Sebastian Roché

**Sebastian Roché** is a French actor and writer, known for his roles as Kurt Mendel on Odyssey 5, Jerry Jacks on the soap opera General Hospital, Thomas Jerome Newton on Fringe, Balthazar on Supernatural, Mikael on both The Vampire Diaries and The Originals, and Reichsminister Martin Heusmann on The Man in the High Castle.

He has appeared in the films The Last of the Mohicans (1992), The Peacemaker (1997), 15 Minutes (2001), Sorry, Haters (2005), The Namesake (2006), New York City Serenade (2007), Beowulf (2007), Happy Tears (2009), Safe House (2012), Wer (2013), and A Walk Among the Tombstones (2014). Roché also starred in the Broadway plays Salome (1992) and The Green Bird (2000).

## Early life

Roché was born in Paris to a Scottish mother, Gail (née Stewart), and a French father, Philippe Roché. He was named Sebastian Charles Edward after Jacobite pretender Charles Edward Stuart. From age 12 to 18, Roché lived on a sailboat with his parents and brothers, travelling to the Mediterranean, Africa, South America, and the Caribbean. He is multilingual – able to speak English, French, Spanish and Italian fluently.

Roché was educated at the Cours Florent in Paris and the École Nationale Supérieure des Arts et Techniques du Théâtre, and also attended the prestigious French National Academy of Dramatic Arts, from which he graduated in 1989. He moved to New York City in 1992.

## Career

Roché began his acting career in the made-for-television film *The Murders in the Rue Morgue*, appearing opposite Ian McShane and Val Kilmer, which aired on CBS on 7 December 1986. Throughout the late 1980s, he had roles in French television and cinema, including the films *Adieu je t'aime* (1988), *La Queue de la comète* (1988), *La Révolution française* (1989), and *A Woman's Revenge* (1990), and the television series *Bonjour maître* (1987) and *The Hitchhiker* (1989–1991). Roché also has an extensive classical theatre background, notably starring in *Salome* (1992) with Al Pacino at the Circle in the Square Theatre; *Titus Andronicus* (1994) with the Theatre for a New Audience, directed by Julie Taymor; *Macbeth* (1994) at the Classic Stage Company, directed by Jack Stehlin; and *Arms and the Man* (1995) in Hartford, Connecticut, directed by Mark Lamos. He appeared in a supporting role in the Daniel Day-Lewis-starring historical epic *The Last of the Mohicans*, which was released in the United States on 25 September 1992. On American television, he appeared in *Loving* (1992), *South Beach* (1993), *New York Undercover* (1996), *Swift Justice* (1996), and *Liberty!* (1997).

In 1997, Roché was part of the main cast in the Fox fantasy adventure series Roar, playing the role of Saint Longinus. He starred opposite Heath Ledger and Vera Farmiga.[11] The series was cancelled due to low ratings later that same year. Roché's many 1990s television credits include recurring and guest starring stints in series such as *Feds* (1997), *Dellaventura* (1997), *Sex and the City* (1998), *Merlin* (1998), *Law & Order* (1999), and *Big Apple* (2001). In 1998, he returned to the stage in the Off-Broadway production of *Trainspotting* at the Players Theater. In 2000, he portrayed Prince Renzo in the Broadway production of *The Green Bird* at the Cort Theatre. The play marked his second collaboration with director Julie Taymor. That same year, he appeared in the television film *The Crossing* opposite Jeff Daniels, which aired on A&E on 10 January 2000. He also had a minor role in the Robert De Niro-starring thriller film *15 Minutes*, released on 9 March 2001.

In 2002, Roché began portraying Kurt Mendel in the Canadian science fiction series *Odyssey 5* for Showtime. He remained in the role until the show's cancellation a year later. In the pilot episode, he spoke French. He also guest starred in episodes of *Touching Evil* (2004), *Charmed* (2005), *Alias* (2005), *CSI: Crime Scene Investigation* (2005), and *The Unit* (2006). Roché then co-starred in the Mira Nair-directed drama film *The Namesake*, released on 9 March 2007, and in the Darby Crash biopic *What We Do Is Secret*, released on 8 August 2008. He subsequently co-starred with Freddie Prinze, Jr. the comedy-drama *New York City Serenade*, which premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival on 13 September 2007.

Roché next starred in the motion capture epic fantasy film *Beowulf*, alongside Anthony Hopkins and Angelina Jolie, which was directed by Robert Zemeckis and released to cinemas on 16 November 2007. He reprised his role as Wulfgar from the film in the accompanying video game *Beowulf: The Game*, released on 13 November 2007. In 2007, Roché began appearing in the ABC soap opera *General Hospital* as terrorist/criminal Jerry Jacks (although, when the character reappeared, he was going by the pseudonym James Craig). By early 2009, Jerry had minimal screen time and was ultimately written out. Later, from July to August 2009, Roché returned to the series in a recurring capacity, and returned again to the role in December 2010. From August 2012 to October 2013, Roché again returned as the character on a recurring basis. He starred in a total of 319 episodes, and has spoken Russian, Spanish, and French in the series.

In 2009, Roché guest starred in *The Mentalist* as Shirali Arlov, and as John Quinn in both *24: Redemption* (2008), and the 2009 season of *24*. He then appeared in the comedy-drama film *Happy Tears* with Demi Moore and Parker Posey, released on 19 February 2010, and lent his voice to the animated film *The Adventures of Tintin*, directed by Steven Spielberg and released on 21 December 2011. In 2010, Roché joined the recurring cast of The CW's drama series *Supernatural*. He starred in six episodes of the sixth season as Balthazar, a rogue angel and longtime friend of fellow angel Castiel. He was next cast in the Fox science fiction drama series *Fringe*, recurring in the second and third seasons as Thomas Jerome Newton, the leader of an army of shapeshifters from a parallel universe and a main antagonist of the series.

In 2011, Roché began recurring as Mikael, the father of the Original Vampires, in The CW's supernatural drama series *The Vampire Diaries*. He then recurred as Clyde Easter in the CBS procedural crime drama series *Criminal Minds*. Roché next had a supporting role in the action-thriller film *Safe House*, starring Ryan Reynolds and Denzel Washington, which was released on 10 February 2012. Also in 2012, he made a guest appearance in NBC's procedural fantasy drama series *Grimm*. He then starred in William Brent Bell's horror film *Wer*, released first in Japan on 16 November 2013.

From 2014 to 2015, and continuing through 2018, Roché reprised his role as Mikael in *The Vampire Diaries* spin-off series, *The Originals*. Roché then starred in the American crime drama-thriller film *A Walk Among the Tombstones* alongside Liam Neeson, released on 19 September 2014. In March 2014, he joined ABC's political drama series *Scandal* in a recurring capacity. In December 2014, it was announced that Roché would guest star in season four of ABC's fairy tale drama series *Once Upon a Time* as King Stefan. Roché starred as Pierre Curie in an episode of the documentary miniseries *The Mystery of Matter: Search for the Elements*, which aired on PBS on 19 August 2015. Roché then guest starred in season seven of CBS' procedural drama series *NCIS: Los Angeles*, as Lee Ashman.

In 2016, Roché co-starred as Cardinal Michel Marivaux in Paolo Sorrentino's drama series *The Young Pope*, alongside Jude Law and James Cromwell. He also had a starring role in the second season and upcoming third season of Amazon Video's drama series *The Man in the High Castle* as Martin Heusmann, the estranged Nazi father of main character Joe Blake (Luke Kleintank). Roché co-starred in Christopher Gorham's directorial debut comedy *We Love You, Sally Carmichael!* (2017), portraying film star Perry Quinn, alongside Gorham and Bitsie Tulloch. He then appeared as Emile Gilot, the father of French painter Françoise Gilot, in the second season of the National Geographic anthology series *Genius*. Roché has been cast in a modern-day adaptation of the Molière play *Tartuffe*, making his West End theatre debut as Orgon. He will portray Klaus Jager in the war film *Burning at Both Ends*, opposite Cary Elwes and Judd Hirsch.

## Personal life

Roché met American actress Vera Farmiga while co-starring with her in the short-lived series Roar. They eloped to the Bahamas after the series ended in 1997, and lived on a 117-acre estate in Upstate New York. After seven years of marriage, Roché and Farmiga separated in 2004. On 31 May 2014, he married Australian actress Alicia Hannah (née Kim) at the Chateau Les Bouysses in Mercuès, France. The couple co-starred in the film *We Love You, Sally Carmichael!* (2017).

## Trivia

* Speaks four languages. French, English, Italian and Spanish.
* Lived for six years on a sailing boat with his family and was home schooled.
* Has often been mistaken for famous chef Gordon Ramsay.
* Was named Sebastian Charles Edward Roché after Jacobite pretender Charles Edward Stuart.
* His mother, Gail (Stewart), was born in England to Scottish parents, and his father, Philippe Roché, was born in Austria to French parents.
* Moved to New York City in 1992, then to Los Angeles in 2007.
* He learned four languages fluently, which helped him to land the role of Jerry Jacks on General Hospital.
* In addition to screen acting, he made a documentary about a pastor running an orphanage in Sudan.
* He was married to Vera Farmiga from 1997 until 2005. In 2014, he married Alicia Hannah.
* He was in the 2007 film Beowulf, which starred Anthony Hopkins.