Mathieu Amalric born 25 October 1965 is a French actor and filmmaker. He is best known internationally for his performance as the lead villain in the James Bond film Quantum of Solace, his performance in Steven Spielberg’s Munich, and for his role in The Diving Bell and the Butterfly, for which he drew critical acclaim. He has also won several César Awards and the Lumières Award.
Early life
Amalric was born in Neuilly-sur-Seine, a suburb of Paris, the son of journalists Nicole Zand, a literary critic for Le Monde, and Jacques Amalric, who has worked as a foreign affairs editor for Le Monde and Libération. Amalric’s father is French while his mother was born in Poland, to Jewish parents, and moved to France at the outbreak of World War II.
Career
Amalric first gained fame in the film Ma Vie Sexuelle (My Sex Life…or How I Got Into an Argument), for which he won a César Award.
He was selected to play the James Bond villain Dominic Greene alongside Daniel Craig (with whom he had previously starred in Munich) in the 2008 film Quantum of Solace.
In 2007, he starred in the critically acclaimed movie Le Scaphandre et le Papillon, to critical praise.
His 2010 film, On Tour, premiered at the 2010 Cannes Film Festival and won Amalric the Best Director Award.
The 2014 film The Blue Room, which he directed and starred in, was selected to compete in the Un Certain Regard section at the 2014 Cannes Film Festival.
Personal life
Amalric has three sons, two with his ex-wife Jeanne Balibar, and one with his former partner, a writer. He is currently in a long-term relationship with Canadian soprano Barbara Hannigan.
He is also an emphatic supporter of Girondins de Bordeaux.
Filmography
As actor
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1984 | Favorites of the Moon | Julien | |
| 1991 | Vert quoi vers où | Short | |
| 1992 | The Sentinel | A medical student | |
| La Chasse aux papillons | |||
| 1993 | Les Yeux au plafond | Short; also director and screenwriter | |
| 1994 | Lettre pour L… | Also assistant director | |
| 1995 | Tom est tout seul | Uncredited; also assistant director | |
| 1996 | Le Journal du séducteur | Sebastien | Nominated—Acteurs à l’Écran for Best Actor |
| My Sex Life… or How I Got Into an Argument | Paul Dedalus | César Award for Most Promising Actor | |
| 1997 | Genealogies of a Crime | Yves | |
| 1998 | L’Interview | Julien | Short |
| On a très peu d’amis | Ivan | ||
| Dieu seul me voit (Versailles-Chantiers) | Atchoum | ||
| Late August, Early September | Gabriel | ||
| Alice and Martin | Benjamin Sauvagnac | ||
| 1999 | Trois ponts sur la rivière | Arthur Echéant | |
| Farewell, Home Sweet Home | Drinker at bar | ||
| 2000 | False Servant | Lélio | |
| La Bréche de Roland | Roland | ||
| L’Affaire Marcorelle | Fourcade | ||
| 2001 | Boyhood Loves | Paul | |
| Zaïde, un petit air de vengeance | Luigi Scarofolo | Telefilm | |
| 2002 | Lundi matin | Nicolas | Voice |
| Les Naufragés de la D17 | René | ||
| Lulu | The advocate | ||
| C’est le bouquet! | Stéphane | ||
| 2003 | A Man, a Real One | Boris | |
| Mes enfants ne sont pas comme les autres | Gérald | ||
| Inquiétudes | Art teacher | ||
| 2004 | Cuadrilátero | Short | |
| Les Parallèles | Simon | Short | |
| Kings and Queen | Ismaël Vuillard | César Award for Best Actor Lumières Award for Best Actor |
|
| Le Pont des Arts | Un spectateur du Nô | ||
| Au large de Bad Ragaz | Alex | ||
| 2005 | I Saw Ben Barka Get Killed | Philippe Bernier | |
| Les Matines | Serge | Short | |
| La Moustache | Serge Schaeffer | ||
| Munich | Louis | Nominated—National Society of Film Critics Award for Best Supporting Actor (2nd place) Nominated—New York Film Critics Circle Award for Best Supporting Actor (2nd place) |
|
| Comme James Dean | Robert Benchetrout | Short | |
| Avaler des couleuvres | Tom | Short | |
| 2006 | Marie Antoinette | Man at Masked Ball | |
| When I Was a Singer | Bruno | ||
| Les Signes | Man | Short | |
| Fragments sur la grâce | A reader | ||
| Un lever de rideau | Pierre | Short | |
| Le Grand Appartement | Martin | ||
| 2007 | Michou d’Auber | Jacques | |
| Heartbeat Detector | Simon | Copenhagen International Film Festival – Best Actor Gijón International Film Festival – Best Actor Nominated—Globes de Cristal Award for Best Actor |
|
| Actrices | Denis | ||
| The Diving Bell and the Butterfly | Jean-Dominique Bauby | César Award for Best Actor Étoiles d’Or for Best Best Actor Lumières Award for Best Actor Nominated—Detroit Film Critics Society Award for Best Actor Nominated—Globes de Cristal Award for Best Actor |
|
| L’Histoire de Richard O. | Richard O. | ||
| A Secret | François Grimbert à 37 ans | ||
| 2008 | 57000 km entre nous | Simon | |
| A Christmas Tale | Henri | ||
| On War | Bertrand | ||
| Mesrine: Public Enemy Number One | François Besse | Nominated—Globes de Cristal Award for Best Actor | |
| Quantum of Solace | Dominic Greene | ||
| 2009 | Park Benches | The father in pram | |
| Face | Man in bushes | ||
| Happy End | Robinson | ||
| Wild Grass | Bernard de Bordeaux | ||
| 2010 | The Extraordinary Adventures of Adèle Blanc-Sec | Dieuleveult | |
| On Tour | Joachim Zand | Also director and screenwriter RiverRun International Film Festival – Best Actor |
|
| The Rabbi’s Cat | Le prince | Voice | |
| The Silence of Joan | The Preacher | ||
| La Chanson du dimanche | Danny Monaco | TV series | |
| 2011 | Chicken with Plums | Nasser-Ali | |
| 2012 | You Ain’t Seen Nothin’ Yet! | Himself | |
| Cosmopolis | André Petrescu | ||
| Camille Rewinds | French teacher | ||
| Le Reste du monde | Paul | Telefilm | |
| Les Gouffres | Georges | ||
| Lines of Wellington | Barão Marbot | ||
| 2013 | Venus in Fur | Thomas | Nominated—César Award for Best Actor |
| Jimmy P: Psychotherapy of a Plains Indian | George Devereux | ||
| Love Is the Perfect Crime | Marc | ||
| Les Anonymes | Roger Marion | Telefilm | |
| The Dune | Moreau | ||
| Petit matin | Patrick | Short | |
| 2014 | The Grand Budapest Hotel | Serge X | Florida Film Critics Circle Award for Best Cast Nominated—Critics’ Choice Movie Award for Best Acting Ensemble Nominated—San Diego Film Critics Society Award for Best Performance by an Ensemble Nominated—Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture Nominated—Washington D.C. Area Film Critics Association Award for Best Ensemble |
| If You Don’t, I Will | Pierre | ||
| The Blue Room | Julien Gahyde | Also director and screenwriter | |
| Bird People | The narrator | Voice | |
| Les Jours venus | |||
| 2015 | Wolf Hall | Eustace Chapuys | TV miniseries |
| The Forbidden Room | Thadeusz M____ / Ostler | ||
| My Golden Days | Paul (adult) | ||
| Families | Jérôme Varenne | ||
| The Very Private Life of Mister Sim | Samuel | ||
| Winter Song | |||
| D’ombres et d’ailes | Short; voice | ||
| Spectrographies | The filmmaker | ||
| Hitchcock/Truffaut | Narrator | ||
| 2016 | Le Cancre | Boris | |
| Spiritismes | |||
| Le Fils de Joseph | Oscar Pormenor | ||
| La Loi de la jungle | Galgaric | ||
| The Woman in the Silver Plate | |||
| Never Ever | Rey | ||
| Demain et tous les autres jours | |||
| 2017 | Espèces menacées | ||
| Barbara | Also director and screenwriter | ||
| Ismael’s Ghosts | Ismaël | ||
| 2018 | Sink or Swim | Bertrand | |
| 2019 | Sound of Metal | Richard Berger | |
| TBA | The French Dispatch | Post-production | |
| O2 | Post-production |
As filmmaker
| Year | Title | Credited as | Notes | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Director | Screenwriter | Other | |||
| 1985 | Marre de café | Yes | Yes | Short | |
| 1986 | La Seule différence c’est que les cafés sont plus chers | Yes | Short | ||
| 1987 | Au revoir les enfants | Yes | Third assistant director | ||
| 1990 | La Passion Van Gogh | Yes | Assistant director and assistant editor | ||
| 1990 | Sans rires | Yes | Yes | Short | |
| 1992 | Border Line | Yes | Second assistant director | ||
| 1992 | The Absence | Yes | Assistant director | ||
| 1993 | Les Yeux au plafond | Yes | Yes | Short | |
| 1993 | 8 bis | Yes | Yes | Short | |
| 1993 | The Diary of Lady M | Yes | Assistant director | ||
| 1993 | Lettre pour L… | Yes | Assistant director | ||
| 1994 | Bête de scène | Yes | Short; assistant director | ||
| 1995 | Tom est tout seul | Yes | Assistant director | ||
| 1997 | Mange ta soupe | Yes | Yes | ||
| 2001 | Le Stade de Wimbledon | Yes | Yes | ||
| 2003 | La Chose publique | Yes | Yes | Telefilm | |
| 2003 | Malus | Yes | Yes | Documentary short | |
| 2004 | 14,58 euros | Yes | Yes | Short | |
| 2007 | Deux cages sans oiseaux | Yes | Yes | Short | |
| 2007 | À l’instar du Père Noël et de la pizza | Yes | Yes | Short | |
| 2007 | Laissez-les grandir ici | Yes | Documentary short | ||
| 2010 | On Tour | Yes | Yes | Cannes Film Festival – Best Director Cannes Film Festival – FIPRESCI Prize Nominated—César Award for Best Director Nominated—César Award for Best Original Screenplay Nominated—Globes de Cristal Award for Best Film Nominated—Gopo Award for Best European Film Nominated—Lumières Award for Best Director |
|
| 2010 | Joann Sfar (dessins) | Yes | Yes | Documentary short; also cinematographer | |
| 2010 | L’Illusion comique | Yes | Yes | Telefilm | |
| 2012 | Next to Last (automne 63) | Yes | Yes | Short | |
| 2012 | La Richesse du loup | Yes | Co-producer | ||
| 2014 | La Magie de Noël | Yes | Short | ||
| 2014 | The Blue Room | Yes | Yes | Mar del Plata Film Festival – Best Director Nominated—Cannes Film Festival – Prix Un certain regard Nominated—César Award for Best Adaptation |
|
| 2015 | C’est presque au bout du monde | Yes | Short | ||
| 2017 | Barbara | Yes | Yes | Prix Louis-Delluc 2017 | |