Born on August 12, 1957 in Abidjan, Côte d'Ivoire, Zachari Bankolé, aka Isaac de Bankolé, is an internationally acclaimed actor from Côte d'Ivoire. His life is a veritable voyage through the worlds of passion.
Although his parents were originally from Benin, Isaach de Bankolé was born in Côte d'Ivoire in 1957. But at the age of 17, he was sent to Paris to study to become an airplane pilot. This is where the story begins for the young man.
After graduating in mathematics, he decided to turn to acting, and joined the Cours Simon. Not a very logical choice, given his initial ambitions and the purpose he was charged with fulfilling.
He made his first screen appearance in 1984. Some time later, the man acquired sufficient notoriety thanks to the success of Black Mic Mac, a funny portrait of the black community in Paris by Thomas Gilou: it was the gateway to paradise. It was from this point on that his career took a decisive turn.
He made his film debut in 1986 with Thomas Gilou's Black Mic-Mac, for which he won the César for Best New Male Talent in 1987. He was soon to appear in other comedies, from Keufs to Vanille fraise, but the man who worked in the theater with Chéreau and Mesguich was soon spotted by the two Claire d'auteur filmmakers: Devers (Noir et Blanc) and above all Denis, who offered him two of his finest roles, as the boy of a French family living in Cameroon in Chocolat (1988) and as a cockfight organizer in S'en fout la mort (1990).
In the early 90s, Bankolé forged a close working relationship with one of Claire Denis' American friends, Jim Jarmusch. He played the cab driver for a blind Béatrice Dalle in Night on Earth, and a warm, joking ice-cream salesman in Ghost Dog (1999).
This cosmopolitan actor has worked with Portugal's Pedro Costa, Mali's Sissoko (Battu, his first experience in Africa) and Denmark's Lars von Trier - he plays a rebellious, sensual slave in Manderlay (2005). Having settled in the United States in 1997, in 2000 he signed a documentary about his wife, singer Cassandra Wilson, made his debut as a producer (Homework, 2004) and joined the cast of Michael Mann's Miami Vice (2006).
In April 2007, he was awarded the Chevalier de la Légion d'Honneur.
Isaach De Bankolé, who is now the pride of Africa, has been living in the United States for several years, and is married to American jazz singer Cassandra Wilson. He is a cosmopolitan actor who works with European, American and African directors. Finally, he was named one of the "100 personalities of the African diaspora" by the pan-African magazine Jeune Afrique.
Selective filmography
2019: Schaft by Tim Story
2018: Black Panther by Ryan Coogler
2013: Mother of george by Andrew Dosunmu,
Désordres by Etienne Faure
2010: White material by Claire Denis
2009: The limits of control by Jim Jarmusch
2006: Miami vice by Michael Mann
The Diving Suit and the Butterfly by Julian Schnabel
casino royale by martin Campbell
2005: Manderlay by Lars von Trier