Olivier Gruner (; born 2 August 1960), is a French former naval commando, actor, director, producer, screenwriter, martial artist, and pilot. Born in Paris, France, he moved to the United States in 1988. His career in the film industry began in 1987 when he first appeared at the Cannes Film Festival in France. He has since appeared in over 40 films and four television series and is best known for his martial art and science fiction action films. Gruner is regarded as an "action hero" due to his portrayal of Alex Raine in Nemesis (1992), Lt. Sean Lambert in the Interceptor Force franchise (2000–2002), and of Dirk Longstreet in The Circuit franchise (2001-2006). He also played a role as Caution Templar in the film Mars (1997). His credits also include the urban action movie Angel Town (1989), Automatic (1994), Savate (1995), Mercenary (1996), Savage (1996), The White Pony (1999), Kumite (2000), Blizhniy Boy: The Ultimate Fighter (2007), Lost Warrior: Left Behind (2008), One Night (2010), and Beyond the Game (2016). As a martial artist, Gruner was a full-time kick-boxer in France for 8 years from 1981 to 1988. He became France middleweight champion, then the middleweight full-contact kickboxing world champion in 1985, and again middleweight kickboxing world champion in 1986. Early life and education Gruner was born the second of three sons to a French family of noted surgeons and engineers. As such, he was expected to pursue a traditional academic curriculum. Instead, he decided to be the black sheep of the family, with his family's support, and dedicate his life to the arts: martial arts at first, and then the 7th art. At age 11, he saw a Bruce Lee movie and became captivated with martial arts and inspired by the film industry. As he was constantly being bullied at school, this pushed him to learn martial arts in order to defend himself. He began studying Shotokan karate, then boxing, kickboxing, and full contact kickboxing, which is essentially a mixture of Western boxing and traditional karate. At age 18, he joined the French Navy, volunteering for their Commandos Marine unit, also nicknamed the Bérets Verts (Green Berets). That unit is reputed to be one of the toughest among the NATO Special Operation Forces, with a training attrition rate of 82%. The prospective Commandos in training are constantly under stress and pressure from instructors leaving them no respite. All activities