest-home in Schoten, surrounded by his family.

Van Damme was born Jean-Claude Camille François Van Varenberg in Berchem-Sainte-Agathe, Brussels, Belgium, to Eliana and Eugène Van Varenberg, an accountant. "The Muscles from Brussels" started martial arts at the age of eleven. His father introduced him to martial arts when he saw his son was physically weak. At the age of 12, Van Damme began his martial arts training at Centre National De Karate (National Center of Karate) under the guidance of Master Claude Goetz in Ixelles, Belgium. Van Damme trained for 4 years and earned a spot on the Belgium Karate Team. He won the European professional karate association's middleweight championship as a teenager, and also beat the 2nd best karate fighter in the world. His goal was to be number one but got sidetracked when he left his hometown of Brussels. In 1976 at the age of sixteen, Jean-Claude started his Martial Arts fight career.

Over the next 6-years, he competed in both full-contact and semi-contact matches. He debuted under his birth name of Jean Claude Van Varenberg. In his first match, Jean-Claude was staggered by a round-house kick thrown by fellow countryman, Toon Van Oostrum in Brussels, Belgium. Van Damme was badly stunned, but came back to knockout Van Oostrum moments later. In 1977, at the WAKO Open International in Antwerp, Belgium, Jean-Claude lost a decision to fellow team mate Patrick Teugels in a semi-contact match. At the 1978 Challenge De Espoirs Karate Tournament (1st Trials),Jean-Claude placed 2nd in the semi-contact division. He defeated twenty-five opponents during the week long tournament, but lost in the finals to Angelo Spataro from the Naha Club. Later in 1978, Jean-Claude lost a 3-round match for the Belgium Lightweight Championship (semi-contact) to his fellow team-mate to Patrick Teugels.

In 1979, Jean-Claude traveled to the United States of America, to Tampa, Florida. In his first and only match against a United States opponent, Van Damme faced 'Sherman 'Big Train'Bergman', a kick-boxer from Miami Beach, Florida. For the first and only time in his career, Jean-Claude was knocked to the canvas after absorbing a powerful left hook from Bergman. However, Jean-Claude climbed off the canvas and with a perfectly timed ax-kick, knocked Bergman out in 56 seconds of the first round. Jean-Claude was a member of the Belgium team which competed on December 26, 1979 at the La Coupe Fancois Persoons Karate Tournament which was sanctioned by the Federation bruxelloise de Karate. Van Damme's final match victory enabled his team to win the European Team Karate Championship. In Full-Contact karate, Jean-Claude knocked out England's Micheal Heming in 46 seconds of the first round. In 1980, Van Damme knocked out France's Georges Verlugels in 2 rounds of a match fought under kick-boxing rules. Jean-Claude wanted to defeat his rival Patrick Teugels. At the Forest Nationals in Brussels, on March 8, 1980, Jean-Claude knocked Teugels down and Teugels suffered a nose injury and was unable to continue. Jean-Claude was awarded a first round victory.

Jean-Claude retired from martial arts in 1982, following a knockout over Nedjad Gharbi in Brussels,Belgium. Jean-Claude posted a 18-1 (18 knockouts) Kickboxing record, and a Semi-Contact record of 41-4. He came to Hong Kong at the age of 19 for the first time and felt insured to do action movies in Hong Kong. In 1981 Van Damme moved to Los Angeles. He took English classes while working as carpet layer, pizza delivery man, limo driver, and thanks to Chuck Norris he got a job as a bouncer at a club. Norris gave Van Damme a small role in the movie Missing in Action (1984), but it wasn't good enough to get anybody's attention. Then in 1984 he got a role as a villain named Ivan in the low-budget movie No Retreat, No Surrender (1985). Then one day, while walking on the streets, Jean-Claude spotted a producer for Cannon Pictures, and showed some of his martial arts abilities which led to a role in Bloodsport (1988). But the movie, filmed in Hong Kong, was so bad when it was completed, it was shelved for almost two years. It might have never been released if Van Damme did not help them to recut the film and begged producers to release it. They finally released the film, first in Malaysia and France and then into the U.S. Shot on a meager $1.5 million dollar budget, it became a U.S box-office hit in the spring of 1988. It made about $50 million worldwide and audiences supported this film for its new sensational action star Jean-Claude Van Damme.

His martial arts assets, highlighted by his ability to deliver a kick to an opponent's head during a leaping 360-degree turn, and his good looks led to starring roles in higher budgeted movies like Cyborg (1989), Lionheart (1990), Double Impact (1991) and Universal Soldier (1992). In 1994, he scored with his big breakthrough $100 million worldwide hit Timecop (1994). But in the meantime, his personal life was coming apart. A divorce, followed by a new marriage, followed by another divorce. It began to show up in his career when his projects began to tank at the box office - The Quest (1996), which he directed; Maximum Risk (1996) and Double Team (1997). The three films made less than $50 million combined. In 1999 he remarried his ex-wife Gladys Portugues and restarted his lost career to attain new goals. With help from his family he faced his problems and made movies like Replicant (2001), Derailed (2002), and In Hell (2003) which did averagely in box office terms, but he tried to give his fans the best, his acting in those movies got better, more emotional and each movie was basically in different action tones.

George Arrendell was born in Antwerp in 1968, the elder son of a South American percussionist and a Belgian painter. He speaks fluent English, Dutch and French.

Through the 1980s George made his pocket money as a break dancer and rap artist and, after graduating from High School, he started working as a model in different parts of Europe. He had caught the acting bug while appearing in student drama productions and playing small roles in Belgian films and TV series, and decided that he wanted to do this for a living. In 1996 he enrolled at the Lee Strasberg Theatre and Film Institute in New York City. When he returned to Europe he got work in numerous productions, becoming the best working Afro European actor in Belgium. George has worked in movies and television, including the plum role of Inspector Jimmy N'Tongo in Belgian's hit police series Zone Stad (Zone City), which was nominated at the Monte Carlo Television Festival of 2009. He has also appeared in British and Canadian film productions, among them 'Falling Through', 'Christie Malry's Own Double-Entry', 'High Speed', and 'She, Me and Her'. This was filmed on location in Luxembourg, where he was lucky enough to work with Roy Scheider, Peter Weller, Ben Cross and Nick Moran.

George has studied Strasberg, Meisner and Checkhov, which he believes to be an interesting combination.

Eric Godon is a Belgian actor who started his career in 2001, at the age of 41. After studying German and English linguistics and literature, he worked for 20 years in various fields before discovering his acting skills through improvisation theater. Ever since then, he has been playing in over 120 feature- and TV- films and series. His language skills represent a strong asset, that enable him to pursue an international career. Eric Godon embodies characters in French, English, German,Italian, Dutch and Russian. He is also a director , a writer, a script doctor and an acting coach

Mathias was born in 1970 in Ardooie. He went to the Conservatory in Brussels to get professional actor's training. For the moment, he lives in Ghent, he is married and has 2 kids. Most people know him from the series _"Buiten de Zone" (1995)_ , in which he played Ubi Stevens. Besides playing in series like "Diamant" and "W817" he has made guest appearances in almost every Flemish quality television series: Flikken and Recht op recht among others. His breakthrough in the Flemish movie world came with the movie Ad Fundum (1993), later followed films like Iedereen Beroemd (2000), Team Spirit (2000) and Team Spirit II. He has also written a film scenario himself, called 6. Lately he has mostly been active in the world of theatre. Mostly as an actor, but also as a writer and a director.

Wouter Hendrickx was born in 1975 in Halle, Belgium. He is an actor, known for De infiltrant (2018), Cordon (2014) and The Misfortunates (2009).

Tom Audenaert is known for Come as You Are (2011), Quiz Me Quick (2012) and Moonwalkers (2015).

Werner De Smedt was born on 17 July 1970 in Ninove, Flanders, Belgium. He is an actor, known for The Memory of a Killer (2003), Veel geluk, professor! (2001) and Flikken (1999).

Kürt Rogiers was born on 14 March 1971 in Zele, Belgium. He is an actor and writer, known for Vet hard (2005), Kattenoog - Het Geheim van de Griezelclub (2015) and David (2009). He has been married to Els since 2003. They have two children.

Bode Owa is known for Diamant (1997), Recht op recht (1998) and Spoed (2000).