Roy Dupuis

Roy Dupuis
Roy Michael Joseph Dupuis (born April 21, 1963) is a Canadian actor best known in America for his role as counterterrorism operative Michael Samuelle in the television series La Femme Nikita. In Canada, specifically Quebec, he's known for numerous leading roles he's played in film. He portrayed Maurice Richard on television and in film and Roméo Dallaire in the 2007 film Shake Hands with the Devil.
Early life and education
Dupuis was born in New Liskeard, Ontario to French-Canadian parents. From early infancy until he was 11 years old, Dupuis lived in Amos, Quebec in the Abitibi Regional County Municipality. Over the next three years he lived in Kapuskasing, Ontario, where he learned to speak English. His father was a travelling salesman for Canada Packers; his mother was a piano teacher. He has a younger brother and an older sister. When he was 14, after his parents divorced, his mother moved the family to Sainte-Rose, Laval, where he finished high school. After high school, he studied acting in Montreal, at the National Theatre School of Canada (L'École nationale de théâtre du Canada), from which he graduated in 1986.
Personal life
Dupuis lives southeast of Montreal, in an 1840 farmhouse located on of land which he bought in 1996 and which he has restored and renovated. He enjoys sports, particularly hockey, skydiving, and golf. His hobbies include astronomy and physics (his interests in high school). He learned to play the cello as a boy and, at times, still plays, sometimes in dramatic roles. In recent years, between television and film projects, he has been occupied with learning to sail; he owns a couple of sailboats, and he is custom-outfitting the larger aluminum-keeled vessel in preparation for extended ocean voyages.
Career
Dupuis is a celebrity in French-speaking areas of Canada and is also well known in anglophone areas due to his English-language and bilingual projects. He has performed in many theater productions, movies, and television series. Among the stage roles that he has performed so far are: Luc in Michel Marc Bouchard's Les Muses orphelines (The Orphan Muses), directed by André Brassard in 1985; Roméo in a Québécois adaptation of William Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet (Roméo et Juliette), directed by Guillermo de Andrea in 1989; and Jay in Jean-Marc Dalpé's Le Chien (The Dog), Adrien in Jeanne-Mance Delisle's Un Oiseau vivant dans la gueule (A Live Bird in Its Jaws), and Lee in a Québécois version of Sam Shepard's True West, all three productions directed by Brigitte Haentjens, in 1987-89, 1990, and 1994, respectively.
Dupuis gained popularity in Quebec as Ovila Pronovost in the series Les Filles de Caleb (also known as Emilie) when it premiered on Radio-Canada (1990–92), and he co-starred as the journalist Michel Gagné in four seasons of Scoop (1991–95). He was introduced to the American public on television as Oliva Dionne in Million Dollar Babies (1994)--Les jumelles Dionne: La véritable histoire tragique des quintuplées Dionne (The Dionne "Twins": The True Tragic Story of the Dionne Quintuplets). In the United States, he also debuted on the big screen in such film roles as Becker in Screamers (1995) and as John Strauss in Bleeders (1996), also known as Hemoglobin (1997) in the UK. In 1997 he began appearing as Michael Samuelle in the television series La Femme Nikita, also known as Nikita. Recently, he won a MetroStar Award for his role as Ross Desbiens in Le Dernier Chapitre: La Vengeance (2003), the sequel to Le Dernier Chapitre (2002), both filmed simultaneously in dual-language versions broadcast in French and English on Radio-Canada and the CBC, respectively.
Dupuis's first appearance on film was in a 1987 short experimental work inspired by the 1926 avant-garde film Anémique Cinéma, by Marcel Duchamp and Man Ray, featuring the same title.
Among Dupuis' film performances are Yves, in Being at Home with Claude (1991; Cannes, Un Certain Regard 1992)--his first major screen role—directed by Jean Beaudin, adapted from a screenplay by Johanne Boisvert, based on the 1986 stage play by René-Daniel Dubois; and Kevin Barlow, in Manners of Dying (2004), the first feature film directed by Jeremy Peter Allen, adapted from his own screenplay based on the short story first published in the 1993 collection The Facts Behind the Helsinki Roccamatios and Other Stories by Yann Martel. His performance as Alexandre Tourneur in Looking for Alexander (Mémoires affectives) (2004), directed by Francis Leclerc, who co-wrote the screenplay with Marcel Beaulieu, received awards.
In The Rocket (Maurice Richard), directed by Charles Binamé (Séraphin: Heart of Stone) and released in late November 2005, Dupuis stars as French-Canadian ice hockey icon Maurice "Rocket" Richard, who played for the Montreal Canadiens from 1942–60, and whom he portrayed previously on Canadian television in 1997 and 1999. Dupuis' own experience playing hockey and his ability to perform on the ice on authentic period hockey skates were useful for this film, in which several professional hockey players were cast in supporting roles.
The film was nominated for the Jutra Award 2006 in fourteen categories, including Dupuis for Best Actor, but he did not win it. Leading the nominations for a Genie Award in thirteen categories, it won nine of the twenty-two awards on February 13, 2007, at the Carlu Event Theatre in Toronto, including Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role for Dupuis.
In December 2005, Dupuis completed filming That Beautiful Somewhere, based on the 1992 novel Loon by Bill Plumstead, its executive producer. It was set and filmed on location in North Bay, Ontario. The film, directed by Robert Budreau, is produced by Lumanity Productions. Its world premiere was on August 26, 2006, at the Montreal World Film Festival (August 24-September 4, 2006); it was presented at Cinéfest Sudbury International Film Festival (September 16–24, 2006), at the Calgary International Film Festival (September 22-October 1, 2006), and at other film festivals, as well as broadcast on Canadian pay cable television, before it was released commercially in Canada in April 2007.
On location in Kigali, Rwanda, in mid-June 2006, Dupuis began filming the dramatic feature film Shake Hands with the Devil, in which he performs the principal role of Lieutenant-General Roméo Dallaire, head of the United Nations Assistance Mission for Rwanda (UNAMIR) during the Rwandan genocide. The film is based on Dallaire's autobiographical book Shake Hands with the Devil: The Failure of Humanity in Rwanda. After two months in Kigali, filming continued in Halifax, Nova Scotia, in August 2006. Prior to its release, a "draft of the film" was screened as a courtesy by the producer, Laszlo Barna, to Paul Kagame, the President of Rwanda, and his cabinet, who found it emotionally very moving.
The film was a "special presentation" at the Toronto International Film Festival on 9 September 2007, and opened the 27th Atlantic Film Festival on September 13, 2007. Shake Hands with the Devil opened in theaters on September 28, 2007. For his performance as Dallaire, Dupuis won his second Jutra Best Actor award; in accepting it, "Dupuis dedicated his award to his mother, who died recently, as well as to Dallaire and the people of Rwanda."
In October 2006, along with Gabriel Byrne, Christopher Plummer, Max von Sydow, and Susan Sarandon, he filmed Emotional Arithmetic, directed by Paolo Barzman and adapted by Barzman and Jefferson Lewis from the novel by Canadian writer Matt Cohen (1942–1999), who had written several drafts of a screenplay adaptation himself before his death. Dupuis plays Benjamin Winters, the "embittered" son of Melanie Lansing Winters (Sarandon) and her husband, David Winters (Plummer). The film closed the 2007 Toronto International Film Festival on September 15, 2007.
In winter 2007, he participated in the improvisational short film directed by Francis Leclerc, entitled Revenir (Return), which was filmed and screened during the 11th edition of Festival Regard, a festival of short films, held in Saguenay, Quebec.
Later in 2007 and 2008, Dupuis began working on several new film projects, including: as Charles in Truffe, directed by Kim Nguyen, produced by Renée Gosselin and distributed by Christal Films, whose world premiere opens the Fantasia Film Festival in Montreal on July 3, 2008; as Jean-Paul Mercier in Mesrine: Killer Instinct; as Mr. Turcotte in A No-Hit No-Run Summer (Un été sans point ni coup sûr), a feature film about baseball set at the beginning of the 1960s adapted from the novel of that title by Marc Robitaille, directed by Francis Leclerc; as Scully in The Timekeeper (L'Heure de vérité), an English-language feature film directed by Louis Bélanger; as an Irishman named Liam Hennessy in André Forcier's Je me souviens and as another character named Charles in Sticky Fingers (Les doigts croches), directed by Ken Scott.
On March 18, 2008, after a fourteen year absence, Dupuis returned to the stage for a limited run as Ian in a French translation of Blasted, the controversial first play by British playwright Sarah Kane (1971–1999). Jean-Marc Dalpé's French version, Blasté, directed by Brigitte Haentjens for her company Sybillines Inc., also featured Céline Bonnier and Paul Ahmarani.
Selected awards
MetroStar: 1991: Comédien - Téléroman ou mini-série: Les Filles de Caleb
Gémeaux: 1991: Meilleure interprétation dans un premier rôle masculin: série dramatique: Les Filles de Caleb
Fipa d'Or: 1991: Festival International de Programmes Audiovisuels (Cannes): Best Actor: Les Filles de Caleb
MetroStar: 1992: Comédien de téléroman ou mini-série québécoise: Emilie [English-dubbed version of Les Filles de Caleb]
MetroStar: 2003: Rôle masculin/Télésérie québécoise: Le Dernier Chapitre: La Vengeance
Genie: 2004: Meilleure interprétation dans un premier rôle masculin (Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role): Mémoires affectives
Jutra: 2005: Meilleur acteur (Best Actor): Mémoires affectives
Tokyo International Film Festival: 2006: Best Actor: The Rocket
Genie: 2007: Meilleure interprétation dans un premier rôle masculin (Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role): The Rocket
Jutra: 2008: Meilleur acteur (Best Actor): Shake Hands with the Devil
Cinema on the Bayou Film Festival- Louisiana: 2020: Meilleur acteur (Best Actor in a Feature Film): Les Fleurs oubliées
Selected stage performances
Les Deux Gentilshommes de Vérone (The Two Gentlemen of Verona), by William Shakespeare (1985)
La Passion selon Pier Paolo Pasolini (The Passion According to Pier Paolo Pasolini), a play by René Kalinsky based on Teorema (1985)
Harold et Maude (Harold and Maude), trans. and adapt. by Jean-Claude Carrière of the play by Colin Higgins (1986)
Toupie Wildwood, by Pascale Rafie (1987)
Au pied de la lettre (At the End of the Letter), by André Simard (1987)
Fool for Love, by Sam Shepard, trans. Michèle Magny (1987)
Le Chien (The Dog), by Jean-Marc Dalpé (1987–1989)
Les Muses orphelines (The Orphan Muses), by Michel Marc Bouchard (1988)
Roméo et Juliette (Romeo and Juliet), by William Shakespeare, trans. Jean-Louis Roux (1989)
Un Oiseau vivant dans la gueule (A Live Bird in Its Jaws), by Jeanne-Mance Delisle (1990)
True West, by Sam Shepard, trans. Pierre Legris (1994)
Blasted, by Sarah Kane, trans. as Blasté by Jean-Marc Dalpé (2008)
Selected television performances
Le Parc des Braves (The Park of the Brave) (1984–88; episode in 1987)
Les enfants de la rue: Danny (Children of the Street: Danny) (1987)
L'Héritage (The Inheritance) (1987–90; episode in 1987)
L'amour avec un grand A [Also known as: Avec un grand A) (Love with a Capital L)] (1985–95): Hélène et Alexis (1988)
Lance et Compte (He Shoots, He Scores) (1986–89): Tous Pour Un (All for One [1990]--"téléfilm" based on the TV series)
Le Grand Jour (The Big Day) (1988)
La Maison Deschênes (The House of Deschênes) (1987-89: episode in 1989)
Les Filles de Caleb (Caleb's Daughters) (1990–91) [Also known as: Emilie]
Scoop (1991–95)
Emilie (1992) [English-dubbed version of Les Filles de Caleb]
Blanche (1993) [Sequel to Les Filles de Caleb]
Dark Eyes (Pilot) (1994)
Million Dollar Babies (1994) [Also known as: Les jumelles Dionne: La véritable histoire tragique des quintuplées Dionne (The Dionne "Twins": The True Tragic Story of the Dionne Quintuplets)] (1994)
Urgence (Emergency Call: Hospital Code 66) (1995)
Heritage Minutes (Minutes du patrimoine) [Also known as: Historica Minutes or History by the Minute]: Louis Riel and Maurice "Rocket" Richard (1997)
Les Beaux Dimanches (Beautiful Sundays): Maurice Richard: Histoire d'un Canadien. [Also known as: Maurice Rocket Richard Story (Canada: English title)] (1999)
La Femme Nikita [Also known as: Nikita] (1997–2001); dir. episode 506: "The Evil That Men Do" (2001)
Le Dernier Chapitre (The Last Chapter) (2002)
Le Dernier Chapitre: La Vengeance (The Last Chapter: II: The War Continues) (2003)
Les Règles du jeu: Roy Dupuis (The Name of the Game: Roy Dupuis) (2005)
Un monde sans pauvreté: Agissons! (A World without Poverty: Take Action!) (2005) Public-service voiceover (in collaboration with Pascale Montpetit) sponsored by the Québécois section of Make Poverty History (Abolissons La Pauvreté) on behalf of Global Call to Action Against Poverty
Les Rescapés Claude Desrosiers / Productions Casablanca (2009 to 2011)
Une terre 1001 mondes Phile Beauchemin / Polivista Production (2013)
Toute la vie Christophe L'Allier / Christophe (2019-2022)
Selected filmography
Anemic Cinema (Anémique cinéma) (1987)
Exit 234 (Sortie 234) (1988, Short)
Gaspard et fil$ (1988)
In the Belly of the Dragon (Dans la ventre du dragon) (1989) as Jean-Marie
How to Make Love to a Negro Without Getting Tired (Comment faire l'amour avec un nègre sans se fatiguer) (1989) as Pusher #2
Jesus of Montreal (Jésus de Montréal) (1989) as Marcel Brochu
The Singles Game (Le Marché du couple) (1990) as Barman
Being at Home with Claude (1992) as Yves
Entangled (1993) as Max
Cap Tourmente (1993) as Alex O'Neil
Chili's Blues (C'était le 12 du 12 et Chili avait les blues) (1994) as Pierre-Paul
Screamers (1995) as Marshal Richard Cooper / Private Becker Screamer
Waiting for Michelangelo (1995) as Thomas
The Ideal Man (L'Homme idéal) (1996) as Christian
Out in the Open (Aire Libre) (1996) as Aimé Bonpland
Heads or Tails (J'en suis!) (1997) as Dominique Samson
Bleeders (1997) as John Strauss
Free Money (1998) as The Turk
Séraphin: Heart of Stone (Séraphin : Un homme et son péché) (2002) as Alexis LaBranche
The Barbarian Invasions (Les Invasions barbares) (2003) as Gilles Levac
L'Invitation aux images (2003, documentary) as The Archivist
Jack Paradise: Montreal by Night (Jack Paradise : Les Nuits de Montréal) (2004) as Jack Paradise
Machine Gun Molly (Monica la mitraille) (2004) as Gérald 'Gerry' Simard
Looking for Alexander (Mémoires affectives) (2004) as Alexandre Tourneur
Manners of Dying (L'Exécution) (2004) as Kevin Barlow
The Cop, the Criminal and the Clown (C'est pas moi, c'est l'autre!) (2004) as Vincent Papineau / Claude Laurin
The United States of Albert (Les États-Unis d'Albert) (2005) as Jack Decker
The Rocket (Maurice Richard) (2005) as Maurice Richard
That Beautiful Somewhere (2006) as Detective Conk Adams
Shake Hands with the Devil (2007) as General Romeo Dallaire
Emotional Arithmetic (2007) as Benjamin Winters
Return (Revenir) (2007)
Truffe (2008) as Charles
A No-Hit No-Run Summer (Un été sans point ni coup sûr) (2008) as Gilbert Turcotte
Mesrine: Killer Instinct (2008) as Jean-Paul Mercier
Je me souviens (2009) as Liam Hennessy
The Timekeeper (2009) as Scully
Sticky Fingers (2009) as Charles
Coteau rouge (2011) as Éric Miljours
Rock Paper Scissors (Roche papier ciseaux) (2013) as Vincent
Cyanide (2013) as Joe
Another House (L'autre maison) (2013) as Gabriel Bernard
Stranger in a Cab (Ceci n'est pas un polar) (2014) as André Kosinski
The Forbidden Room (2015) as Cesare
The Sound of Trees (2015) as Régis Otis
Where Atilla Passes (Là où Atilla passe…) (2015) as Michel
Dead Leaves (Feuilles mortes) (2016) as Bob
Kiss Me Like a Lover (Embrasse-moi comme tu m'aimes) (2016) as Narcisse St. Germain
Barefoot at Dawn (Pieds nus dans l'aube) (2017) as Léo
Forgotten Flowers (Les fleurs oubliées) (2020) as Albert Payette
Brain Freeze (2021) as Dan
Nuit (2020) as Christian
See also
Canadian cinema
Cinema of Quebec
References
Further reading
Hampson, Sarah. "A Home Boy, Happy That Way." The Globe and Mail 31 August 2002: R3 (Metro ed.). Biographical account based on interview with Roy Dupuis.
Heyn, Christopher. "A Conversation with Roy Dupuis." Inside Section One: Creating and Producing TV's La Femme Nikita. Introd. Peta Wilson. Los Angeles: Persistence of Vision Press, 2006. 77-81. . In-depth conversation with Roy Dupuis about his role as Michael on La Femme Nikita, as well as his thoughts on acting and directing.
St-Denis, Danièle. Dans les peaux de Roy Dupuis. (In Roy Dupuis' Skins.) Outremont, Qc: Les Éditions internationales Alain Stanké, 2004. . Detailed account of Roy Dupuis' characters as embodied in some of his documented stage, television, and film performances.
Cooper, Gina Pia. "The Actor's Method". Fashion Finds July 1999. Interview with Roy Dupuis (cover article). Full text, audio extract, illus., archived issue cover. [Archived webpages from The Wayback Machine: The Internet Archive.]
"What's New." Lumanity Productions: "That Beautiful Somewhere (Feature)" 29 January 2006. Production news (official site). Includes hyperlink to official website for That Beautiful Somewhere. Accessed 24 August 2007.Les Règles du jeu: Roy Dupuis. (The Name of the Game: Roy Dupuis.'' In French with English subtitles.) 23 mins. Documentary film about Roy Dupuis completed in 2005 and first broadcast on Super Écran on 26 January 2006.
External links
Notre Cinéma à Radio-Canada: Les Vedettes: Roy Dupuis ("Our Cinema at Radio-Canada: The Stars: Roy Dupuis.") Selected filmography and related links in French.
Roy Dupuis at Agence Premier Rôle. English version of official webpage.
Roy Dupuis The Official Roy Dupuis Fan Club
1963 births
Living people
Canadian male film actors
Canadian male television actors
Canadian male voice actors
Franco-Ontarian people
French Quebecers
National Theatre School of Canada alumni
People from Amos, Quebec
People from Kapuskasing
People from Laval, Quebec
People from Temiskaming Shores
Male actors from Quebec
Male actors from Ontario
Best Actor Genie and Canadian Screen Award winners
Best Actor Jutra and Iris Award winners
20th-century Canadian male actors
21st-century Canadian male actors