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Background:
One of France's greatest actresses Emmanuelle Béart first attracted attention as
the late Jean de Florette's vengeful daughter Manon in Claude Berri's Manon of
the Spring (1986), wherein she nabbed a César Award. In 1995, she won a Moscow
International Film Festival Award for her bravura starring turn as passionate
Jeanne in Regis Wargnier's A French Woman. Four years later, Béart took home a
Cabourg Romantic Film Festival Award for her outstanding performance in Raul
Ruiz's acclaimed period drama Time Regained (1999). In the more recent time,
Béart was highly appreciated as Louise in Francois Ozon's 8 Women (2002), in
which she netted a European Film Award and a Berlin International Film Festival
Award. Additionally, the actress is well-known for portraying a naked artist
model in The Beautiful Troublemake (1991), a high-strung violinist in A Heart in
Winter (1992), a disturbed young woman in Nelly & Monsieur Arnaud (1995) and
Claire Phelps in Brian De Palma's big screen version of Mission Impossible
(1996).
Recently appearing in D'Artagnan et les trois mousquetaires (2005), Un fil à la
patte (2005) and Enfer, L' (2005), Béart will soon star in A Crime (2005),
Témoins, Les (2006) and Héros de la famille, Le (2006).
Off screen, a former spokesmodel for Christian Dior, Béart was listed the 32nd
of Empire magazine's "100 Sexiest Stars in film history" (1995) and was chosen
the 19th of Femme Fatales magazine's 50 Sexy of Sci-Fi (1997). Aside her film
work, Béart is known for her political and social involvement in her native
language. She becomes the ambassador for UNICEF and United Nations Children's
Fund and has dedicated herself to be the opponent for anti-immigration
legislation. In 1997, Béart was arrested in Paris for defending the rights of
the "sans-papiers" (the black illegal immigrants). As for her private life, the
blonde, sapphire-eyed Béart was once married to actor Daniel Auteuil, but the
couple later divorced in 1998. Three years before the separation, she was
romantically involved with David Moreau. Béart has two children, daughter Nelly
Auteuil (born in 1993, father Daniel Auteuil) and son Johan Moreau (born in
1996, father David Moreau).
"For the moment, I just put them in a backpack and bring them along with me. I
love the fact that they can travel with me. I just decided that I would not put
my professional life on hold to raise children. I know that sounds selfish to a
lot of people and I don't know if what I'm doing is the right thing. But that's
the way I'm doing it." Emmanuelle Béart
Small Town Girl
Childhood and Family:
In St. Tropez, Var, Provence-Alpes-Cote d'Azur, France, Emmanuelle Béart was
born on August 14, 1965. The daughter of pop singer and poet Guy Béart and
Italian-Greek mother Genevieve Galea, Emmanuelle was raised in the small
southern town of Gassin, not far from Saint Tropez because her parent didn't
want Emmanuelle to be effected by the glamour world of Paris. Following the
divorce of her parents, young Emmanuelle went to live with her mother and her
siblings in a remote mountain village in Provence. An aspiring actress from a
young age, Emmanuelle was sent to Montreal, Canada to learn English, as well as
worked as a nanny . While there, Emmanuelle met Robert Altman who encouraged her
to become an actress. After returning to France, she took drama classes and
began working regularly in both films and TV.
In 1993, Emmanuelle decided to marry long-term companion, actor Daniel Auteuil
(born on January 24, 1950). However, the marriage ended in divorce in 1998.
Emmanuelle and Daniel share a daughter named Nelly Auteuil (1993). She also
becomes the mother of a son named Johan Moreau (born in 1996) from her
relationship with David Moreau.
8 Women
Career:
Starting acting at age 7 when she appeared in the film And Hope to Die (1972),
Emmanuelle Béart decided to become an actress six years later after watching
Romy Schneider in the movie Mado (1976). Cast for her extraordinary beauty,
Béart quickly landed her first important role in the French science-fiction film
Tomorrow's Children (1976), playing one of a group of children struggling to
survive after a nuclear holocaust. While working as a nanny in Montreal, Béart
had a chance to meet filmmaker Robert Altman, who wanted the nameless actress to
appear in one of his forthcoming films and convinced her to continue acting. The
arranged partnership, however, never came to realization, and, after returning
to her native country, Béart attended drama school.
A short time later, her exotic beauty caught the attention of
photographer/director David Hamilton who landed Béart a role in First Desires
(1983). It was followed by performances in the made for TV films Raison perdue
(1984), Et demain viendra le jour (1984), Zacharius (1984), Femme de sa vie, La
(1986), and films like A Strange Passion (1984) and Love on the Quiet (1985).
The actress's breakthrough role came in 1985 when she was cast in the supporting
role of Manon, the merciless daughter of the late Jean de Florette, in Claude
Berri's film of love and revenge Manon of the Spring (1986). For her touching
and appealing performance, Béart picked up a César for Best Supporting Actress,
and her career subsequently took off.
The following year, Béart made her Hollywood film debut in the uneven
romantic-comedy Date with an Angel, a film by Tom McLoughlin, which also starred
Michael E. Knight and Phoebe Cates. Next up, Béart was seen as a drug addict in
Children of Chaos (1989) before becoming the center of attention as a nude
artist model named Marianne in Jacques Rivette's controversial, enthralling
meditation La belle noiseuse (aka The Beautiful Troublemaker, 1991), opposite
Michel Piccoli. After I Don't Kiss (1991), Béart offered a wonderful performance
as high-strung violinist Camille, starring alongside Daniel Auteuil, in Un Coeur
en Hiver (aka. A Heart in Winter, 1992), the Claude Sautet story of a love
triangle set in the world of classical music.
It was Béart's last highly-acclaimed film until 1995 when she rejoined director
Claude Sautet to star as frustrated young woman who gets hindered in
psychological uproar when she begins working for an emotionally repressed
businessman in Nelly & Monsieur Arnaud, opposite Michel Serrault. Béart followed
up fantastically with her outstanding turn as Jeanne, an obsessive young woman
caught up in a string of love affairs, in Regis Wargnier's A French Woman
(1995), for which she netted a Moscow International Film Festival for Best
Actress. Despite Béart's bright performance, the film was not the success it was
expected to be. Still in 1995, she was recruited as spokesperson for Christian
Dior.
1996 saw the actress return to the American mainstreams when she was cast as
Claire Phelps, along side superstar Tom Cruise, in the female lead in the Brian
De Palma-directed Mission: Impossible. After the window-dressing role, Béart
once more made her way back to French films, and in 1999, she turned the heads
of film critics with the starring role of Gilberte in Raul Ruiz's superlative
realization of Proust's Time Regained. Screened at Cannes Film Festival, the
film received positive responds, and as for Béart, she was handed a 1999 Best
Actress Award at the Cabourg Romantic Film Festival. Also in 1999, she played
Jules in Elephant Juice and was seen as Sonia, the middle of three sisters in
the comedy-drama Season's Beatings.
Starring as Pauline Pommerel, opposite Charles Berling and Isabelle Huppert, in
a drama film by Olivier Assayas, Destinées, Les (2000) was Béart's opening film
in the new millennium before headlining Fortune Tellers and Misfortune (2001)
and drama film Replay (2001). But it was the French-production 8 Women (2002)
that put Béart back on the limelight. With Francois Ozon directed at the helm,
she gave an imposing portrayal of Louise, a role that garnered Béart such awards
as a 2002 European Film for Best Actress and a 2002 Berlin International Film
Festival for Outstanding Artistic Achievement.
Béart continued to pursue her productive career in the following years. She
landed the starring role of a widowed mother of two trying to flee Paris in
Strayed (2003), had the title character with Jerzy Radziwilowicz in Jacques
Rivette's drama The Story of Marie and Julien (2003) and was cast as a
prostitute in Nathalie... (2003), staring with Gerard Depardieu. 2004 -2005 saw
roles in films like À boire (2004), D'Artagnan et les trois mousquetaires
(2005), Un fil à la patte (2005) and Enfer, L' (2005). Béart will add A Crime
(2005), Témoins, Les (2006) and Héros de la famille, Le (2006) to her long
acting resume.
Awards:
- Berlin International Film Festival: Outstanding Artistic Achievement, 8
Women, 2002
- European Film: Best Actress, 8 Women, 2002
- Cabourg Romantic Film Festival: Best Actress, Time Regained, 1999
- Moscow International Film Festival: Best Actress, A French Woman, 1995
- Cesar: Best Supporting Actress, Manon of the Spring, 1987
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