Mathieu Amalric (; born 25 October 1965) is a French actor and filmmaker. He is best known internationally for his roles in the

James Bond film James Bond is a fictional character created by British novelist Ian Fleming in 1953. A British secret agent working for MI6 under the codename 007, Bond has been portrayed on film in twenty-seven productions by actors Sean Connery, David Niv ...

Quantum of Solace ''Quantum of Solace'' is a 2008 spy film and the twenty-second in the ''James Bond'' series produced by Eon Productions. It is the sequel to ''Casino Royale'' (2006). Directed by Marc Forster and written by Neil Purvis, Robert Wade, and ...

'', in which he played the lead villain,

Steven Spielberg Steven Allan Spielberg (; born December 18, 1946) is an American director, writer, and producer. A major figure of the New Hollywood era and pioneer of the modern blockbuster, he is the most commercially successful director of all time. Spi ...

's ''

Munich Munich ( ; german: München ; bar, Minga ) is the capital and most populous city of the German state of Bavaria. With a population of 1,558,395 inhabitants as of 31 July 2020, it is the third-largest city in Germany, after Berlin and Ha ...

'',

Wes Anderson Wesley Wales Anderson (born May 1, 1969) is an American filmmaker. His films are known for their eccentricity and unique visual and narrative styles. They often contain themes of grief, loss of innocence, and dysfunctional families. Cited by s ...

's ''

The Grand Budapest Hotel ''The Grand Budapest Hotel'' is a 2014 comedy-drama film written and directed by Wes Anderson. Ralph Fiennes leads a seventeen-actor ensemble cast as Monsieur Gustave H., famed concierge of a twentieth-century mountainside resort in the ficti ...

'' and ''

The French Dispatch ''The French Dispatch of the Liberty, Kansas Evening Sun'', or simply ''The French Dispatch'', is a 2021 American anthology comedy drama film written, directed, and produced by Wes Anderson from a story he conceived with Roman Coppola, Hugo G ...

'', and for his lead performance in '' The Diving Bell and the Butterfly'', for which he drew critical acclaim. He has also won several

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 * Ce ...

s and the

Lumières Award The Lumières Award (french: Lumières de la presse internationale) is a French film award presented by the ''Académie des Lumières'' to honor the best in the French-speaking cinema of the previous year. The awards ceremony is organized by th ...

Early life

Amalric was born on 25 October 1965 in

Neuilly-sur-Seine Neuilly-sur-Seine (; literally 'Neuilly on Seine'), also known simply as Neuilly, is a commune in the department of Hauts-de-Seine in France, just west of Paris. Immediately adjacent to the city, the area is composed of mostly select residentia ...

, a suburb of Paris, the son of journalists Nicole Zand, a literary critic for ''

Le Monde ''Le Monde'' (; ) is a French daily afternoon newspaper. It is the main publication of Le Monde Group and reported an average circulation of 323,039 copies per issue in 2009, about 40,000 of which were sold abroad. It has had its own website si ...

'', and Jacques Amalric, who worked as a foreign affairs editor for ''Le Monde'' and ''

Libération ''Libération'' (), popularly known as ''Libé'' (), is a daily newspaper in France, founded in Paris by Jean-Paul Sartre and Serge July in 1973 in the wake of the protest movements of May 1968. Initially positioned on the far-left of France ...

''. Amalric's father was French, while his mother was born in Poland, to Jewish parents, and moved to France at the outbreak of World War II.

Career

Amalric first gained fame in the film '' Ma Vie Sexuelle'' (''My Sex Life...or How I Got Into an Argument''), for which he won a

. In 2007, he starred in the critically acclaimed movie '' The Diving Bell and the Butterfly,'' portraying

Jean-Dominique Bauby Jean-Dominique Bauby (; 23 April 1952 – 9 March 1997) was a French journalist, author and editor of the French fashion magazine '' Elle''. Early life and career Bauby was born in the 14th arrondissement of Paris, and grew up in the 1st arron ...

, a journalist who created his own system of communication after a stroke left him suffering from

locked-in syndrome Locked-in syndrome (LIS), also known as pseudocoma, is a condition in which a patient is aware but cannot move or communicate verbally due to complete paralysis of nearly all voluntary muscles in the body except for vertical eye movements and bli ...

. Amalric's performance was universally acclaimed, and he won the Cesar Award for Best Actor. He was selected to play the

James Bond The ''James Bond'' series focuses on a fictional Secret Intelligence Service, British Secret Service agent created in 1953 by writer Ian Fleming, who featured him in twelve novels and two short-story collections. Since Fleming's death in 19 ...

villain

Dominic Greene The following is a list of primary antagonists in the ''James Bond'' novels and film series. Novel villains by author Ian Fleming Kingsley Amis (writing as Robert Markham) Christopher Wood John Gardner Raymond Benson ...

alongside

Daniel Craig Daniel Wroughton Craig (born 2 March 1968) is an English-American actor who gained international fame playing the secret agent James Bond in the film series, beginning with '' Casino Royale'' (2006) and in four further instalments, up to ' ...

(with whom he had previously starred in ''

'') in the 2008 film ''

''. His 2010 film, '' On Tour'', premiered at the

2010 Cannes Film Festival The 63rd Cannes Film Festival was held from 12 to 23 May 2010, in Cannes, France. The Cannes Film Festival, hailed as being one of the most recognized and prestigious film festivals worldwide, was founded in 1946. It consists of having films scr ...

and won Amalric the

Best Director Award Best or The Best may refer to: People * Best (surname), people with the surname Best * Best (footballer, born 1968), retired Portuguese footballer Companies and organizations * Best & Co., an 1879–1971 clothing chain * Best Lock Corporation, ...

. The 2014 film '' The Blue Room'', which he directed and starred in, was selected to compete 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 ...

section 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 B ...

Personal life

Amalric has three sons, two with his ex-wife Jeanne Balibar, and one with his former partner, a writer. As of 2019, he is in a long-term relationship with Canadian soprano

Barbara Hannigan Barbara Hannigan (born 8 May 1971) is a Canadian soprano and conductor, known for her performances of contemporary opera. Education Hannigan's initial musical education came from music teachers in her hometown of Waverley, Nova Scotia, in Hal ...

. He supports the

Girondins de Bordeaux Football Club des Girondins de Bordeaux (), commonly referred to as Girondins de Bordeaux ( oc, Girondins de Bordèu) or simply Bordeaux, is a French professional football club based in the city of Bordeaux in Gironde, Nouvelle-Aquitaine. The ...

football club.

Filmography

As actor

As filmmaker

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Amalric, Mathieu 1965 births Living people Jewish French male actors People from Neuilly-sur-Seine French Ashkenazi Jews French people of Polish-Jewish descent Cannes Film Festival Award for Best Director winners Most Promising Actor César Award winners Best Actor César Award winners Best Actor Lumières Award winners French film directors French male screenwriters French screenwriters French male film actors French male television actors 20th-century French male actors 21st-century French male actors French film producers French male stage actors French-language film directors