Barbara Sarafian was born on April 16, 1968, in Ghent, Belgium, to a father who was a half-Armenian painter and a mother who was a painter and teacher at the Royal Academy of Fine Arts in Ghent. She was raised bilingual in French and Flemish/Dutch.
She studied at the Academy of Dramatic Arts in Antwerp and at Parallax in Brussels. Initially, she was known as "Sonja Duplex", her alter ego on the radio show "De Lieve Lust" on 'Studio Brussel'.
Sarafian's first appearance in a feature film was in the short film "Pasta!". She quickly gained an international career with "CQ", directed by Roman Coppola, and "Fortress 2 - Re-Entry", directed by Geoff Murphy. In 1999, she starred in her first big role in Peter Greenaway's "8 ½ Women" as Clothilde.
She took a sabbatical for a few years to raise her son. In 2008, Sarafian starred in Christophe Van Rompaey's "Moscow, Belgium" as Matty, a 41-year-old mother of three surviving her husband's mid-life crisis and falling in love with Johnny, a much younger truckdriver. Her powerful performance in the role won her awards at numerous festivals, including two awards for best actress. In the USA, newspapers wrote about Barbara Sarafian turning in "an Oscar-caliber performance".
Subsequently, she appeared convincingly in "SM-rechter", "Saint", "Zot van A." and "Marieke, Marieke"; for the latter, she was nominated for best actress in a supporting role.
In 2011, she starred in the role of Eva Forrestier in Michael Roskam's "Rundskop" (Bullhead) along with Matthias Schoenaerts. Between 2012 and 2015, she played starring and supporting roles in "Allez, Eddy", "Emmenez-Moi", "Hemel", "Billy the Bully" and "Brasserie Romantiek". For her role in "Brasserie Romantiek", she won the Ensor Award for Best Supporting Actress.
Most recently, she has starred in Nic Balthazar's "Everybody Happy" as Laura Maris and as Marianne in Christophe Van Rompaey's "Vincent". For the latter film, she won the 2016 Boccalino d'Oro Award for Best Actress.
Besides her work on the big screen, she has a comprehensive palmares in television series and shows. She plays main roles in i.a. "Dubbelleven", "Vossenstreken", "Clan (The Out-Laws)" and "In Vlaamse Velden". For her role in "in Vlaamse velden", she won a TV star for Best Actress. Her main supporting roles were in "Zone Stad", "Kiekens", "Aspe" and "Professor T". She has also starred in sketch and comedy shows such as "achter de feiten", "Tegen de sterren op" and "Wat als?".
Barbara Sarafian has also played some acclaimed roles in theatre. Her remarkable performances were in i.a. 'Uniroyal', 'Alles van Eva (All about Eve)' and 'Closer'. Sarafian will be playing in Gilles Coulier's "Cargo",..."Wij", and the TV series "Beau Séjour", "De Infiltrant" and "De Dag".
