David Belle
Biography
David Belle is a French actor who also works as a film choreographer and stunt coordinator, recognized as the founder and leading pioneer of parkour. Born in Fécamp, he first developed the discipline in Normandy while living with his grandfather and later moved to Lisses, where he trained with friends who became the Yamakasi. His Speed Air Man video and a 1997 Stade 2 report helped bring parkour to wider attention. Belle moved into acting after a meeting with Hubert Koundé and a stage role in Pygmalion, appearing in French projects such as Femme Fatale and Les rivières pourpres 2. Luc Besson then cast him in District 13 and District 13: Ultimatum (2009), and he starred in Brick Mansions (2014) with Paul Walker. He consulted on Babylon A.D. (2008), The Family (2013), Prince of Persia, Colombiana, and the Dying Light games, and chairs the Parkour Committee of the International Federation of Gymnastics.
53years old
Turns 54 on April 29in 198 days
- Born Fécamp
- Star sign: TaurusThe sign runs April 20 to May 20
- Also credited as David Nicolas Williams Belle
Movie Career
- Films
- 5
- Career span
- 10 years2008 to 2018
Every film, newest first
- 2018Defying ChaseIMDb rating 4.6
- 2014Brick MansionsIMDb rating 5.6
- 2013The FamilyIMDb rating 6.3
- 2009District 13: UltimatumIMDb rating 6.5
- 2008Babylon A.D.IMDb rating 5.5
Genres
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First role
Belle's acting career started when he met Hubert Koundé to talk about how parkour was doing in cinema. He went on to build his acting skills through the play Pygmalion.
A change of course
After he finished his national service, Belle held jobs as a security guard, a furniture salesman and a warehouse worker. He also studied kung fu for 3 months in India.
A first
Belle kept training in parkour after coming back and made footage of his skills into the well known Speed Air Man video. In 1997 the Stade 2 team saw a video of him and chose to film the first news broadcast with him and the Yamakasi.
Big break
Luc Besson reached out to Belle about starring alongside Cyril Raffaelli as lead actor in the action movie District 13, and then in the sequel District 13: Ultimatum.
David Belle movies on Netflix
Worked with
David Belle made one film with each of them. Pick a number on the chart or a name in the list to see the films they share.
Films together
Robert De Niro's page
Gérard Depardieu's page
Tommy Lee Jones's page
Charlotte Rampling's page
Mark Strong's page
Michelle Pfeiffer's page
All films by Luc Besson
All films by Mathieu Kassovitz
Patrick AlessandrinDirector, 1 film, 2009
Online
Official profiles and reference pages.