# Stephen Manas

Stephen Manas (French pronunciation: ; born 27 July 1992) is a French actor and music composer.
Manas spent some of his early career in India, the Philippines, Japan, and the United Kingdom before returning to France. He is best known for his recurring role as Richard Montlaur in the Apple TV+ comedy series Ted Lasso, starring Jason Sudeikis.

## Early life

Manas was born on 27 July 1992, in Saint-Germain-en-Laye, Yvelines. He grew up in Megève, a ski resort village in the southeastern Alps in Haute-Savoie, Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region, France. As his mother was a ski instructor, he found a love for skiing, martial arts, and outdoor sports at a young age. He realized he wanted to work in the film industry after watching Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone. He was also interested in music, and played several instruments.
At the age of 17, Manas moved to Lyon to enter an international research school in marketing and communication. Shortly after, he was spotted on the street by an acting scout and was cast for a small role in an independent film. He continued his studies at the University of Paris 1 Pantheon-Sorbonne. After his graduation with a Master 2 in international marketing and communication research, he worked in the business world, but was unsatisfied with his career. He then chose to focus on acting. He spent most of his weekends practising acting, shooting student short films, and playing music.

## Career
### Acting

Manas's first role was in the movie Ma premiere fois, directed by Marie-Castille Mention-Schaar. He appeared in many dramas on French television channels TF1, TMC, and M6 during his studies in Paris. After a talent agency based in India cold-called him and offered him a three-year contract, he moved to India where he immersed himself in the Bollywood industry, building his acting résumé.
After two years living and working between Bollywood and Mumbai, then Manila and Tokyo, he returned to France in 2018. Once back in Paris, Manas was chosen for the role of Christian in the short film Out of Frame/Hors Champ. He won multiple awards for this role.
In August 2019, as a first-time guest at the Cannes Film Festival, Manas met an agent specializing in international casting. A month later, he joined the cast of the new series Apple TV+, Ted Lasso in a recurring role, playing Richard Montlaur, a young French player on a Premier League football team in England. The series stars Jason Sudeikis, Hannah Waddingham, Brendan Hunt, Nick Mohammed, Juno Temple, Jeremy Swift, Phil Dunster, and Brett Goldstein.

### Music

Manas started playing music at 8 years old. He first played clarinet in an orchestra in Megève until he was 15, then switched to saxophone and at 18, he learned piano and guitar. He began composing music in 2016. As of 2020, he had his own musical production, Sound-it.

## Filmography
### Film

| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
| 2014–2018 | Various | Miscellaneous role in Asia | India, Philippines and Japan |
| 2016 | Je suis en perdition | | Short film |
| 2017 | Perdus entre deux étoiles | Peter | Short film |
| 2018 | Interférences | Léo | Short film |
| 2018 | Out of Frame | Christian | Short film |
| 2019 | Building Permit | | Short film |
| 2020 | Le Bonheur des uns... [fr] | Thierry | |
| 2022 | The Colors of Fire | Journalist (uncredited) | |

### Television

| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
| 2017 | Scènes de ménages | Delon | 1 episode |
| 2017 | Petits secrets entre voisin | Fred | Episode: "La fille du patron" |
| 2020–2023 | Ted Lasso | Richard Montlaur | Recurring role |

### Music composition

| Year | Title | Prod | Style | links |
| 2017 | Fast and Furious - Courses de rue : Quand les pilotes font la loi | Third Eye Production | Documentary | https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eDaEOfi7bhg&ab_channel=Speedooz |
| 2017 | Fast and Furious, la saga no Limit | Third Eye Production | Documentary | https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4xkVKDSla_M&ab_channel=BigM%C3%A9diaTV |
| 2022 | A Drop of Water on a Volcano | Dreampixies | Documentary | https://pro.imdb.com/title/tt21913960/?ref_=nm_filmo_pastfilmvid_2 |

## Awards and nominations

| Year | Award | Category | Nominated work | Result |
| 2019 | Actors Awards, Los Angeles | Best Performance of Fest | Out of Frame | Won |
| Best Performance of the Year | Won |
| Top Shorts Film Festival | Best Actor | Won |
| Best Actor of the Year | Nominated |
| Oniros Film Awards | Best Fight Choreography | First runner-up |
| AltFF Alternative Film Festival | Best Actor | Won |
| Direct Monthly Online Film Festival | Best Film of the Month | Won |