KRIS CUPPENS

BIOGRAPHY

°May 22, 1962

Kris obtained a master's degree in architecture and scenography from the Brussels art school Sint-Lukas, he then trained as an actor at the Royal Conservatory in Brussels and at Lee Strasberg's Theater Institute in New York. Later he participated in the Jeker Directing Studio, organized by the Maastricht Academy of Dramatic Arts and further developed his writing skills in several courses for screen writing.

Currently, Kris works as an actor in theatre, film and television. His most famous role on television is most likely as Willy in Heterdaad from 1996 to 1999). More recently he appeared in the television series Albert II, Spitsbroers 1 and 2 (The Score), De 16, Ennemi Public and Beau séjour. In feature films, he has acted in Nue Propriété, Adem, Bullhead, Resurrection and Nos batailles. Kris has worked for theatres such as NTGent, KVS, Speeltheater, and De Korre, as well as theatre companies like De Parade, De Queeste and BZB. Since 2002, he is a member of the actor group around Het Nieuwstedelijk.

CV

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• CV Kris Cuppens

HIGHER EDUCATION

• Sint-Lukas Higher Institute of Architecture

  Master of Architecture

• Royal Conservatory Brussels

  1st prize Drama

• LUCA School of Arts
  Master in het Drama

OTHER

• Scenography led by Luc Dhooghe

• Lee Strasberg Theatre Institute New-York

• Jeker Directing Studio

• Scenario course VSA, led by Patrick Cattrysse

  
  

It was at Het Nieuwstedelijk that Kris began working as a theatre director. He has written plays that convey a great sense of inner turmoil, often starting from a biographical point of view. The uneasy relationship with a father was already featured prominently in plays such as Vaderland and Kean en zoon. These performances dealt with the choices a father must make and how they inevitably have an effect on children. It is also the starting point for Lied, the generation project, which he made for Braakland / ZheBilding following the birth of his son Jef, and for which he received the Toneelschrijfprijs van de Taalunie in 2006. For Bronks Kris created, together with the music theatre company Braakland, the children's show Klopterop. Adem  was a haunting and apocalyptic performance about the struggle to survive. In his most recent performance Zwischen (Family Matters), directed by Suze Millius, Kris shares the stage with his father, son and daughter.

In addition to his engagement in the artistic core of Het Nieuwstedelijk, where he regularly works on plays, Kris has also made films, as actor and co-writer, with Joachim Lafosse, a French-speaking Belgian film director. Together they made Folie Privée (Bratislava prize for international film criticism; Locarno prize for Best European Film), Ça rend heureux (Audience Film Festival Brussels) and Nue propriété (with Isabelle Huppert and Jérémie Renier, Venice selection Best Belgian Film 2008). In these works, he once again employed his own biography in order to say something about life in this day and age.

Aside from working in theatre and as a filmmaker, Kris is also a teacher, lecturer and researcher at LUCA Drama, School of Arts (Leuven).

INFO

• Date of birth: 22/05/1962

• Length: 1.80 m

• Weight: 75 kg

• Eyes: blue-green

• Hair: brown / gray

LANGUAGES

• Dutch
• French
• English
• German
  
  

SPORTS

• running
• swimming
• horseback riding
  
• motorcycling
• notions of combat sports
  
  

MUSIC

• singing (baritone, tenor)
• notions of piano, sousaphone and harmonica