Éric Caravaca (born 21 November 1966) is a French actor, film director and screenwriter.
The son of an engineer, Caravaca (of Spanish origin) studied literature while taking acting lessons. After obtaining his degree, he left for Paris, where he joined l'École nationale supérieure d'arts et techniques du théâtre, and completed his formation at the Conservatoire national supérieur d'art dramatique. He then went to New York City in 1993, where he studied at the Actors Studio for a year.
Upon his return to France, he began his career in theatre and gained attention in Samuel Beckett's Waiting for Godot. He made his film debut in 1996, in Un samedi sur la terre by Diane Bertrand. He played mostly small roles until C'est quoi la vie?, directed by François Dupeyron in 1999, which earned him the César Award for Most Promising Actor. He worked again with Dupeyron in La chambre des officiers in 2001, and appeared as Luc in Patrice Chéreau's film Son frère in 2003, opposite Bruno Todeschini.
He directed his first film The Passenger in 2005, in which he also played a role (Thomas), opposite Julie Depardieu, which was presented at the Venice Film Festival.
Selected filmography
1998 - La voie est libre, directed by Stéphane Clavier
1999 - Empty Days, directed by Marion Vernoux
1999 - La vie ne me fait pas peur, directed by Noémie Lvovsky
1999 - C'est quoi la vie?
2000 - La parenthèse enchantée, directed by Michel Spinosa
2000 - Sans plomb, director Muriel Téodori
2001 - The Officers' Ward, directed by François Dupeyron
2002 - Les amants du Nil, directed by Eric Heumann
2002 - Novo, directed by Jean-Pierre Limosin
2003 - Son frère, directed by Patrice Chéreau
2003 - That Woman, directed by Guillaume Nicloux
2004 - Inguelezi, directed by François Dupeyron
2005 - The Passenger
2006 - La Raison du plus faible, directed by Lucas Belvaux
2007 - Mon colonel, directed by Laurent Herbiet
2008 - Cliente, directed by Josiane Balasko
2009 - Eden à l'ouest [1], directed by Costas Gavras
2009 - Une petite zone de turbulences, directed by Alfred Lot
2010 - La petite chambre, directed by Stéphanie Chuat and Véronique Reymond
2011 - Chicken with Plums directed by Marjane Satrapi and Vincent Paronnaud
2015 - Prejudice directed by Antoine Cuypers
2017 - Back to Burgundy directed by Cédric Klapisch
2017 - Lover for a Day
2018 – Hippocrate, directed by Thomas Lilti
2019 - By the Grace of God directed by François Ozon
2021 - Everything Went Fine directed by François Ozon
2023 - Année Zéro, directed by Olivier Barma
2024 - Three Friends, directed by Emmanuel Mouret
