Mani Soleymanlou (born 1982) is a Canadian actor and playwright based in Montreal, Quebec.[1] He is most noted for his regular role as police officer Robert "Coco" Bédard in the television series Happily Married (C'est comme ça que je t'aime),[2] and his position as the current artistic director of the French theatre program at the National Arts Centre.[3]
Born in Tehran, Iran, he moved with his family to France in childhood before they moved again to Toronto, Ontario, when he was nine.[1] He was educated at the University of Ottawa and the National Theatre School of Canada,[4] and founded his own Montreal-based theatre company, Orange Noyée, in 2011.[1] He first became known for Un/One, Deux/Two and Trois/Three, a series of plays about immigrant identity;[5] initially staged individually, he later presented a version which saw all three plays performed as a continuous trilogy,[6] as well as the solo performance ZÉRO on related themes.[1]
He was appointed artistic director of the NAC French theatre in 2020.[3] In the same year he was one of the hosts of the 22nd Quebec Cinema Awards, which were presented as a webcast due to the COVID-19 pandemic.[7]
