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An international star of extraordinary, almost otherworldly beauty, French actress Juliette Binoche was born March 9, 1964 in Paris. The daughter of a sculptor/theater director and an actress, Binoche studied acting at the National School of Dramatic Art of Paris. Following graduation, she followed her mother's footsteps and became a stage actress, occasionally taking small parts in French feature films. Binoche first earned recognition in 1985 for playing a modernized, teenaged version of the Virgin Mary in Godard's controversial Je Vous Salue, Marie (known in the U.S. as Hail Mary). The actress became a bonafide French star the same year with an acclaimed performance in Andr¨¦ T¨¦chin¨¦'s Rendez-Vous. The darling of the 1985 Cannes Film Festival, Binoche did not gain true international acclaim until she played Tereza in Philip Kaufman's Unbearable Lightness of Being (1988). In the meantime, Binoche had become involved with Leos Carax, a hot young filmmaker who cast her in a lead role in his chilling Mauvais Sang (U.S. title: Bad Blood). While involved with Carax, Binoche appeared in his Les Amants du Pont-Neuf, a film they began in 1988 but did not finish until 1991 due to financial difficulties. She and Carax parted ways in 1993, after Binoche's great success starring opposite Jeremy Irons in Louis Malle's Damage in 1992. The same year, the actress appeared with future English Patient co-star Ralph Fiennes in the latest film version of Wuthering Heights, and followed that with the lead role in Krzysztof Kieslowski's Blue (Binoche also appeared briefly in the trilogy's other installments, Red and White). Following her work in the acclaimed film, Binoche took time off to have a son and did not return to film until 1995 with Le Hussard sur le Toit (known in the U.S. as The Horseman on the Roof). In 1996, she earned further international recognition with a Best Supporting Actress Oscar (as well as a host of other awards) for her role in The English Patient. Returning to her native France amidst a golden haze of critical acclaim, Binoche next appeared in the same year's Un Divan a New York, a romantic comedy in which she starred opposite William Hurt. In 1998, she again collaborated with director T¨¦chin¨¦, this time on the romantic drama Alice et Martin. -- Sandra Brennan |
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