Prominent Poles
Juliette Binoche (La Binoche) French film actress with Polish roots, who has appeared in more than 40 films since 1983, painter.
Born: 9 March 1964 Paris, France
Superstar. After founding her success in French cinema, she gained international acclaim for her role in The Unbearable Lightness of Being (1988), then won the César Award for Best Actress in Three Colors: Blue (1993, Kieslowski director), also received the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress in The English Patient (1996). Other notable performances include Chocolat (2000), Caché (2005), and The Flight of the Red Balloon (2007).
Early days. Father- Jean-Marie Binoche, a director, actor, and sculptor; mother- Monique Stalens, a teacher, director, and actress. Binoche's mother, born in Czestochowa, Poland, is of Polish descent. Her grandmother was a Polish actress, Julia Mlynarczyk. Her parents divorced when she was four and Binoche and her sister Marion were sent to a boarding school. Binoche began acting in amateur stage productions, and at 17 directed and starred in a student production of the Ionesco's play, Exit the King. The next year, she studied acting at the National Conservatory of Dramatic Arts of Paris (CNSAD). She found an agent through a friend and joined a theatre troupe in which she toured France, Belgium and Switzerland under the pseudonym of "Juliette Adrienne". After quitting the CNSAD, she began acting lessons with famed coach Vera Gregh.
Career. Her first screen role was a small part in the 1983 television film Dorothée, danseuse de corde, followed by a similarly small role in the television film Fort bloque. After Binoche secured her first big screen appearance with a small supporting role in Kané's Liberty Belle, she decided to pursue a career in cinema. Binoche's early films saw her firmly established as a French star of some renown. The recurring themes of these films were of contemporary young women exploring their lives and their sexuality. Small roles in Les Nanas and Adieu blaireau led to more significant exposure in Godard's Je vous salue, Marie and Doillon's La Vie de Famille. In 1985, Binoche secured the lead role in Téchiné's Rendez-vous. Binoche's next film was a role in Mon beau-frère a tué ma soeur by Rouffio. Later that year, she starred in Carax's Mauvais Sang. In August 1986, she portrayed Tereza in Kaufman's The Unbearable Lightness of Being. This was Binoche's first English language role and was a worldwide success with critics and audiences alike. After this success, Binoche decided to return to France rather than pursue an international career. In 1988, she filmed the lead in Pradinas's Un tour de manège. Later that year she began work on Carax's Les Amants du Pont-Neuf. When it was released in 1991, it was a critical success. Later Binoche relocated to London for the 1992 productions of Emily Brontë's Wuthering Heights and Damage, both of which considerably enhanced her international reputation. In 1993, she appeared in Kieslowski's Three Colors: Blue to much critical acclaim. The film premiered at the 1993 Venice Film Festival. After this success, she took a short sabbatical during which she gave birth to her son, Raphael. In 1995, Binoche appeared in an adaptation of Giono's The Horseman on the Roof directed by Rappeneau. The film was a box-office success around the world. In 1996, Binoche appeared in The English Patient, directed by Minghella. The film received nine Academy Awards, including Best Supporting Actress for Binoche. With this film, she became the second French cinema actress to win an Oscar. Next she worked again with Téchiné on Alice et Martin (1998), followed in 1999 by Children of the Century in which she played 19th-century French writer George Sand. 2000 saw Binoche in four successful, but different, roles. Firstly was La Veuve de Saint-Pierre by Leconte. Next she appeared in Haneke's Code Unknown. Binoche made her Broadway debut in Pinter's Betrayal. Back on screen, Binoche was the heroine of the Hallstrom’s film Chocolat. Between 1995 and 2000, Binoche was the advertising face of the Lancôme scent Poème. Following the success of Chocolat, Juliette Binoche returned to France for an unlikely role. Jet Lag (2002) opposite Jean Reno saw Binoche play a ditzy beautician. The film was a box-office hit in France. In 2003, Binoche featured in an Italian TV commercial for the chocolates Ferrero Rocher. Next she went to South Africa to film Boorman's In My Country (2004) opposite Samuel L. Jackson. Binoche then teamed up with Haneke again for Caché in 2005. Binoche's next film was Bee Season with Gere. Mary (2005) saw Binoche collaborate with Ferrara for an investigation of modern faith and Mary Magdalene's position in the Catholic Church. 2006 saw Binoche take part in the portmanteau work Paris, je t'aime appearing in a section directed by Nobuhiro Suwa. In 2007 the Cannes Film Festival saw the premiere of Le Voyage du Ballon Rouge by the Taiwanese director Hou Hsiao-Hsien. The film was well received by international critics. Dan in Real Life a romantic comedy opposite Steve Carell was released in October 2007, becoming a popular commercial success. Back in France Binoche was seen to popular and critical success in Paris by Klapisch, L'Heure D'été by Assayas and Disengagement by Gitai. In the Autumn of 2008 Binoche appeared in a theatrical dance production titled in-i with Khan. In June 2009 Binoche began work on Copie Conforme for Kiarostami.
Personal life She has two children: Raphaël whose father is André Halle, a professional scuba diver, and Hannah whose father is actor Benoît Magimel. Binoche was romantically involved with Argentine writer/director Santiago Amigorena between 2005 and 2008.
Painting In the 1991 film Les Amants du Pont-Neuf, in which Binoche portrays an artist, the paintings used in the film were Binoche's own work. She also designed the poster for the film. In 1993, Binoche exhibited work done in collaboration with the French designer and artist Fenouillat. In November 2008, Binoche published a bilingual book entitled "Juliette Binoche, Portraits In-Eyes". The book contains large full page portraits of each director she has worked with as well as self portraits of her as each character. Binoche also wrote a few lines dedicated to each director. The book was published by French house "Editions Place des Victoires" Her paintings were exhibited in Czestochowa, Poland, in 2009.
Charities Binoche is involved with a number of charities, including being a patron of the Cambodian charity Aspecta since 1992. She is also godmother to nine Cambodian orphans. In 2004 Binoche organized an auction on behalf of Médecins Sans Frontières, in which disposable cameras were given to numerous celebrities and then auctioned off; the winner of each camera would then develop the pictures to reveal that celebrity's chosen subject.
Political views- nothing to be proud of. In 2007, Binoche said she disagreed with the official version of the September 11 attacks, and that US government agencies must have had fore-knowledge of the attacks.
Awards. 1986 — Prix Romy Schneider; 1992 — European Film Award — Best Actress — Les Amants du Pont-Neuf; 1993 — Berlin International Film Festival — Berlinale Camera; 1993 — Venice Film Festival — Best Actress — Three Colors: Blue; 1996 — National Board of Review — Best Supporting Actress — The English Patient; 1997 — Berlin International Film Festival — Best Actress — The English Patient; 1997 — European Film Award — Best Actress — The English Patient; 1997 — Screen Actors Guild Award — Best Supporting Actress — The English Patient
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