Sebastian Roché

Sebastian Roche is an upcoming actor on Once Upon a Time, portraying the role of King Stefan.

Early Life
Roché was born in Paris, France. He is of Scottish and French descent. He is also fluent in four languages: English, French, Spanish, and Italian. As a teenager, he lived for six years on a sailing boat with his family, travelling from France to the Mediterranean, Africa, South America, and the Caribbean. He is a graduate of the prestigious Conservatoire National Superieur d'Art Dramatique of Paris. Roché studied at the Cours Florent, the Conservatoire de la Rue Blanche (ENSATT) and the CNSAD. Upon his graduation from the Conservatoire National d'Art Dramatique in 1989, Roché started working in French theatre, films and television with such actors as Michel Serrault, Isabelle Huppert, and Béatrice Dalle.

Career
Roché has extensive classical theatre background and credits, notably in Salome with Al Pacino, Titus Andronicus and The Green Bird with Julie Taymor, Hamlet, Arms and the Man, Macbeth, Mirandolina and Trainspotting.

Roché has since worked extensively in the U.S., collaborating with Al Pacino, Julie Taymor, and Mark Lamos, among others. His many television and film credits include: Law & Order, New York Undercover, Sex and the City, Merlin, The Crossing, Touching Evil, Charmed, Alias, CSI, The Unit, Never Get Outta the Boat, We Fight to be Free, and General Hospital. He also starred in What We Do Is Secret with Shane West, New York City Serenade with Freddie Prinze Jr, and Beowulf with Anthony Hopkins, John Malkovich, and Angelina Jolie.

In 1997, he took the role of Longinus on the FOX television series Roar, starring Heath Ledger, until its cancelation the same year. In 2002, he took the role of Kurt Mendel in the sci-fi television series Odyssey 5. He remained in the role until the show's cancelation in 2004. He appeared on General Hospital as terrorist/criminal Jerry Jacks, although, when the character reappeared, he was going by the pseudonym James Craig. In April 2007, it was announced that Roché had been signed to a contract on General Hospital, keeping his character around for the foreseeable future. His first contractual airdate was 23 April 2007, which was also the date that his character's true identity was revealed. By 2009, Jerry had a minimal role and was eventually written out. Roché returned to the show on a recurring basis between July and August 2009. He returned again to the role in December 2010. From August 2012 to October 2013, he again returned to the role in a recurring capacity. On General Hospital, he spoke in Russian, Spanish, and French, and on the pilot episode of Odyssey 5, he spoke in French.

In 2009, he guest starred on The Mentalist as Shirali Arlov, and as John Quinn in both 24: Redemption (2008), and the 2009 season of 24. He appeared in Happy Tears with Demi Moore and Parker Posey, and in 2011's The Adventures of Tintin, directed by Steven Spielberg. Roché also starred in the sixth season of the CW series Supernatural as Balthazar, a rogue angel and longtime friend of fellow angel, Castiel. On the TV series Fringe, Roché was cast as a recurring character Newton, the leader of an army of shapeshifters from a parallel universe. His character recurred in some episodes of season 2 and 3; Newton died in the episode "Do Shapeshifters Dream of Electric Sheep".

Roché is currently directing his first feature-length documentary titled Machine Gun Preacher, on the life of Sam Childers, a pastor who opened an orphanage for orphans and child soldiers in war-torn south Sudan. In 2011, Roche appeared as the recurring character Mikael, an original vampire and the father of The Originals, on The Vampire Diaries for the The CW. From 2013 to 2014, he reprised his role as Mikael in the spin-off series The Originals. Roché returned to General Hospital on October 12, 2014 as Jerry Jacks.

In 2014, Roché was cast as King Stefan in ABC's Once Upon a Time.

Personal Life
Roché moved to the United States in 1992. Roché met American actress Vera Farmiga while starring together on the television series Roar. They eloped to the Bahamas after the series ended in 1997. They separated in 2004, and were divorced in 2005. On 31 May 2014, he married Australian actress Alicia Hannah in Mercuès, France.