Sandrine Bonnaire (; born 31 May 1967) is a French

actress An actor or actress is a person who portrays a Character (arts), 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 ...

film director A film director controls a film's artistic and dramatic aspects and visualizes the screenplay (or script) while guiding the film crew and actors in the fulfilment of that vision. The director has a key role in choosing the cast members, p ...

and

screenwriter A screenplay writer (also called screenwriter, scriptwriter, scribe or scenarist) is a writer who practices the craft of screenwriting, writing screenplays on which mass media, such as films, television programs and video games, are based. ...

who has appeared in more than 40 films. She won the

César Award for Most Promising Actress The César Award for Most Promising Actress (french: César du meilleur espoir féminin) is one of the César Awards, presented annually by the Académie des Arts et Techniques du Cinéma to recognize the outstanding breakthrough performance of a ...

for '' À Nos Amours'' (1983), the

César Award for Best Actress The César Award for Best Actress (french: César de la meilleure actrice, link=no) is one of the César Awards, presented annually by the ''Académie des Arts et Techniques du Cinéma'' to recognize the outstanding performance in a leading role o ...

for ''

Vagabond Vagrancy is the condition of homelessness without regular employment or income. Vagrants (also known as bums, vagabonds, rogues, tramps or drifters) usually live in poverty and support themselves by begging, scavenging, petty theft, temporar ...

'' (1985) and the

Volpi Cup for Best Actress The Volpi Cup for Best Actress is an award presented by the Venice Film Festival. It is given by the festival jury in honor of an actress who has delivered an outstanding performance from the films in the competition slate. It is named in honor o ...

for ''

La Cérémonie ''La Cérémonie'' is a 1995 crime drama film by Claude Chabrol, adapted from the 1977 novel ''A Judgement in Stone'' by Ruth Rendell. The film echoes the case of Christine and Lea Papin, two French maids who brutally murdered their employer's wif ...

'' (1995). Her other films include ''

Under the Sun of Satan ''Under the Sun of Satan'' () is Georges Bernanos's first published novel, appearing in 1926 in Paris. According to Michel Estève, the novel draws on three primary inspirations: the life of the curate Jean-Marie Vianney, which informs the char ...

'' (1987), '' Monsieur Hire'' (1989), ''

East/West ''East/West'' (french: Est-Ouest; russian: Восток-Запад, Vostok-Zapad) is a 1999 drama film directed by Régis Wargnier, starring Sandrine Bonnaire, Oleg Menshikov, Catherine Deneuve and Sergei Bodrov Jr. It received generally positi ...

'' (1999) and '' The Final Lesson'' (2015).

Life and career

Bonnaire was born in the town of

Gannat Gannat (; Auvergnat: ''Gatnat'') is a commune in the Allier department in central France. Gannat was a sub-prefecture until 1926, with a population of around 5,800 inhabitants. There is a castle (the Château de Gannat), two churches of whic ...

, Allier, in the

Auvergne Auvergne (; ; oc, label= Occitan, Auvèrnhe or ) is a former administrative region in central France, comprising the four departments of Allier, Puy-de-Dôme, Cantal and Haute-Loire. Since 1 January 2016, it has been part of the new region Au ...

region. She was born into a working-class family, the seventh of eleven children. She grew up in Grigny, Essonne. Her acting career began in 1983, when she starred in the

Maurice Pialat Maurice Pialat (; 31 August 1925 – 11 January 2003) was a French film director, screenwriter and actor known for the rigorous and unsentimental style of his films. His work is often described as " realist",

film '' À Nos Amours'' at age 16. She played a girl from Paris beginning her sexual awakening. In 1984 she received the

. Her international breakthrough came in 1985 when she played the main character in ''

'' (''Sans toit ni loi''), directed by Agnès Varda, for which she won her second César Award. She portrays a vagrant who fails both physically and morally. The film had a profound effect on actress and singer Miss X (blogtalkradio.com/miss-x) who saw it age age 18-19, and began traveling solo at age 20. The film premiered at the 42nd Venice International Film Festival, where it won the Golden Lion. The jury deemed Bonnaire's performance among the best of the year, but decided against awarding her the

prize because both the actresses they judged to have given the best performances were in films that won major awards. Bonnaire worked again with Pialat on ''

'' (''Sous le soleil de Satan'') which won the

Palme d'Or The Palme d'Or (; en, Golden Palm) is the highest prize awarded at the Cannes Film Festival. It was introduced in 1955 by the festival's organizing committee. Previously, from 1939 to 1954, the festival's highest prize was the Grand Prix du Fe ...

at the 1987 Cannes Film Festival. '' Monsieur Hire'', directed by Patrice Leconte, followed in 1989, along with further work with directors

Jacques Doillon Jacques Doillon (; born 15 March 1944) is a French film director. He has a habit of giving lead roles to inexperienced young actresses in his films on family life and women. Some actresses to break through are Fanny Bastien, Sandrine Bonnaire, Ju ...

and

Claude Sautet Claude Sautet (23 February 1924 – 22 July 2000) was a French film director and screenwriter. He was a chronicler of post-war French society. He made a total of five films with his favorite actress Romy Schneider. Biography Born in Montrou ...

. In 1995, Bonnaire starred as an apparently simple maid in Claude Chabrol's widely acclaimed thriller

. The film and its stars won awards internationally, including Best Actress at the 52nd Venice Film Festival for both Bonnaire and co-star

Isabelle Huppert Isabelle Anne Madeleine Huppert (; born 16 March 1953) is a French actress. Described as "one of the best actresses in the world", she is known for her portrayals of cold and disdainful characters devoid of morality. She is the recipient of sev ...

. In 2004, Bonnaire starred in another Leconte film, '' Intimate Strangers'', which was an

arthouse An art film (or arthouse film) is typically an independent film, aimed at a niche market rather than a mass market audience. It is "intended to be a serious, artistic work, often experimental and not designed for mass appeal", "made primarily ...

box-office hit in the United States. In 2017, Bonnaire starred in

Gaël Morel Gaël Morel (born 25 September 1972) is a French film director, screenwriter and actor. Life and career Morel was born in Villefranche-sur-Saône, Rhône (department), Rhône, France, a town of 30,000 inhabitants outside Lyon. He grew up in the ...

's film about reverse immigration, ''Prendre le large''. At the

8th Magritte Awards The 8th Magritte Awards ceremony, presented by the Académie André Delvaux, honored the best 2017 in film, films of 2017 in Belgium and took place on 3 February 2018 at the Square – Brussels Meeting Centre, Square in the historic site of Mont de ...

she received an Honorary Magritte Award from the

Académie André Delvaux The Académie André Delvaux is a Belgium, Belgian professional organisation dedicated to the promotion and development of Cinema of Belgium, Belgian cinema. Founded in 2010, it is responsible for the annual Magritte Awards, Belgium's principal film ...

Personal life

Bonnaire has a daughter from a relationship with actor

William Hurt William McChord Hurt (March 20, 1950 – March 13, 2022) was an American actor. Known for his performances on stage and screen, he received various awards including an Academy Award, BAFTA Award and Cannes Film Festival Award for Best Actor. ...

, whom she met in 1991 during filming of the

Albert Camus Albert Camus ( , ; ; 7 November 1913 – 4 January 1960) was a French philosopher, author, dramatist, and journalist. He was awarded the 1957 Nobel Prize in Literature at the age of 44, the second-youngest recipient in history. His work ...

novel '' The Plague'' (''La Peste''). They acted together in ''Secrets Shared with a Stranger'' (1994). In 2003, she married actor and screenwriter

Guillaume Laurant Guillaume may refer to: People * Guillaume (given name), the French equivalent of William * Guillaume (surname) Other uses * Guillaume (crater) See also * '' Chanson de Guillaume'', an 11th or 12th century poem * Guillaume affair, a Cold War espi ...

, with whom she has a second daughter. They divorced in 2015.

Selected filmography

As actress

As director/screenwriter

Awards and nominations

References

External links

*
Sandrine Bonnaire's Cinématon – A 4 minutes online portrait by Gérard Courant
*

at Film Reference

at Allocine {{DEFAULTSORT:Bonnaire, Sandrine 1967 births Living people 20th-century French actresses 21st-century French actresses Best Actress César Award winners French film actresses French film directors French television actresses French women film directors French women screenwriters French screenwriters Magritte Award winners Most Promising Actress César Award winners People from Allier Volpi Cup for Best Actress winners