Jeanne Balibar

Biography

When she was a child, Jeanne Balibar wanted to be a dancer. She was already attracted by the stage and the show and admired great opera singers like Maria Callas. As she was going to take the last exam for becoming a lecturer, she decided not to go to the exam but to take an exam to become a stage actress. She went to the French academy for young actors, in Paris (like The Actors Studio, as if acting isn't taught in the same way) and she passed the very difficult exam without having previously acted in any play nor movie. When she finished her studies for acting, she started to work for La Comédie Française, a world-known French company which only produces French classics. She played the part of Elvire, from Molière's "Don Juan" in the biggest French stage festival: the festival of Avignon. She was really acclaimed by the French critics and public. She started to play in French cinema with directors such as Arnaud Desplechin ("My sexual like or how I get into an argument") or Olivier Assayas ("Last August, Early September" for which she earned a best actress award in the Spanish movie festival of San Sebastian). As though, these parts were dramatic, she was also wonderful in comedies such as "Ca ira mieux demain" (Jeanne Labrune) which made her more famous. She was really acclaimed for these movies but not very popular, as these films weren't blockbusters. The film which really made her famous is Rivette's "Who Knows" where she played the lead role of Camille, a French stage actress and created a very impressionating and innovative way of acting. She replaced Emmanuelle Béart for this part and became a very respected actress. She started to sing in 2003 and she did a record called "Paramour" with songs such as "Johnny Guitar" (from the Nicholas Ray's movie), "Pearl" (from "The Night of the Hunter") or even "Hélas" (a duet with Maggie Cheung who acted with her in "Clean", by Olivier Assayas). She is still a stage actress and started an international career with Winterbottom's "Code 46" (she played the part of Tim Robbin's girlfriend). As if she is not the most popular French actress, she is one of the most talented and her talents seem to have no limit: stage and movie acting, singing and soon dancing in Berliner's "Fred Astaire".