THE CUSP OF TIME: Omar Sy is taking on a new role — with Jaeger-LeCoultre.
The French actor is the watchmaker’s latest “friend of the house” and the star of the newest episode of its “The Hour Before” series, which explores the often-unseen moment that precedes a defining achievement.
“With his commitment to his craft, his quiet confidence and his distinctive and constantly evolving style, Omar Sy epitomizes our maison’s values and aesthetics,” said Jérôme Lambert, chief executive officer of Jaeger-LeCoultre.
A winner of France’s prestigious César Award for Best Actor, Sy shot to fame thanks to a long-running comedy shorts series as part of the “Omar et Fred” duo before moving onto the big screen.
International recognition came after he starred in “The Intouchables” in 2011, where he portrayed a streetwise youth who becomes the personal care assistant of a wealthy quadriplegic, a performance that netted him the César.
Sy then landed roles in Hollywood blockbusters such as “X-Men: Days of Future Past” and the “Jurassic Park” franchise. Global recognition continued to build through Netflix’s “Lupin” series inspired by the fictional gentleman thief Arsène Lupin, with its fourth series set for release in the fall and for which the actor is also artistic producer.
He will return to the silver screen with “Dumas: Black Devil,” a historic biopic on France’s first Black military general, slated for a 2027 release.
But before that, he will explore the journey that built up to “The Intouchables” in his episode of Jaeger-LeCoultre’s “The Hour Before.”
For the French actor, it “remains a turning point,” he said in exclusive remarks shared with WWD first. “Not only because of its success, but because it changed the way people saw me and the way I saw my possibilities as an actor.”
But it was the result of “years of learning, performing, making mistakes, and building confidence,” he said. “Nothing happened overnight. When that opportunity arrived, I was ready to embrace it because of everything that came before. Looking back, the role felt like a door opening onto a much larger world.”
He sees the hour before as being “about gratitude,” and “one of the rare moments where everything becomes quiet.”
In that moment, “you remember the work, the people who helped you get there, the risks you took,” the actor continued. “The outcome is still unknown, and there is something beautiful about that uncertainty. That hour reminds me why I do this in the first place.”
Lambert said the series underscores the watchmaker’s “belief in the importance of dedication, resilience, and the relentless pursuit of mastery — qualities intrinsically linked to the spirit of Jaeger-LeCoultre and our watchmaking heritage,” with episodes around its global ambassadors Lenny Kravitz, Jackson Yee and Kim Woo Bin as well as friend of the house Joshua, the K-pop star who is a member of supergroup Seventeen.
“We collaborate with individuals who embody these values, sharing their pivotal moments to inspire a wide audience with their journeys of dedication and passion,” the CEO continued. “Like watchmaking, mastery in art, music, cinema, or sport demands an unwavering commitment to precision and countless unseen hours of preparation, highlighted in this series.”
