Background:

“When I returned to France after winning the Oscar, I was treated like royalty, or like a football hero!” Juliette Binoche

Lovely, delicate-looking, Academy Award-winning actress Juliette Binoche gained wide fame and recognition with the Best Supporting Actress Oscar win as a Canadian nurse tending a wounded soldier in the critically acclaimed The English Patient (1996), where she also nabbed a National Board of Review award, a British Academy Award, a Berlin Film Festival Silver Bear award, a Berlin International Film Festival award, a Cabourg Romantic Film Festival award and a European Film award. The role also garnered the actress Golden Globe and Screen Actors Guild nominations. Before the massive international victory, Binoche, who initially charmed the American audience with the successful The Unbearable Lightness of Being (1988), had made a name for herself in the French cinematic industry with such memorable performance as Nina/Anne Larrieux in the erotic drama Rendez-vous (1985, won a Romy Schneider Prize award), Anna in Leos Carax’s drama Bad Blood/Mauvais Sang (1986), a blind runaway artist in The Lovers on the Bridge (1991, took home a Felix award and a European Film award) and Julie in Krzysztof Kieslowski’s Blue (1993), in which she netted a César award, a Sant Jordi award and a Venice Film Festival award. In a more recent movie, the highest paid film actress in the history of France is well-remembered for her Oscar-nominated portrayal of roving candy maker Vianne Rocher, opposite Johnny Deep, in director Lasse Hallströmfilm’s version of Joanne Harris’s novel, Chocolat (2000). Delivering a bravura acting job, she picked up an European Film award.

Binoche’s recent and upcoming credits include Jet Lag (2002), In My Country (2004), Mary (2005), Bee Season (2005), Paris, je t'aime (2006), Breaking and Entering (2006), Quelques jours en septembre (2006), Irrésistible (2007), Peter Hedges’ comedy Dan in Real Life (2007), Promise Me This (2007), Brian De Palma’s horror Toyer (2007) and Jacques Audiard’s thriller Disparus, Les (2006).

Juliette Binoche was named one of Empire magazine’s “100 Sexiest Stars in Film History” (1995) and 93rd of Empire (UK) magazine’s “The Top 100 Movie Stars of All Time” (1997), and was voted one of People magazine’s “50 Most Beautiful People in the World” (1997). Outside of film, Binoche prefers to keep her private life private. When she is not working, she enjoys reading the works of Carlos Castaneda and eating Nutella chocolate/hazelnut spread. The French beauty has been romantically linked to several men, including film director Leos Carax (together from 1987-91), deep-sea diver Andre Halle (lived together 1991-93), actor Olivier Martinez (met while filming the 1995 Horseman on the Roof , no longer together) and actor Benoit Magimel. She is the mother of two, son Raphael Binoche Halle (born in 1993, father Andre Halle) and daughter Hana Binoche Magimel (born in 1999, father Benoit Magimel).


La Binoche

Childhood and family:

On March 9, 1964, Juliette Binoche was born in Paris, France. Her father is Jean-Marie Binoche, a sculptor and theater director, and her mother is Monique Stalens, a former stage actress of Polish-Flemish ancestry. She has an older sister named Marion Stalens, who is a photographer and actress. When she was 4, Juliette’s parents divorced and she spent her early years alternating between both parents. She was educated at a Catholic boarding school and began her acting studies at the National Conservatory of Dramatic Arts of Paris. She dropped out of school in 1981 to pursue a career in acting. To earn some extra money, Juliette took jobs as a clerk in a Paris supermarket and as a painter’s model.

Juliette Binoche, who is lovingly known by the French press simply as “La Binoche,” is not married though her romantic life is frequently linked with several men. From her previous relationships, she has two children, son Raphael Binoche Halle (born on September 2, 1993, father Andre Halle) and daughter Hana Binoche Magimel (born on December 16, 1999, father Benoit Magimel).


The Unbearable Lightness of Being

Career:

Born and raised in Paris, France, Juliette Binoche became interested in acting while attending school, where she received some stage exposure performing in school plays. A drop out student from the National Conservatory of Dramatic Arts of Paris, Binoche continued to act on stage after leaving the school and was discovered in productions by Moliere, Ionesco and Pirandello before moving on to the big screen with a bit part in the small independent film Liberty Belle (1983). Following her debut film, Binoche landed several other small parts both on TV and features like Dorothée, danseuse de corde (1983, TV), Fort bloqué (1985, TV), Girls, Girls, Girls (1985), Family Life (1985), and Farewell blaireau (1985), and earned positive reviews for her supporting turn as an invidious ex-girlfriend in Jean-Luc Godard’s Hail Mary (1985), a role specially written for her by the impressed writer-director.

Binoche landed her first starring role when director André Téchiné had her star opposite Lambert Wilson in the erotic drama Rendez-vous (1985). As Nina/Anne Larrieux, she was so striking that French journalists garnered the talented actress a Romy Schneider Prize for Most Promising Actress. After supporting parts in A Better Life (1985) and They’ve Killed Her (1986), she gained additional notice as Anna in writer-director Leos Carax’s drama Bad Blood/Mauvais Sang (1986). However, it was Philip Kaufman’s adaptation of Milan Kundera’s intercession on sovereignty, sex and love, The Unbearable Lightness of Being (1988), which also marked Binoche English-language debut film, which made Binoche a worldwide star. Starring as the sexually subdued Tereza, the raven-haired Binoche provided the poignant center to the hit movie and won the hearts of international critics and audiences alike.

After her initial global success, Binoche made her Hollywood TV debut with the Mike Figgis segment of the HBO film Women & Men 2: In Love There Are No Rules (1991), where she offered a heart-wrenching performance as a juvenile Polish hooker assisted by Scott Glenn. Binoche returned to French films when she rejoined writer/director Carax for the drama-romance The Lovers on the Bridge (1991), a project that needed three years to complete because of financing problems and was not released theatrically in the USA until 1999. Starring as one-eyed, gun-carrying painter Michèle Stalens, opposite Denis Levant as her itinerant lover, the actress’ performance was critically appreciated and she won a Felix for Best European Actress and a European Film for Best Actress in 1992.

Next up for Binoche, she was cast as Cathy, opposite Ralph Fiennes’ Heathcliff, in the commercial failure, Emily Brontë’s Wuthering Heights (1992) and was excellent as Anna Barton, a woman who starts a sexual relationship with the father of her fiancé, in Louis Malle’s Damage (1992, also starred Jeremy Irons). Binoche’s reputation as an international lead star was further solidified in 1993 with the outstanding starring turn as Julie, a woman surviving the effects of a disastrous car accident, in Blue, the first sequel of Polish director Krzysztof Kieslowski’s French trilogy Three Colors. For her brilliant efforts, Binoche received rave reviews and took home such awards as the 1993 Venice Film Festival Best Actress Award, the Sant Jordi Best Foreign Actress Award, as well as the César Best Actress Award (both in 1994). Binoche reprised the Julie role for the second and third parts, White, and Red, in 1994.

Returning to the silver screen after taking some time off to raise her first child, Binoche was seen as the heroine of France’s most luxurious movie ever, the Jean-Paul Rappeneau-helmed The Horseman on the Roof (1995), where she costarred with her then-lover Olivier Martinez. The same year, she was also recruited as the spokesmodel for Lancome.

In 1996, Binoche once again attracted the attention of international film critics when director Anthony Minghella re-united her with Ralph Fiennes in his marvelous adaptation of The English Patient. Delivering a spectacular scene-stealing performance as Hana, a Canadian nurse tending to the titular character, a burn victim (Fiennes), she was handed the Best Supporting Actress Academy Award. Additionally, she was garnered with countless awards, including a National Board of Review and a British Academy Award for Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role, a Berlin Film Festival Silver Bear, a Berlin International Film Festival, a Cabourg Romantic Film Festival and a European Film for Best Actress. The much-talked about performance also brought her nominations at the Golden Globe and Screen Actors Guild Awards. As for the film, The English Patient became a box office smash hit.

Following her Oscar win, Binoche apparently vanished from the Hollywood scene though she maintained her work on stage and in French films. She had her London stage debut with Luigi Pirandello’s “Naked” (1997) and debuted on Broadway in a revival of Harold Pinter’s “Betrayal” (2000), where she was nominated for a Tony. On the big screen, she rejoined Andre Techine for the 1998 Alice and Martin, in which she learned to play the violin to portray iron-willed musician Alice, starred in Diane Kurys’ The Children of the Century (1999), costarred with Daniel Auteuil in the period drama The Widow of Saint-Pierre (2000), for director Patrice Lecont, and starred as an actress in Code Unknown (2000).

The radiantly appealing actress made her way back to the English-language films with the Lasse Hallström-directed, critically acclaimed hit Chocolat (2000, opposite Johnny Deep), which was based on Joanne Harris’s novel. Binoche’s imposing performance as Vianne Rocher, a candy maker who has a miraculous effect on the inhabitants of a sleepy village, handed her a European Film award for Best Actress. The role also garnered Binoche a Best Actress Oscar nomination, in addition to BAFTA and Screen Actors Guild nominations.

Binoche then was cast as the talkative and fulsome beautician Rose in the high-flying romantic comedy Jet Lag (2002), costarred with Samuel L. Jackson in John Boorman’s political drama In My Country (2004), played Anne Laurent in Hidden (2005), starred alongside Forest Whitaker, Matthew Modine and Heather Graham in Abel Ferrara’s Mary (2005) and was admired as Miriam Naumann, the displeased scientist mother of a spelling bee champion and spouse of a professor (Richard Gere), in the family drama Bee Season (2005).

Recently, Binoche found herself acting with Natalie Portman and Orlando Bloom in Paris, je t'aime (2006), and will soon be cast alongside Jude Law in Breaking and Entering (2006), and John Turturro and Nick Nolte in the drama film Quelques jours en septembre (2006). She is also scheduled to play roles in such upcoming projects as Pierre Jolivet’s Irrésistible (2007), Peter Hedges’ comedy Dan in Real Life (2007) and the drama Promise Me This (2007). Moreover, she will reportedly star in Brian De Palma’s horror Toyer (2007) and Jacques Audiard’s thriller Disparus, Les (2006).


Awards:

• European Film: Best Actress, Chocolat, 2001
• Berlin Film Festival Silver Bear: Best Actress, The English Patient, 1997
• Berlin International Film Festival: Best Actress, The English Patient, 1997
• British Academy Award: Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role, The English Patient, 1997
• Cabourg Romantic Film Festival: Best Actress, The English Patient, 1997
• European Film: Best Actress, The English Patient, 1997
• Academy Award: Best Supporting Actress, The English Patient, 1996
• National Board of Review: Best Supporting Actress, The English Patient, Cited with costar Kristin Scott Thomas, 1996
• César: Best Actress, Three Colors: Blue, 1994
• Sant Jordi: Best Foreign Actress, Three Colors: Blue, 1994
• Venice Film Festival: Best Actress, Three Colors: Blue, 1993
• European Film: Best Actress, The Lovers on the Bridge, 1992
• Felix: Best European Actress, The Lovers on the Bridge, 1992
• Romy Schneider Prize: Most Promising Actress, presented by French journalists, Rendez-vous, 1986