Mani Soleymanlou
Mani Soleymanlou (born 1982) is a Canadian actor and playwright based in Montreal, Quebec. 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), and his position as the current artistic director of the French theatre program at the National Arts Centre.
Born in Tehran, Iran, he moved with his family to France in childhood before they moved again to Toronto, Ontario, when he was nine. He was educated at the University of Ottawa and the National Theatre School of Canada, and founded his own Montreal-based theatre company, Orange Noyée, in 2011. He first became known for Un/One, Deux/Two and Trois/Three, a series of plays about immigrant identity; initially staged individually, he later presented a version which saw all three plays performed as a continuous trilogy, as well as the solo performance ZÉRO on related themes.
He was appointed artistic director of the NAC French theatre in 2020. 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.