His father was from Chisināu. He plays GillesTriquet, the officer manager and equivalent of David Brent in Le Bureau, the French version of The Office, produced by Canal+. He also appeared in the 2002 film The Transporter as the French com- missaire named Tarconi, an active and honest police officer who is an acquaintance of Frank Martin (Jason Statham). He reprised the role in the sequels Transporter 2 and Transporter 3 and the TV series. While studying at business school, he trained as an actor, somewhat against his will; his first stage role was in a play called Sur une plage de l'Ouest (On a beach in the West). After graduation, he enrolled in drama classes with Tania Balachova and then met Daniel, adirector under whose auspices he worked from 1974 to 1981, participating in a dozen productions, mainly of contempo- rary classics.Berléand began his film career in 1978 with supporting roles in successful comedies throughout the 1980s. After a series of highly acclaimed supporting roles, including My Small Business for which he won the César for best actor in a supporting role in 2000, he won his first major role in the film My Idol by Guillaume Canet which brought his name and face to the wider public. In Martin et Léa, he plays a police inspector, a role he went on to perform many times on screen (La Balance, Les mois d'avril sont meurtriers (based onthe novel The Devil's Home on Leave by Derek Raymond), and more others.