Xavier Dolan-Tadros (; born 20 March 1989) is a Canadian filmmaker, actor and costume designer. He began his career as a child actor in commercials before directing several arthouse feature films. He first received international acclaim in 2009 for his feature film

directorial debut This is a list of film directorial debuts in chronological order. The films and dates referred to are a director's first commercial cinematic release. Many film makers have directed works which were not commercially released, for example early work ...

, ''

I Killed My Mother ''I Killed My Mother'' (french: J'ai tué ma mère) is a 2009 Canadian drama film written, directed, produced by and starring Xavier Dolan, in his directorial debut. Loosely autobiographical, it follows the complicated relationship between a yo ...

'' (), which he also starred in, wrote, and produced, and which premiered at the

62nd Cannes Film Festival The 62nd Cannes Film Festival was held from 13 May to 24 May 2009. French actress Isabelle Huppert was the President of the Jury. Twenty films from thirteen countries were selected to compete for the Palme d'Or. The awards were announced on 23 M ...

in the

Directors' Fortnight The Directors' Fortnight (french: Quinzaine des Réalisateurs) is an independent selection of the Cannes Film Festival. It was started in 1969 by the French Directors Guild after the events of May 1968 resulted in cancellation of the Cannes festi ...

section and won three awards from the program."Québécois filmmaker electrifies Cannes"
. ''

The Globe and Mail ''The Globe and Mail'' is a Canadian newspaper printed in five cities in western and central Canada. With a weekly readership of approximately 2 million in 2015, it is Canada's most widely read newspaper on weekdays and Saturdays, although it ...

'', 25 May 2009. Since 2009, he has written and directed eight feature films, all of which have premiered at Cannes, with the exception of ''

Tom at the Farm ''Tom at the Farm'' (french: Tom à la ferme) is a 2013 Canadian psychological thriller film directed by and starring Xavier Dolan. The film is based on the play of the same name by Michel Marc Bouchard, who co-wrote the screenplay with Dolan. I ...

''—which premiered at the 70th Venice International Film Festival in 2013—and his first English-language film, '' The Death & Life of John F. Donovan'', which premiered at the 2018 Toronto International Film Festival. Dolan has also directed music videos, notably with

Adele Adele Laurie Blue Adkins (, ; born 5 May 1988), professionally known by the mononym Adele, is an English singer and songwriter. After graduating in arts from the BRIT School in 2006, Adele signed a rec ...

for the videos of her singles " Hello" (2015), and " Easy on Me" (2021), for which he received a

Grammy Award for Best Music Video The Grammy Award for Best Music Video is an honor presented at the Grammy Awards, a ceremony that was established in 1958 and originally called the Gramophone Awards, to performers, directors, and producers of quality short form music videos. Hon ...

nomination. Dolan has won many accolades for his work, including the Jury Prize at the

2014 Cannes Film Festival The 67th Cannes Film Festival was held from 14 to 25 May 2014. New Zealand film director Jane Campion was the head of the jury for the main competition section. The Palme d'Or was awarded to the Turkish film ''Winter Sleep'' directed by Nuri Bil ...

for '' Mommy'' and the

Grand Prix Grand Prix ( , meaning ''Grand Prize''; plural Grands Prix), is a name sometimes used for competitions or sport events, alluding to the winner receiving a prize, trophy or honour Grand Prix or grand prix may refer to: Arts and entertainment ...

at the

2016 Cannes Film Festival The 69th Cannes Film Festival was held from 11 to 22 May 2016. Australian director George Miller was the President of the Jury for the main competition. French actor Laurent Lafitte was the host for the opening and closing ceremonies. On 15 Marc ...

for '' It's Only the End of the World.'' He has also won several Canadian Screen Awards and

César Award Cesar, César or Cèsar may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * ''César'' (film), a 1936 film directed by Marcel Pagnol * ''César'' (play), a play by Marcel Pagnolt * César Award, a French film award Places * Cesar, Portugal * Ces ...

s. Outside of his own films, Dolan has also starred in films from other directors, including '' Elephant Song'' (2014), '' Boy Erased'' (2018), '' Bad Times at the El Royale'' (2018), and '' It Chapter Two'' (2019).

Early life

Dolan was born and raised in

Montreal Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the second-most populous city in Canada and most populous city in the Canadian province of Quebec. Founded in 1642 as '' Ville-Marie'', or "City of Mary", it is named after Mount Royal, the triple- ...

, Quebec. He is the son of Geneviève Dolan, a Quebecois teacher, and

Manuel Tadros Hany Manuel Tadros ( ar, مانويل تادرس; born September 30, 1956) is an Egyptian-Canadian singer, songwriter, actor, comedian and voice actor. He currently works and lives in Quebec. Early life Tadros was born in Cairo, Egypt to a Ch ...

, a successful Egyptian-Canadian actor and singer of Coptic and Lebanese descent.

Career

Early films

Dolan attracted international attention with his

, ''

'' (), which he wrote, directed, produced and starred in at the age of 19, using funds from his extensive work as a child actor. He reportedly began writing the script when he was 16 years old. He said in an interview with Canadian newspaper that the film was partly autobiographical. The film was at first financed solely by Dolan, but when need for more money arose, he asked

Telefilm A television film, alternatively known as a television movie, made-for-TV film/movie or TV film/movie, is a feature-length film that is produced and originally distributed by or to a television network, in contrast to theatrical films made for ...

and the SODEC for subsidies. Each turned him down for different reasons. SODEC, who had loved the project but refused to finance it because it was submitted to a too commercial department, encouraged Dolan to submit it again in more appropriate "indie" department, which he did. In December 2008, SODEC gave him a $400,000 subsidy. In all, the film cost around $800,000

CAD Computer-aided design (CAD) is the use of computers (or ) to aid in the creation, modification, analysis, or optimization of a design. This software is used to increase the productivity of the designer, improve the quality of design, improve c ...

. Dolan said that the system to acquire funding is "an obsolete financing mechanism that holds the creative assets of Quebec hostage". Xavier Dolan

The film premiered at the

Director's Fortnight The Directors' Fortnight (french: Quinzaine des Réalisateurs) is an independent selection of the Cannes Film Festival. It was started in 1969 by the French Directors Guild after the events of May 1968 resulted in cancellation of the Cannes festi ...

program of the

2009 Cannes Film Festival The 62nd Cannes Film Festival was held from 13 May to 24 May 2009. French actress Isabelle Huppert was the President of the Jury. Twenty films from thirteen countries were selected to compete for the Palme d'Or. The awards were announced on 23 M ...

where it received an eight-minute standing ovation and won three awards: the Art Cinema Award, the SACD Prize for screenplay, and the Prix Regards Jeunes. It also won a Lumière Award and four

Jutra Awards The Prix Iris is a Canadian film award, presented annually by Québec Cinéma, which recognizes talent and achievement in the mainly francophone feature film industry in Quebec.Denis Villeneuve Denis Villeneuve (; born October 3, 1967) is a Canadian filmmaker. He is a four-time recipient of the Canadian Screen Award (formerly Genie Award) for Best Direction, winning for '' Maelström'' in 2001, '' Polytechnique'' in 2009, ''Incendies ...

's film (2009) in what was deemed an "upset". Dolan later said that the film was "flawed" and

Peter Brunette Peter Brunette (September 18, 1943 – June 16, 2010) was a film critic and film historian.Obituary '' Los Angeles Times'', June 22, 2010, page AA6. He was the author of several books, including biographies of Italian directors Roberto Rossellin ...

of ''

The Hollywood Reporter ''The Hollywood Reporter'' (''THR'') is an American digital and print magazine which focuses on the Hollywood film, television, and entertainment industries. It was founded in 1930 as a daily trade paper, and in 2010 switched to a weekly large ...

'' called it "a somewhat uneven film that demonstrates a great deal of talent". Brunette also called the film "funny and audacious", while Allan Hunter of ''

Screen International ''Screen International'' is a British film magazine covering the international film business. It is published by Media Business Insight, a British B2B media company. The magazine is primarily aimed at those involved in the global film business. ...

'' said that it possessed "the sting of shrewdly observed truth". The film received the Claude Jutra Award (now known as the Canadian Screen Award for Best First Feature) at the

Genies Jinn ( ar, , ') – also romanized as djinn or anglicized as genies (with the broader meaning of spirit or demon, depending on sources) – are invisible creatures in early pre-Islamic Arabian religious systems and later in Islamic myt ...

, and the

Toronto Film Critics Association The Toronto Film Critics Association (TFCA) is an organization of film critics from Toronto-based publications. As of 1999, the TFCA is a member of the FIPRESCI. History The Toronto Film Critics Association is the official organization of Toron ...

awarded Dolan the inaugural $5,000 Jay Scott Prize for emerging talent. ''I Killed My Mother'' was named one of Canada's Top Ten features of the year by the

Toronto International Film Festival The Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF, often stylized as tiff) is one of the largest publicly attended film festivals in the world, attracting over 480,000 people annually. Since its founding in 1976, TIFF has grown to become a perman ...

(TIFF) and chosen as Canada's official entry for

Best Foreign Language Film This is a list of categories of awards commonly awarded through organizations that bestow film awards, including those presented by various film, festivals, and people's awards. Best Actor/Best Actress *See Best Actor#Film awards, Best Actress#F ...

for the 2010 Academy Awards, though it failed to receive a nomination from the academy. Distribution rights were later sold to more than 20 countries. Due to legal problems experienced by the film's U.S. distributor, Regent Entertainment, it was not released theatrically in the U.S. until 2013, and once released, it earned little at the box office. The second feature film Dolan directed, '' Heartbeats'' (), was financed privately. The film follows two friends who are infatuated with the same mysterious young man and their friendship suffers. It premiered in the

Un Certain Regard (, meaning 'a certain glance') is a section of the Cannes Film Festival's official selection. It is run at the Debussy, parallel to the competition for the . This section was introduced in 1978 by Gilles Jacob. The section presents 20 films w ...

category at the 63e Festival de Cannes in May 2010 where it received a standing ovation. It won the top prize of the Official Competition at the Sydney Film Festival in June and screened at several film festivals throughout 2011, but failed to find audiences in non-French-speaking countries. It received several Genie nominations and the AQCC (Québec association of film critics) award for Best Film. His third film, '' Laurence Anyways'', was selected to compete in the section at the

2012 Cannes Film Festival The 65th Cannes Film Festival was held from 16 to 27 May 2012. Italian film director Nanni Moretti was the President of the Jury for the main competition and British actor Tim Roth was the President of the Jury for the Un Certain Regard sectio ...

. Suzanne Clément's performance in the film won the section's award for Best Actress. The film received praise or qualified praise from critics. A critic for

MTV MTV (Originally an initialism of Music Television) is an American cable channel that launched on August 1, 1981. Based in New York City, it serves as the flagship property of the MTV Entertainment Group, part of Paramount Media Networks, a di ...

's ''The Out Take'', which focuses on

LGBT ' is an initialism that stands for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender. In use since the 1990s, the initialism, as well as some of its common variants, functions as an umbrella term for sexuality and gender identity. The LGBT term ...

films, called the film "the best film of the year." Despite the praise, the film was not released commercially for a year. Upon release, the film struggled at the box office, and only grossed roughly $500,000 in Canada. Xavier Dolan Cannes 2014 2

In May 2012, Dolan announced that his fourth film would be an adaptation of Michel Marc Bouchard's play ''

'' (''Tom à la ferme''). It received its world premiere in the main competition section at the 70th Venice International Film Festival on 2 September 2013 and won the FIPRESCI award. Though ''Tom at the Farm'' played the festival circuits in 2013, it was not released in the U.S. until 2015. In an August 2015 interview, Dolan said: "No one knows me in the States, because the movies have been released in such an awkward, irregular fashion, all by different distributors... I don't want to sound pretentious, but it's puzzling."

''Mommy''

Dolan's 2014 film, '' Mommy'', shared the Jury Prize in the main competition section at the

with

Jean-Luc Godard Jean-Luc Godard ( , ; ; 3 December 193013 September 2022) was a French-Swiss film director, screenwriter, and film critic. He rose to prominence as a pioneer of the French New Wave film movement of the 1960s, alongside such filmmakers as Fran ...

's film ''

Goodbye to Language ''Goodbye to Language'' (french: Adieu au Langage) is a 2014 French-Swiss 3D experimental narrative essay film written and directed by Jean-Luc Godard. It stars Héloïse Godet, Kamel Abdeli, Richard Chevallier, Zoé Bruneau, Jessica Erickson a ...

'' (). The jury president for the 2014 festival was

Jane Campion Dame Elizabeth Jane Campion (born 30 April 1954) is a New Zealand filmmaker. She is best known for writing and directing the critically acclaimed films ''The Piano'' (1993) and '' The Power of the Dog'' (2021), for which she has received a tot ...

and, upon receiving the award, Dolan stated:

'' The Piano'' ampion's filmwas the first film that I watched that truly defined who I am... It made me want to write films for beautiful women with soul and will and strength. To even stand on the same stage as you ampionis extraordinary.

The film was singled out by critics as Dolan's "most mature" film to date and proved to be a breakthrough in his career as a director. It was his first film to achieve significant success at the box office, grossing over $3.5 million domestically in 2014, becoming the highest-selling film in Quebec for 2014. According to the ''

Montreal Gazette The ''Montreal Gazette'', formerly titled ''The Gazette'', is the only English-language daily newspaper published in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Three other daily English-language newspapers shuttered at various times during the second half of t ...

'', over one million people saw the film in France. ''Mommy'' won the

for Best Foreign Film in 2015.

''It's Only the End of the World''

Dolan's next film was an adaptation of the play by , titled '' It's Only the End of the World''. The film stars , , , and . Filming commenced in late May 2015. The film was an official selection for the

, in competition for the

Palme d'Or The Palme d'Or (; en, Golden Palm) is the highest prize awarded at the Cannes Film Festival. It was introduced in 1955 by the festival's organizing committee. Previously, from 1939 to 1954, the festival's highest prize was the Grand Prix du Fe ...

, though it did not win. The film premiered to polarized reactions from festival audiences and critics, with ''

Vanity Fair Vanity Fair may refer to: Arts, entertainment and media Literature * Vanity Fair, a location in '' The Pilgrim's Progress'' (1678), by John Bunyan * ''Vanity Fair'' (novel), 1848, by William Makepeace Thackeray * ''Vanity Fair'' (magazines), the ...

'' calling it "the most disappointing film at Cannes." ''

'' called it "a cold and deeply unsatisfying" film and ''Variety'' dubbed it "a frequently excruciating dramatic experience". During the festival, Dolan spoke out against the negative criticism in the media. The film also received positive reviews from critics, including ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers '' The Observer'' and '' The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the ...

'', which called it a "brilliant, stylised and hallucinatory evocation of family dysfunction". Dolan stated that ''It's Only the End of the World'' is his best film and the one he's the most proud of. The film won the

and the Ecumenical Jury Prize. It was also featured in competition at the Sydney Film Festival in June 2016, and later screened at the

2016 Toronto International Film Festival The 41st annual Toronto International Film Festival was held from 8 to 18 September 2016. The first announcement of films to be screened at the festival took place on 26 July. Almost 400 films were shown. Awards The festival's final awards were ...

. It was released in Quebec and France on 21 September 2016. In France, ''It's Only the End of the World'' was released to 391 screens, where it debuted at number one at the box office and sold 1,034,477 tickets. It was chosen as Canada's submission for the 2017

Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film The Academy Award for Best International Feature Film (known as Best Foreign Language Film prior to 2020) is one of the Academy Awards handed out annually by the U.S.-based Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS). It is given to a ...

. In December 2016, it made the shortlist of nine films under consideration for nomination as Best Foreign Language Film at the 89th Academy Awards, but it was not nominated in January 2017. On 7 December 2016, the film was named to the Toronto International Film Festival's annual Canada's Top 10 list. Xavier Dolan Césars 2017 2

, a French cinema website, gave the film an average of 3.3/5, based on a survey of 44 reviews, indicating "generally favorable reviews". On review aggregator

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wan ...

, the film holds a 44% approval rating based on 32 reviews, with an average score of 5.6/10. The site's critical consensus reads, "''It's Only the End of the World'' is stocked with talent and boasts a story steeped in conflict, but the end result proves a disappointing misfire from writer-director Xavier Dolan." At

Metacritic Metacritic is a website that aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created by Jason Dietz, Marc ...

, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the film received an average score of 48, based on 11 reviews, indicating "mixed or average reviews". For his work on ''It's Only the End of the World'', Dolan won the César Awards for Best Director and Best Editing at the 42nd ceremony on 24 February 2017. He also won 3 Canadian Screen Awards for Best Motion Picture, Best Achievement in Direction and

Best Adapted Screenplay This is a list of categories of awards commonly awarded through organizations that bestow film awards, including those presented by various film, festivals, and people's awards. Best Actor/Best Actress *See Best Actor#Film awards, Best Actress# ...

''The Death & Life of John F. Donovan''

In March 2013, Dolan was in pre-production for his first English-language film '' The Death & Life of John F. Donovan''; he co-wrote the screenplay with

Jacob Tierney Jacob Daniel Tierney (born September 26, 1979) is a Canadian actor, director, screenwriter, and producer. He is best known for playing Eric in ''Are You Afraid of the Dark?'' (1990–1992) and as the co-writer, director, and executive producer of ...

. The film follows John F. Donovan (

Kit Harington Christopher Catesby Harington (born 26 December 1986) is an English actor who is widely known for his role as Jon Snow in the HBO epic fantasy television series ''Game of Thrones'' (2011–2019). After studying at the Royal Central School o ...

), a Hollywood film actor whose life and career are turned upside-down when a gossip columnist (

Jessica Chastain Jessica Michelle Chastain (born March 24, 1977) is an American actress and producer. Known for primarily starring in films with feminist themes, she has received various accolades, including an Academy Award and a Golden Globe Award. ''Time'' ...

) exposes his private correspondence with an 11-year-old British fan. The film also stars

Susan Sarandon Susan Abigail Sarandon (; née Tomalin; born October 4, 1946) is an American actorMcCabe, Bruce"Susan Sarandon, the 'actor'" ''Boston Globe''. April 17, 1981. Retrieved January 21, 2021. and activist. She is the recipient of various accolades, ...

as Donovan's mother and

Kathy Bates Kathleen Doyle Bates (born June 28, 1948) is an American actor and director. Known for her roles in comedic and dramatic films and television programs, she has received various accolades throughout her career spanning over five decades, includ ...

as his manager. In February 2018, Dolan confirmed via

Instagram Instagram is a photo and video sharing social networking service owned by American company Meta Platforms. The app allows users to upload media that can be edited with filters and organized by hashtags and geographical tagging. Posts can ...

that Chastain had been cut from the film, and that the story had been altered throughout post-production. The film had its world premiere at the 2018 Toronto International Film Festival, making it Dolan's first film to premiere at the festival. Following its premiere at the festival, it received universally negative reviews from critics.

IndieWire IndieWire (sometimes stylized as indieWIRE or Indiewire) is a film industry and review website that was established in 1996. The site's focus was predominantly independent film, although its coverage has grown to "to include all aspects of Holl ...

dubbed the film Dolan's "worst" of his career. ''

'' gave the film one out of five stars, deeming it a "dubious mess". '' Now'' magazine called the film "mediocre at best". In a more positive review, ''

'' wrote that the film "may revisit a lot of familiar territory for Dolan but on this form it is good to welcome him home."

Dolan's eighth film was titled . It centres on the titular Matthias (played by Gabriel D'Almeida Freitas) and Maxime (played by Xavier Dolan), lifelong friends whose relationship is tested when they act in a short film whose script calls for them to kiss each other, leaving them both questioning their sexual identities when the experience awakens their long-dormant feelings for each other. The film had its world premiere at the

Cannes Film Festival The Cannes Festival (; french: link=no, Festival de Cannes), until 2003 called the International Film Festival (') and known in English as the Cannes Film Festival, is an annual film festival held in Cannes, France, which previews new films ...

on 22 May 2019. It was released theatrically on 9 October 2019 by Les Films Séville. In May 2020, Mubi acquired distribution rights to the film in the U.S, U.K, Ireland, Australia, Latin America, and India. In December 2019, the film was named to TIFF's annual year-end

Canada's Top Ten Canada's Top Ten is an annual honour, compiled by the Toronto International Film Festival and announced in December each year to identify and promote the year's best Canadian films."Canada's Top Ten awards will honour excellence in Canadian cinema" ...

list. The film was nominated for seven awards at the

22nd Quebec Cinema Awards The 22nd Quebec Cinema Awards were presented on 10 June 2020, to recognize talent and achievement in the cinema of Quebec. The planned 7 June ceremony was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic, but nominees were announced 23 April. Abenaki docume ...

, including Best Supporting Actor for Funk and Best Editing for Dolan. It won for Best Supporting Actress for Bernard, Best Music for Jean-Michel Blais, and Most Successful Film Outside Quebec.

Other work

In 2015, Dolan was selected to serve on the jury for the main competition section of the

2015 Cannes Film Festival The 68th Cannes Film Festival was held from 13 to 24 May 2015. Joel and Ethan Coen were the Presidents of the Jury for the main competition. It was the first time that two people chaired the jury. Since the Coen brothers each received a separate ...

. Also that year, he directed the music video for " Hello", the lead single from the album '' 25'' by

. The video broke the

Vevo Vevo ( , an abbreviation for "Video Evolution", stylized as VEVO until 2013) is an American multinational video hosting service, best known for providing music videos to YouTube. The service is also available as an app on selected smart TVs, ...

record for most views in 24 hours, over 27.7 million views. The video was also notable for featuring footage shot in

IMAX IMAX is a proprietary system of high-resolution cameras, film formats, film projectors, and theaters known for having very large screens with a tall aspect ratio (approximately either 1.43:1 or 1.90:1) and steep stadium seating. Graeme ...

. Dolan received the

Juno Award The Juno Awards, more popularly known as the JUNOS, are awards presented annually to Canadian musical artists and bands to acknowledge their artistic and technical achievements in all aspects of music. New members of the Canadian Music Hall o ...

for Video of the Year for directing the video. Dolan played supporting roles in two 2018 American films: '' Boy Erased'', opposite Lucas Hedges and

Troye Sivan Troye Sivan Mellet ( ; born 5 June 1995) is an Australian singer-songwriter, actor and YouTuber. After gaining popularity as a singer on YouTube and in Australian talent competitions, Sivan signed with EMI Australia in 2013 and released his th ...

, which premiered at the 2018 Toronto International Film Festival; and '' Bad Times at the El Royale'', as a British-accented music producer, Buddy Sunday. He appeared in the horror follow-up '' It Chapter Two'', which was released in September 2019. He has also starred in '' Lost Illusions'', an adaption of by , directed by Xavier Giannoli. In December 2021, Dolan confirmed via

the end of the shooting of his first TV Drama, ''The Night Logan Woke Up'', based on Michel Marc Bouchard's play of the same name. Dolan co-owns along with producer Nancy Grant, the production company Sons of Manual.

Influences and style

Dolan has said that he is not particularly influenced by any specific directors, though in 2009, Dolan identified

Michael Haneke Michael Haneke (; born 23 March 1942) is an Austrian film director and screenwriter. His work often examines social issues and depicts the feelings of estrangement experienced by individuals in modern society. Haneke has made films in French, G ...

as one of his favourite directors for his precise camerawork and strong writing, citing Haneke's '' Funny Games'' and '' The Piano Teacher'' as favourites. At the

, Dolan said that '' The Piano'' by

was a major inspiration for him. He has also cited seeing the film ''

Titanic RMS ''Titanic'' was a British passenger liner, operated by the White Star Line, which sank in the North Atlantic Ocean on 15 April 1912 after striking an iceberg during her maiden voyage from Southampton, England, to New York City, Unite ...

'' as an early influence on his decision to enter the film industry. He has mentioned paying tribute to ''

My Own Private Idaho ''My Own Private Idaho'' is a 1991 American independent adventure drama film written and directed by Gus Van Sant, loosely based on Shakespeare's ''Henry IV, Part 1'', '' Henry IV, Part 2'', and ''Henry V''. The story follows two friends, Mike ...

'' with a sequence in ''I Killed My Mother'', and that he was influenced by the frog rain scene at the end of ''

Magnolia ''Magnolia'' is a large genus of about 210 to 340The number of species in the genus ''Magnolia'' depends on the taxonomic view that one takes up. Recent molecular and morphological research shows that former genera ''Talauma'', ''Dugandiodendr ...

'', but said in 2013:

What I'm trying to say is that I'm not that influenced by directors.... I've read basically every review of my films because I'm crazy and I focus on what's negative and I want to know what people think—and why they think it. So many times I've been bullied into references and influences that were never mine by viewers that would project their opinions and associations and assumptions on me.... But let's get real: ideas travel and everything's been done, it's all a matter of interpreting things again now.

Personal life

Dolan is openly gay, and described his first film, ''I Killed My Mother'', as semi-autobiographical.

Filmography

Film

As filmmaker

Acting roles

As voice actor

Dolan is also a voice actor and has dubbed several films in

Quebec French Quebec French (french: français québécois ), also known as Québécois French, is the predominant variety of the French language spoken in Canada. It is the dominant language of the province of Quebec, used in everyday communication, in educ ...

. Note: Many films that are dubbed in French are also dubbed in the French spoken in Québec or in one of the versions of French known as international French. DVDs may be labelled VQ for "version Québécoise", which uses a Québécois accent and terms unique to that variety of the French language, or VFQ for "version francophone québécoise", which presents a generally neutral accent but pronounces English words in a way found in North America rather than in France. * 2000: ''

My Dog Skip {{Refimprove, date=March 2009 ''My Dog Skip'' is a memoir by Willie Morris published by Random House in 1995. ''My Dog Skip'' is the story about nine-year-old Willie Morris growing up in Yazoo City, Mississippi, a tale of a boy and his dog in ...

'' – Spit * 2000: '' Pay it Forward'' – Trevor * 2001: ''

Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone ''Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone'' is a 1997 fantasy novel written by British author J. K. Rowling. The first novel in the ''Harry Potter'' series and Rowling's debut novel, it follows Harry Potter, a young wizard who discovers hi ...

'' –

Ron Weasley Ronald Bilius Weasley is a fictional character in J. K. Rowling's ''Harry Potter'' fantasy novel series. His first appearance was in the first book of the series, '' Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone'', as the best friend of Harry Pott ...

* 2002: ''

Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets ''Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets'' is a fantasy novel written by British author J. K. Rowling and the second novel in the ''Harry Potter'' series. The plot follows Harry's second year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, d ...

'' –

* 2002: '' The Hunchback of Notre Dame II'' – Zephyr * 2003: ''

Secondhand Lions ''Secondhand Lions'' is a 2003 American comedy-drama film written and directed by Tim McCanlies. It tells the story of an introverted young boy (Haley Joel Osment) who is sent to live with his eccentric great uncles (Robert Duvall and Michael Ca ...

'' – Walter * 2003: '' The Jungle Book 2'' –

Mowgli Mowgli () is a fictional character and the protagonist of Rudyard Kipling's ''The Jungle Book'' stories. He is a feral boy from the Pench area in Seoni, Madhya Pradesh, India, who originally appeared in Kipling's short story "In the Rukh" (c ...

* 2003: ''

Finding Nemo ''Finding Nemo'' is a 2003 American computer-animated comedy-drama adventure film produced by Pixar Animation Studios and released by Walt Disney Pictures. Directed by Andrew Stanton with co-direction by Lee Unkrich, the screenplay was wr ...

'' – Tad * 2004: ''

Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban ''Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban'' is a fantasy novel written by British author J. K. Rowling and is the third in the ''Harry Potter'' series. The book follows Harry Potter (character), Harry Potter, a young wizard (fantasy), wizard ...

'' –

* 2005: '' Saw II'' – Daniel Matthews * 2005: ''

Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire ''Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire'' is a fantasy novel written by British author J. K. Rowling and the fourth novel in the ''Harry Potter'' series. It follows Harry Potter (character), Harry Potter, a wizard in his fourth year at Hogwarts ...

'' –

* 2006: '' Grossology'' – Ty * 2006: ''

Alpha Dog ''Alpha Dog'' is a 2006 American crime film written and directed by Nick Cassavetes based on the true story of the kidnapping and murder of Nicholas Markowitz in 2000. The cast includes Emile Hirsch, Justin Timberlake, Ben Foster, Shawn Ha ...

'' – Keith Stratten * 2007: ''

Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix ''Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix'' is a fantasy novel written by British author J. K. Rowling and the fifth novel in the ''Harry Potter'' series. It follows Harry Potter's struggles through his fifth year at Hogwarts School of Wi ...

'' –

* 2007: ''

Halloween Halloween or Hallowe'en (less commonly known as Allhalloween, All Hallows' Eve, or All Saints' Eve) is a celebration observed in many countries on 31 October, the eve of the Western Christian feast of All Saints' Day. It begins the observan ...

'' – Wesley Rhoades * 2007: '' Magi-Nation'' – Tony * 2007: '' Whistler'' – Quinn McKaye * 2008: '' High School Musical 3: Senior Year'' – Donnie Dion * 2008: ''

Twilight Twilight is light produced by sunlight scattering in the upper atmosphere, when the Sun is below the horizon, which illuminates the lower atmosphere and the Earth's surface. The word twilight can also refer to the periods of time when this i ...

'' –

Jacob Black Jacob Black is a character in the ''Twilight'' book series by Stephenie Meyer. He is described as an attractive Native American of the Quileute tribe in La Push, near Forks, Washington. In the second book of the series, ''New Moon'', he di ...

* 2009: ''

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince ''Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince'' is a fantasy novel written by British author J. K. Rowling and the sixth and penultimate novel in the ''Harry Potter'' series. Set during Harry Potter's sixth year at Hogwarts, the novel explores t ...

'' –

* 2009: '' The Twilight Saga: New Moon'' –

* 2009: ''

South Park ''South Park'' is an American animated sitcom created by Trey Parker and Matt Stone and developed by Brian Graden for Comedy Central. The series revolves around four boysStan Marsh, Kyle Broflovski, Eric Cartman, and Kenny McCormickand ...

'' –

Stan Marsh Stanley Randell William Marsh is a fictional character in the adult animated television series ''South Park''. He is voiced by and loosely based on series co-creator Trey Parker. Stan is one of the series' four central characters, along with Kyl ...

* 2009: '' Planet 51'' – Skiff * 2010: '' Kick-Ass'' – Dave Lizewski / Kick-Ass * 2010: '' How To Train Your Dragon'' – Hiccup * 2010: '' The Twilight Saga: Eclipse'' –

* 2010: ''

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 1 ''Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 1'' is a 2010 fantasy film directed by David Yates from a screenplay by Steve Kloves. The film is the first of two cinematic parts based on the 2007 novel ''Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallow ...

'' – Ron Weasley * 2011: ''

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'' – Colin Clark * 2011: ''

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'' – Nathan Harper * 2011: '' The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn – Part 1'' –

* 2011: ''

The Smurfs ''The Smurfs'' (french: Les Schtroumpfs; nl, De Smurfen) is a Belgian comic franchise centered on a fictional colony of small, blue, humanoid creatures who live in mushroom-shaped houses in the forest. ''The Smurfs'' was first created and in ...

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'' – Thomas * 2014: '' The Theory of Everything'' – Stephen Hawking * 2014: ''

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'' –

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* 2015: ''

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'' – Fear * 2015: '' Paper Towns'' – Quentin "Q" Jacobsen * 2015: '' Maze Runner: The Scorch Trials'' – Thomas * 2015: ''

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'' – Newt Scamander * 2017: '' The Emoji Movie'' - Gene * 2018: '' Maze Runner: The Death Cure'' - Thomas * 2018: '' Anatane: Saving the Children of Okura'' - Anatane * 2018: '' Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald'' – Newt Scamander * 2019: '' Spider-Man: Far From Home'' - Brad Davis * 2019: '' The Death & Life of John F. Donovan'' - John F. Donovan * 2021: '' Dune: Part One'' -

Paul Atreides Paul Atreides (; later known as Paul Muad'Dib, and later still as The Preacher) is a fictional character in the ''Dune'' universe created by Frank Herbert. Paul is the primary protagonist in the first two novels in the series, ''Dune'' (1965) ...

* 2022: '' Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore'' – Newt Scamander

As music video director

Frequent collaborators

Accolades

Books on Xavier Dolan

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Dolan, Xavier 1989 births Best Director César Award winners Canadian male television actors Canadian male film actors Canadian male child actors Film directors from Montreal Canadian screenwriters in French Canadian male voice actors French-language film directors Canadian gay actors Knights of the National Order of Quebec LGBT film directors LGBT screenwriters Living people Male actors from Montreal Members of the Order of Canada Canadian people of Coptic descent Canadian people of Lebanese descent Canadian people of Egyptian descent Canadian gay writers 20th-century Canadian male actors 21st-century Canadian male actors Best First Feature Genie and Canadian Screen Award winners French Quebecers Writers from Montreal Canadian film producers LGBT film producers Best Director Genie and Canadian Screen Award winners Best Editing Genie and Canadian Screen Award winners Best Screenplay Genie and Canadian Screen Award winners Best Costume Design Genie and Canadian Screen Award winners Canadian music video directors Juno Award for Video of the Year winners Best Director Jutra and Iris Award winners

Early life

Career

Early films

''Mommy''

''It's Only the End of the World''

''The Death & Life of John F. Donovan''

Other work

Influences and style

Personal life

Filmography

Film

As filmmaker

Acting roles

As voice actor

As music video director

Frequent collaborators

Accolades

Books on Xavier Dolan

See also

References

Further reading

External links