In an acting career spanning around three decades, Kumaresan Duraisamy - popularly known by his stage name Napoleon - has appeared in over a hundred movies across all major South Indian film industries. He started out in negative roles, before segueing into lead and character roles; and is perhaps best remembered for his performance in the Malayalam drama film Devasuram (1993), where he essayed the role of chief antagonist Mundakkal Shekharan opposite Mohanlal.

Napoleon has predominantly appeared in Tamil films in the course of his career and has delivered memorable performances in movies like Seevalaperi Pandi (1994), Ettupatti Rasa (1997), Virumandi (2004) and Dasavatharam (2008). His work in the 1997 drama film Ettupatti Rasa earned Napoleon a Special Mention at that year`s Tamil Nadu State Film Awards. Besides acting, Napoleon has also ventured into entrepreneurship by founding the IT firm Jeevan Technologies and politics by serving as the Minister of State for Social Justice and Empowerment in the Manmohan Singh cabinet.

Other significant movie credits include the Telugu crime drama Siva (1989), the Rajinikanth starrer Ejamaan (1993), Pokkiri (2007), Kidaari (2016) and Seemaraja (2018). His 2021 release includes the action-drama film Sulthan.