Raised in the South of France, the only child Philippe Durand started his career with the Alphabet Theater, a reputable independent theater company in Nice, in the play entitled "Dieu aboie-t-il?" by Francois Boyer. Encouraged by the reviews, Philippe pursued acting, mostly stage, playing the leading men in "The School Of Wives", "Don Juan" and "The Misanthrope" among others. Philippe got his first theatrical roles with the studio Of the Victorine: "Ombres", "Heidi", an appearance in "Dirty Rotten Scoundrels" with Michael Caine and Steve Martin, and "Monte-Carlo" with Joan Collins. But it was on stage, at the National Theater of Nice directed at the time by Jacques Weber, that Philippe caught the attention of the producers and agents with the lead role of the tormented and versatile soldier in love, Woyzeck, in "Woyzeck" by Georg Buchner. Philippe won a critic Award for the role (1994). Philippe is also a singer-songwriter and played piano at the well-known Conservatory of Nice at a very young age. He won many prizes from 5 to 18 year old before starting an acting career a few years later. It was in Paris that Philippe started to write and to direct while pursuing his acting career. With four shorts (two award -winning in European festivals), three full scripts and his credits as an actor under his belt, Philippe arrived in Los Angeles. He bought an old American car at first and was working hard to smoothe his accent. Being stuck in LA traffic was helpful for Philippe. He practiced constantly that way. He soon appeared in a series of guest-starring roles in "USA High" (1998), "Seven Stages", the co-lead in the independent film "Pinter", and the lead in another independent film "The Islander". He then booked a guest-starring role in the Emmy Award -winning show, "Frasier" (2001), played the role of a mean French lover in the feature film "Not Entirely Awake" (2002), booked the co-lead in the French-English-Italian feature "Two Lonely Friends" (2003), and a challenging co-starring role in "American Dreams" (2004), playing the French Mercenaire, Rene, who gives JJ (played by Will Estes) a hard time. He also played on stage the role of Valmont in "Dangerous Liaisons" by Laclos. Philippe has been seen in a feature film with Christopher Walken entitled "Balls of Fury"(Focus Pictures/Universal)(2007). He went to Brazil to play the role of the race car pilot Symington in "Bluecross". He played on stage Jean-Pierre, the French lover of an American girl named Emma, in a love triangle story entitled "The Innocent Love of a Butterfly". This play was originally a screenplay that will be soon made into a feature film. He passed successfully his first audition at the Actors Studio with a scene from Fool For Love by Sam Sheppard, playing the role of Eddie, a cowboy. For a Frenchman, that was already an accomplishment. Something that will help him later on. Meanwhile Philippe has been pursuing his writing and directing career in the US and in Europe. Philippe's first American movie as a writer-director, "Black and Blue"(2005-2006), was a touching story about missing children. "Black and Blue" received acclaims from associations for the missing children. In 2008 he was approached to be part of an epic story about love and racism with an American cast. Philippe's other focus has been a compelling love story drama entitled "The Innocent Love of a Butterfly". Philippe will be involved in this feature film as an actor, writer, among an international and Award winning cast. Presently the main project that brings Philippe to the US is a spectacular feature film drama entitled "The Devil Never Sleeps", by director Ralph Server, winner of the 2004 New York Independent Film Festival with the film "Without Mercy". Philippe has been approached by writer-director Ralph Server to play the lead role in this unique drama, in the style of "Ocean 11", and was seduced by the depth and complexity of his character. This role went to Alain Delon 15 years ago before the sudden death of one of the producers, Boris Sagal, that stopped the production of the film at that time. An international cast with American names and a number of outstanding upcoming and known young actresses will be part of "The Devil Never Sleeps". Philippe's fascination for westerns took an unexpected turn when a director from New York asked Philippe to play a co leading role in a western. Enthusiastic, Philippe accepted the role and even trained to look and act like a real cowboy. His previous experience as a cowboy in the play Fool for Love was helpful. On a personal level, Philippe has been engaged three times. His last love story sadly ended at the end of the year 2009 after 3 years. Although Philippe likes to say that being engaged to a girl with all the qualities a man desires and who is not in the same business was such a relief. But life goes on. Philippe has recently been dating a beautiful and talented young woman. Is she or not involved in the acting world? A love story to be continued...

At 5 years old, Philippe started piano and later won many prizes at the reputable Conservatory of Nice.