Jean-Marc Barr (born September 27, 1960) is a French-American film

actor An actor or actress is a person who portrays a character in a performance. The actor performs "in the flesh" in the traditional medium of the theatre or in modern media such as film, radio, and television. The analogous Greek term is (), lit ...

and director. He is best known for working on several films from Danish film director and frequent collaborator

Lars von Trier Lars von Trier (''né'' Trier; 30 April 1956) is a Danish filmmaker, actor, and lyricist. Having garnered a reputation as a highly ambitious, polarizing filmmaker, he has been the subject of several controversies: Cannes, in addition to nominat ...

since ''

Europa Europa may refer to: Places * Europe * Europa (Roman province), a province within the Diocese of Thrace * Europa (Seville Metro), Seville, Spain; a station on the Seville Metro * Europa City, Paris, France; a planned development * Europa Clif ...

'' (1991).

Early life and education

Barr was born to a French mother and an American father working in the

United States Armed Forces The United States Armed Forces are the military forces of the United States. The armed forces consists of six service branches: the Army, Marine Corps, Navy, Air Force, Space Force, and Coast Guard. The president of the United States is ...

. He is fluent in both French and English. Barr was born in West Germany where his father was stationed, and lived an itinerant childhood. His family moved to France in 1968, then to

California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...

in 1974.Jean-Marc Barr
at franceinter.frAn Interview with the Fabulous Jean-Marc Barr
, Beachcomber, 16 January 2014 Barr's parents wished for him to join the armed forces, but he was unwilling to follow in his father's footsteps. He studied philosophy at the

University of California, Los Angeles The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California. UCLA's academic roots were established in 1881 as a teachers college then known as the southern branch of the Californ ...

, then at the Paris Conservatoire and the Sorbonne. He moved to

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

to pursue an education in drama at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama.

Career

Barr began working in

theatre Theatre or theater is a collaborative form of performing art that uses live performers, usually actors or actresses, to present the experience of a real or imagined event before a live audience in a specific place, often a stage. The perfor ...

in France in 1986. After finding work in television (including a small role in '' Hotel du Lac'' (1986), the BBC's version of the Booker prize-winning novel by Anita Brookner), and film, (in particular '' Hope and Glory'' (1987) by

John Boorman Sir John Boorman (; born 18 January 1933) is a British film director, best known for feature films such as '' Point Blank'' (1967), ''Hell in the Pacific'' (1968), ''Deliverance'' (1972), '' Zardoz'' (1974), '' Exorcist II: The Heretic'' (1977 ...

), he was cast in the tremendously successful '' The Big Blue'' (1988). Luc Besson cast him in the role of French diver Jacques Mayol, alongside Rosanna Arquette and

Jean Reno Jean Reno () (born 30 July 1948), is a French actor. He has worked in American, French, English, Japanese, Spanish and Italian movie productions; Reno appeared in films such as '' Crimson Rivers'', ''Godzilla'', '' The Da Vinci Code'', '' Mission ...

. The Big Blue was the most financially successful film in France in the 1980s. In 1991, Barr starred in Danish director

's ''

'', marking the beginning of a long friendship (he is the godfather of von Trier's children) as well as a significant professional relationship. He went on to appear in von Trier's ''

Breaking the Waves ''Breaking the Waves'' is a 1996 psychological drama film directed and co-written by Danish filmmaker Lars von Trier and starring English stage actress Emily Watson as her feature film acting debut. Set in the Scottish Highlands in the early ...

'' (1996), ''

Dancer in the Dark ''Dancer in the Dark'' is a 2000 musical drama film written and directed by Danish filmmaker Lars von Trier. It stars Icelandic musician Björk as a factory worker who suffers from a degenerative eye condition and is saving for an operation to p ...

'' (2000), '' Dogville'' (2004), ''

Manderlay ''Manderlay'' is a 2005 avant-garde drama film written and directed by Lars von Trier, the second and final part of von Trier's projected '' USA – Land of Opportunities'' trilogy. It stars Bryce Dallas Howard, who replaces Nicole Kidman in th ...

'' (2005), ''

The Boss of It All ''The Boss of It All'' ( da, Direktøren for det hele) is a 2006 experimental comedy film written and directed by Lars von Trier. The film uses a cinematic technique invented by von Trier himself called Automavision, which automatically determ ...

'' (2006) and '' Nymph()maniac'' (2013). In 2005 he starred in the French film '' Crustacés et Coquillages''. In 1999 he starred in the French cinéma du corps/cinema of the body drama film, ''

Don't Let Me Die on a Sunday Don't Let Me Die on a Sunday (french: J'aimerais pas crever un dimanche) is a 1999 French cinéma du corps/cinema of the body drama film, directed by Didier Le Pêcheur. Plot Cast *Élodie Bouchez as Térésa *Jean-Marc Barr as Ben * Martin P ...

'' (French: J'aimerais pas crever un dimanche), directed by Didier Le Pêcheur. Barr's collaboration with von Trier put him on track to start directing his own work. He debuted in 1999 as a director, screenwriter and producer with the intimate love story '' Lovers''. The film became the first part of a trilogy; the films that followed were the drama '' Too Much Flesh'' (2000) and the comedy ''

Being Light In metaphysics, ontology is the philosophical study of being, as well as related concepts such as existence, becoming, and reality. Ontology addresses questions like how entities are grouped into categories and which of these entities exis ...

'' (2001), which he co-directed with Pascal Arnold. Barr and Pascal also directed the 2006 film Chacun sa nuit (eng: One to another), where they first discovered Lizzie Brocher, Arthur Dupont and Karl E. Landler. This was followed by another collaboration in 2012, '' Sexual Chronicles of a French Family''. In 1997, Barr appeared in '' The Scarlet Tunic'', produced by Zigi Kamasa. He appeared as Hugo in ''

The Red Siren ''The Red Siren'' (french: La sirène rouge) is a 2002 French crime thriller film based upon the novel by same name by Maurice G. Dantec. The film was directed by Olivier Megaton from a script by Olivier Megaton, Alain Berliner, Norman Spinrad, ...

'' in 2002 and played divorce lawyer Maître Bertram in the 2003

Merchant Ivory A merchant is a person who trades in commodities produced by other people, especially one who trades with foreign countries. Historically, a merchant is anyone who is involved in business or trade. Merchants have operated for as long as industry ...

film ''

le Divorce ''Le Divorce'' is a 2003 romantic comedy-drama film directed by James Ivory from a screenplay by Ruth Prawer Jhabvala and Ivory, based on the 1997 novel of the same name by Diane Johnson. Plot Isabel Walker travels to Paris to visit her siste ...

''. He appeared as the titular character in the video for Blur's 1996 single, " Charmless Man". In 2010, he starred in

Kim Nguyen Kim Nguyen is a Canadian film director and screenwriter, best known for his 2012 film ''War Witch (Rebelle)''. The film was the top winner at the 1st Canadian Screen Awards;City of Shadows (La Cité)''. Barr played author

Jack Kerouac Jean-Louis Lebris de Kérouac (; March 12, 1922 – October 21, 1969), known as Jack Kerouac, was an American novelist and poet who, alongside William S. Burroughs and Allen Ginsberg, was a pioneer of the Beat Generation. Of French-Canadian an ...

in the 2013 film adaptation of the

Beat Generation The Beat Generation was a literary subculture movement started by a group of authors whose work explored and influenced American culture and politics in the post-war era. The bulk of their work was published and popularized by Silent Genera ...

autobiographical novel ''

Big Sur Big Sur () is a rugged and mountainous section of the Central Coast of California between Carmel and San Simeon, where the Santa Lucia Mountains rise abruptly from the Pacific Ocean. It is frequently praised for its dramatic scenery. Big Sur ...

''.

Filmography

Film

Television

References

External links

* * *
Biography at zoom-cinema.fr
{{DEFAULTSORT:Barr, Jean-Marc 1960 births Living people People from Bitburg American male film actors American male stage actors American male television actors French male film actors French male stage actors French male television actors University of California, Los Angeles alumni University of Paris alumni French emigrants to the United States Alumni of the Guildhall School of Music and Drama American expatriates in Germany Expatriates in England