Jean Dujardin

Jean Dujardin
Born
Jean Edmond Dujardin

(1972-06-19) 19 June 1972 (age 51)
Occupations
  • Actor
  • comedian
  • television director
Years active1996–present
Spouses
Gaëlle Demars
(div. 2003)
(m. 2009; div. 2014)
(m. 2018)
Children4

Jean Edmond Dujardin (French pronunciation: [ʒɑ̃ ɛdmɔ̃ dyʒaʁdɛ̃] ; born 19 June 1972) is a French actor and comedian. He began his career as a stand-up comedian in Paris before guest starring in comedic television programmes and films. He first came to prominence with the cult TV series Un gars, une fille (1999-2003), in which he starred alongside his partner Alexandra Lamy, before becoming a popular film actor with comedies such as Brice de Nice (2005), Michel Hazanavicius's OSS 117: Cairo, Nest of Spies (2006), its sequel OSS 117: Lost in Rio (2009), and 99 Francs (2007).

Dujardin garnered international fame and widespread acclaim with his performance of George Valentin in the 2011 award-winning silent movie The Artist by Hazanavicius. The role won him numerous awards, including the Academy Award for Best Actor (the first for a French actor), the Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Motion Picture Musical or Comedy, the BAFTA Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role, the Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Leading Role and the Cannes Film Festival's Best Actor Award. Despite this newfound popularity, he chose to keep his focus on France, where he remains a popular actor, although he later appeared in the English-language films The Wolf of Wall Street (2013) and The Monuments Men (2014).

Early life

Jean Dujardin was born on 19 June 1972 in the commune of Rueil-Malmaison, Hauts-de-Seine department, Île-de-France region, in the western suburbs of Paris. He grew up in neighbouring Plaisir, Yvelines. After attending high school, he went to work for the construction company of his father, Jacques Dujardin, as a locksmith. Dujardin began contemplating a career in acting while serving his mandatory military service a few years later.

Career

Jean Dujardin began his acting career performing a self-written one-man show in various bars and cabarets in Paris. He first gained attention when he appeared on the French talent show Graines de star in 1996 as part of the comedy group Nous Ç Nous, which was formed by members of the Carré blanc theater.

From 1999 to 2003, Dujardin starred in the France production of the originally Canadian comedy series Un gars, une fille, alongside his future wife Alexandra Lamy, before transitioning to a career in film. The TV series charted the path of a relationship; each episode was less than ten minutes long. In 2005, he portrayed the titular surfer in the popular comedic film Brice de Nice and performed on its accompanying soundtrack.[citation needed]

In 2006, Dujardin starred as racist, sexist secret agent Hubert Bonisseur de La Bath in the comedy OSS 117: Cairo, Nest of Spies, a role which earned him an Etoile D'Or Award and a César Award nomination for Best Actor. The film's success spawned a sequel, OSS 117: Lost in Rio. In 2007, directed by Jan Kounen, he starred in the film 99F (99 francs), a very successful existential parody of an advertising exec, adapted from the eponymous best-seller written by Frédéric Beigbeder. This same year, he ventured in drama for the first time on the silver screen, playing a tortured father and cop in Franck Mancuso's Contre-enquête. In 2009, he appeared in A Man and His Dog alongside screen legend Jean-Paul Belmondo, with whom he has often been compared. In 2010, he starred alongside Albert Dupontel, playing his character's cancer in The Clink of Ice, a French black comedy written and directed by Bertrand Blier.

Jean Dujardin with Charlotte Gainsbourg in 2011

In 2011, Dujardin starred as movie star George Valentin in the silent film The Artist, reuniting him with OSS 117: Cairo, Nest of Spies director Michel Hazanavicius and his co-star in that film, Bérénice Bejo. The film premiered at the 2011 Cannes Film Festival, where he received the Best Actor Award.[citation needed] His performance garnered much critical acclaim and he received numerous nominations, including the Broadcast Film Critics Association Award for Best Actor and the Screen Actors Guild for Best Actor.

On 15 January 2012, Dujardin won a Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Motion Picture Musical or Comedy. He later went on to win the Screen Actors Guild for Best Actor, and the BAFTA for Best Actor. He was also nominated for the César award of the best actor but lost it to Omar Sy for his role in the second most ever viewed movie in France Intouchables. Dujardin went on to win the Best Actor award at the 84th Academy Awards. In effect he is the fourth French actor to be nominated for an Oscar and the first to win the Best Actor. Following his Oscar nomination for his role in The Artist, WME agency signed the actor.

French film historian Tim Palmer has analyzed Dujardin's career and rise to success in France, noting how his formative roles were often unredeemable buffoons, very skillful portrayals of childlike men who aggressively and unabashedly reject the responsibilities and compromises of adult life. Dujardin's breakthrough roles as Brice de Nice and OSS 117 exemplified this tendency.

In February 2012, Dujardin appeared in Les Infidèles with co-star and friend Gilles Lellouche. He was invited to join the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences in June 2012 along with 175 other individuals. In 2013, Dujardin starred in Éric Rochant's Möbius with Cécile de France and Tim Roth.

Jean Dujardin in 2014

His second film that year was Martin Scorsese's The Wolf of Wall Street, playing alongside Leonardo DiCaprio, Jonah Hill, Matthew McConaughey, and Kyle Chandler, among others. He appeared in The Monuments Men, directed by George Clooney, and co-starring Clooney, Matt Damon, and Cate Blanchett, and starred in the French film Le Petit Joueur.

In late 2014, La French, was released in Europe and subsequently in the United States in early 2015. He plays a French police magistrate who tries to dismantle the French Connection and bring down the Unione Corse.[citation needed]

Personal life

Dujardin has been married three times and has four children. His first marriage, to Gaëlle Demars, ended in 2003.[citation needed] They have two sons, born in 2000 and 2001.[citation needed] In 2003, he started dating his on-screen partner Alexandra Lamy of the comedy series Un gars, une fille; the two had originally met at the audition, and fell in love while shooting the series. They married in Anduze on 25 July 2009. In November 2013, it was announced that the couple had separated.

He began dating French ice dancer Nathalie Péchalat in 2014 after following her to Japan to watch her perform in the world ice skating championships, and they had a daughter who they named Jeanne, in December 2015. They married on 19 May 2018 in a small ceremony. Péchalat gave birth to daughter Alice in February 2021

Filmography

Film

Year Title Role Director Notes
2002 À l'abri des regards indiscrets Jean-Luc Ruben Alves
Hugo Gélin
Short
If I Were a Rich Man Weston the seller Gérard Bitton
Michel Munz
2003 Toutes les filles sont folles Lorenzi Pascale Pouzadoux
Bienvenue chez les Rozes Mathieu Gamelin/MG Francis Palluau
The Car Keys Himself Laurent Baffie
2004 Cash Truck Jacques Nicolas Boukhrief
Mariages ! Alex Valérie Guignabodet
Les Dalton Cowboy Philippe Haïm
Rien de grave Travelling Salesman Renaud Philipps Short
2005 La vie de Michel Muller est plus belle que la vôtre Himself Michel Muller
Brice de Nice Brice de Nice James Huth Also co-writer
NRJ Ciné Award for Best Look
NRJ Ciné Award for Best Quote
L'Amour aux trousses Franck Philippe de Chauveron
Il ne faut jurer de rien ! Valentin Eric Civanyan
2006 OSS 117: Cairo, Nest of Spies Hubert Bonisseur de La Bath/OSS 117 Michel Hazanavicius Étoile d'Or Award for Best Actor
Nominated—César Award for Best Actor
Nominated—Globes de Cristal Award for Best Actor
Nominated—NRJ Ciné Award for Actor of the Year
Nominated—NRJ Ciné Award for Best Look
Nominated—NRJ Ciné Award for Best Kiss
Nominated—NRJ Ciné Award for Best Quote
Nominated—Raimu Award for Comedy
2007 Contre-enquête Richard Malinowski Franck Mancuso
Hellphone The Warrior of the Cellar James Huth
Deux sur la balançoire Jerry Ryan Yves Di Tullio
Bernard Murat
TV movie
Cherche fiancé tous frais payés Nightclub Host Aline Issermann
99 Francs Octave Parango Jan Kounen Raimu Award for Comedy
Nominated—Étoile d'Or Award for Best Actor
2008 Ca$h Cash Éric Besnard
2009 A Man and His Dog The Worker Francis Huster
OSS 117: Lost in Rio Hubert Bonisseur de La Bath/OSS 117 Michel Hazanavicius Nominated—Globes de Cristal Award for Best Actor
Lucky Luke Lucky Luke James Huth Also co-writer
2010 Little White Lies Ludo Guillaume Canet
The Clink of Ice Charles Faulque Bertrand Blier
A View of Love Marc Palestro Nicole Garcia Swann d'Or for Best Actor
2011 The Artist George Valentin Michel Hazanavicius Academy Award for Best Actor
AACTA International Award for Best Actor
BAFTA Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role
Cannes Film Festival Best Actor Award
Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Motion Picture Musical or Comedy
Hollywood Film Festival Spotlight Award
Independent Spirit Award for Best Male Lead
Las Vegas Film Critics Society Award for Best Actor
London Film Critics Circle Award for Actor of the Year
Phoenix Film Critics Society Award for Best Actor
Santa Barbara International Film Festival Cinema Vanguard Award
Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Leading Role
Étoile d'Or Award for Best Actor
Women Film Critics Circle Award for Best Screen Couple (with Bérénice Bejo)
Nominated—Alliance of Women Film Journalists EDA Award for Best Actor
Nominated—Broadcast Film Critics Association Award for Best Actor
Nominated—Central Ohio Film Critics Association Award for Best Actor
Nominated—César Award for Best Actor
Nominated—Chicago Film Critics Association Award for Best Actor
Nominated—Dallas-Fort Worth Film Critics Association Award for Best Actor (runner-up)
Nominated—Detroit Film Critics Society Award for Best Actor
Nominated—European Film Award for Best Actor
Nominated—Globes de Cristal Award for Best Actor
Nominated—Houston Film Critics Society Award for Best Actor
Nominated—Lumières Award for Best Actor
Nominated—National Society of Film Critics Award for Best Actor (second runner-up)
Nominated—New York Film Critics Circle Award for Best Actor
Nominated—Online Film Critics Society Award for Best Actor
Nominated—San Diego Film Critics Society Award for Best Actor
Nominated—Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture
Nominated—St. Louis Gateway Film Critics Association Award for Best Actor
Nominated—Utah Film Critics Association Award for Best Actor (runner-up)
Nominated—Vancouver Film Critics Circle Award for Best Actor
Nominated—Washington D.C. Area Film Critics Association Award for Best Actor
Nominated—Women Film Critics Circle Award for Best Actor
2012 The Players Fred/Olivier/François/Laurent/James Emmanuelle Bercot
Jean Dujardin
Michel Hazanavicius
Jan Kounen
Gilles Lellouche
Also co-director, co-writer and co-producer
2013 Möbius Moïse Éric Rochant
The Wolf of Wall Street Jean-Jacques Saurel Martin Scorsese
9 Month Stretch Sign Language Interpreter Albert Dupontel
2014 The Monuments Men Jean-Claude Clermont George Clooney
The Connection Pierre Michel Cédric Jimenez
2015 Un plus une Antoine Abeilard Claude Lelouch
2016 Up for Love Alexandre Laurent Tirard
Brice 3 Brice de Nice James Huth Also co-writer
2017 Chacun sa vie Jean the policeman Claude Lelouch
Sahara Georges Pierre Coré Voice
2018 I Feel Good Jacques Benoît Delépine & Gustave Kervern
Return of the Hero Captain Charles-Grégoire Neuville Laurent Tirard
2019 Deerskin Georges Quentin Dupieux
An Officer and a Spy Georges Picquart Roman Polanski Nominated - César Award for Best Actor
Nominated - Lumières Award for Best Actor
2021 OSS 117: From Africa with Love Hubert Bonisseur de La Bath/OSS 117 Nicolas Bedos
Présidents Nicolas Anne Fontaine
2022 November Fred Cédric Jimenez Nominated - César Award for Best Actor
2023 On the Wandering Paths [fr] Pierre Denis Imbert

Television

Year Title Role Notes
1996–1999 Carré Blanc / Nous C Nous Various TV sketches
1997–1998 Farce Attaque Himself Also co-writer
1999–2003 Un gars, une fille Jean / "Loulou" Lead role opposite later lover and wife Alexandra Lamy
1999 Un gars, une fille Special guest in the episode "À Paris"; reprised his role from the French series
2007 Palizzi Dustman Also creator and director
2012 Saturday Night Live George Valentin-like character Appeared in the "Les jeunes de Paris" sketch
2013 Le débarquement Various TV series (2 episodes)
Platane Himself TV series (1 episode: "La fois où il a cru que le signe c'était un zodiac")
2018 Call My Agent! Jean Dujardin TV series (1 episode : "Jean")
2023 Alphonse Alphonse Lead role, 6 episodes

Music video


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