Johan Leysen, most international Flemish actor

In over forty years, Johan Leysen played more than 170 roles in films, TV series and theatre productions.

Johan Leysen was born on 19 February 1950 in Hasselt. In 1974, he completed his theatre training at the well-known Herman Teirlinck Studio. Initially, he was active in several Dutch theatre companies and acted in Dutch films such as the war drama Het meisje met het rode haar (1981) by Ben Verbong, the thriller De grens (1984) by Leon de Winter and others. In the early 1980s, he moved to France. In 1985, he played a professor there in Je vous salue, Marie, a drama film by the recently deceased French-Swiss director and founder of the Nouvelle Vague movement, Jean-Luc Godard. He would later appear in other French films, notably Patrice Chéreau's La Reine Margot (1994), Olivier Jahan's Faites comme si je n'étais pas là (2000), Christophe Gans' historical fantasy film Le pacte des loups (2001) and Olivier Megaton's thriller La sirène rouge (2002). Meanwhile, he wrote other roles to his name in the most diverse genres: romantic, musical, historical, adventure, erotic, crime and courtroom dramas, romantic, surreal and other comedies, science fiction, even horror films and TV series such as the Flemish De smaak van De Keyser (2008) and the Belgian-British-French The Missing (2014). And that in Belgium, the Netherlands, France, Germany, the United Kingdom, the United States ... He has had the good fortune and privilege of working with well-known directors, notably Belgians Harry Kümel in the Belgian-Dutch-French production Eline Vere (1991), Stijn Coninx (Daens 1992), Jan Verheyen (Het vonnis, 2013), Jaco Van Dormael (Le tout nouveau testament, 2015) and Frenchman François Ozon (Jeune et jolie, 2013). Unfortunately, the Dutch-Slovenian drama Pink Moon (2022) would be the last appearance of this actor with his characteristic face and strong personality who expertly empathised with his roles every time.

His acting achievements in front of the screen and on stage earned Johan Leysen several nominations and awards. In 2017, he was awarded a career award at the age of 67. On that occasion, the gentle language virtuoso with the deep voice that shunned life in the spotlight confided to the audience that he did not like growing old ... On 30 March, a cardiac arrest put an end to a flourishing European career.

Johan was the twin brother of renowned festival director and curator Frie Leysen. Their father, Bert Leysen, became the very first television programme director of the National Institute for Radio Broadcasting (NIR), today's Flemish public broadcaster VRT, in 1953.

Photo: © CC BY-SA 3.0 / BIND