Emmanuelle Béart born 14 August 1963 is a French film actress, who has appeared in over 60 film and television productions since 1972. An eight-time César Award nominee, she won the César Award for Best Supporting Actress for the 1986 film Manon des Sources. Her other film roles include La Belle Noiseuse (1991), A Heart in Winter (1992), Nelly and Mr. Arnaud (1995), Mission: Impossible (1996) and 8 Women (2002).
Early life
Béart was born Emmanuelle Béhart-Hasson in St. Tropez (some sources say Gassin), on the French Riviera, the daughter of Geneviève Galéa (pseudonym of Geneviève Guillery), a former model who is of Croatian, Greek and Maltese descent, and Guy Béart, a singer and poet. Her Egyptian-born father’s family was of Lebanese-Jewish descent.
She has a half-sister, Ève (born 1959), on her father’s side and six half-siblings on her mother’s side; Ivan, Sarah and Mikis Cerieix from her mother’s relationship with Jean-Yves Cerieix and Olivier Guespin, Lison and Charlotte from her mother’s relationship with Jean-Jacques Guespin.
In her late teens, she spent her summer vacation with the English-speaking family of a close friend of her father in Montreal. She stayed with Beverly Mellen and William Sofin and their two children Andrew and Sean Sofin, who took her in as their own. At the end of the summer, the family invited her to stay with them and complete her baccalauréat at Collège International Marie de France. They have remained close friends.
Career
Béart got an acting role in 1976 film Tomorrow’s Children. In her teens she appeared in bit parts in television. Upon graduating from the Collège International Marie de France in Montreal, she returned to France to attend drama school in Paris. A short time later, she was cast in her first adult role in a film, and in 1986 she achieved fame with her role opposite Yves Montand, playing the avenging daughter in French hit Manon des Sources. For her performance, she won the 1987 César Award for Best Supporting Actress. In 1995, she won the Silver St. George for Best Actress award at the 19th Moscow International Film Festival for her starring role in film A French Woman.
In addition to her award for Best Supporting Actress, she has also been nominated for another seven César Awards for Most Promising Actress and Best Actress. Béart received Most Promising Actress nominations for A Strange Passion and Love on the Quiet; followed by Best Actress nominations for Children of Chaos, La Belle Noiseuse (The Beautiful Troublemaker), Un cœur en hiver (A Heart in Winter), Nelly et Monsieur Arnaud (Nelly and Mr Arnaud), and Les Destinées Sentimentales (Sentimental Destinies)
In the 5 May 2003 issue of the French edition of Elle magazine, Béart, aged 39, appeared nude: The entire run of 550,000 copies sold out in just three days, making it the biggest-selling issue in the fashion glossy’s long history.
Personal life
In the mid-1980s, Béart began a relationship with Daniel Auteuil (her co-star in Love on the Quiet, Manon des Sources, A Heart in Winter and A French Woman); they married in 1993 and divorced in 1995. Béart was romantically linked to music producer David François Moreau (since c. 1995 after she separated from Auteuil) and to film producer Vincent Meyer for two years until his suicide in May 2003. She has three children: Nelly Auteuil (born c. 1993), and Johan Moreau (born c. 1996). She married actor Michaël Cohen on 13 August 2008 at Genappe in Belgium, and in 2009 they adopted a child from Ethiopia, named Surafel. Béart and Cohen separated in 2011. In 2011, she began a romantic relationship with director and cinematographer Frédéric Chaudier.
In addition to her screen work, Béart is known for her social activism. She is an ambassador for UNICEF, and has made news for her opposition to France’s anti-immigration legislation. In 1996, she made headlines when, defending the rights of the “sans-papiers” (“without papers”, meaning undocumented immigrants), she was removed after her group’s occupation of a Parisian church.
In March 2012, Béart spoke out against plastic surgery in Le Monde, saying that she regretted having an operation on her lips in 1990 when she was 27.
Selected filmography
Emmanuelle Béart in 2004
Film
| Year | Title | Role | Director |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1983 | First Desires | Hélène | David Hamilton |
| 1985 | Love on the Quiet | Samantha | Édouard Molinaro |
| 1986 | Manon des Sources | Manon | Claude Berri |
| 1987 | Date with an Angel | Angel | Tom McLoughlin |
| 1988 | Door on the Left as You Leave the Elevator | Eva | Édouard Molinaro |
| 1990 | Captain Fracassa’s Journey | Isabella | Ettore Scola |
| 1991 | La Belle Noiseuse | Marianne | Jacques Rivette |
| I Don’t Kiss | Ingrid | André Téchiné | |
| 1992 | A Heart in Winter | Camille | Claude Sautet |
| 1994 | Hell | Nelly | Claude Chabrol |
| 1995 | A French Woman | Jeanne | Régis Wargnier |
| 1995 | Nelly and Mr. Arnaud | Nelly | Claude Sautet |
| 1996 | Mission: Impossible | Claire Phelps | Brian de Palma |
| 1998 | Don Juan | Elvire | Jacques Weber |
| 1998 | Stolen Life | Alda | Yves Angelo |
| 1999 | Time Regained | Gilberte | Raoul Ruiz |
| 1999 | Season’s Beatings | Sonia | Danièle Thompson |
| 1999 | Elephant Juice | Jules | Sam Miller |
| 2000 | Sentimental Destinies | Pauline Pommerel | Olivier Assayas |
| 2001 | Replay | Nathalie | Catherine Corsini |
| 2002 | 8 Women | Louise | François Ozon |
| Searching for Debra Winger | as herself | Rosanna Arquette | |
| 2003 | Strayed | Odile | André Téchiné |
| The Story of Marie and Julien | Marie Delambre | Jacques Rivette | |
| Nathalie… | Nathalie / Marlène | Anne Fontaine | |
| 2005 | Hell | Sophie | Danis Tanovic |
| 2006 | A Crime | Alice Parker | Manuel Pradal |
| 2007 | The Witnesses | Sarah | André Téchiné |
| 2008 | Disco | France Navarre | Fabien Onteniente |
| Vinyan | Jeanne Bellmer | Fabrice Du Welz | |
| 2010 | Nous Trois | Marie | Renaud Bertrand |
| Ça commence par la fin | Gabrielle | Michaël Cohen | |
| 2011 | Ma compagne de nuit | Julia | Isabelle Brocard |
| 2012 | Bye Bye Blondie | Frances | Virginie Despentes |
| Télé gaucho | Patricia Gabriel | Michel Leclerc | |
| 2013 | Par exemple, Électre | Chrysothémis | Jeanne Balibar, Pierre Léon |
| 2014 | My Mistress | Maggie/ The Mistress | Stephen Lance |
| Les Yeux jaunes des crocodiles | Iris Dupin | Cécile Telerman | |
| 2017 | Beyond the Known World | Louise | Pan Nalin |
Television
- Le grand Poucet (1980)
- Zacharius (1984)
- Raison perdue (1984)
- La femme de sa vie (1986)
- Et demain viendra le jour (1986)
- Les jupons de la révolution (1 episode, 1989)
- D’Artagnan et les trois mousquetaires (2005)
Awards and nominations
| Year | Award | Work | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| César Awards | |||
| 1985 | A Strange Passion | Most Promising Actress | Nominated |
| 1986 | Love on the Quiet | Nominated | |
| 1987 | Manon des Sources | Best Supporting Actress | Won |
| 1990 | Children of Chaos | Best Actress | Nominated |
| 1992 | La Belle Noiseuse | Nominated | |
| 1993 | A Heart in Winter | Nominated | |
| 1996 | Nelly and Mr. Arnaud | Nominated | |
| 2001 | Sentimental Destinies | Nominated | |
| Other awards | |||
| 1993 | A Heart in Winter | David di Donatello Award for Best Foreign Actress | Won |
| 1995 | A French Woman | Moscow International Film Festival Award for Best Actress | Won |
| 2002 | 8 Women | European Film Award for Best Actress (shared) | Won |
| Honorary | |||
| 2002 | Silver Bear (Berlin) for Outstanding Artistic Contribution for 8 Women (shared) | Honored | |
| 2010 | Stanislavsky Award (Moscow) | Honored | |
| 2012 | Officer of the Order of Arts and Letters | Honored | |
| 2015 | Chevalier of the Legion of Honour | Honored | |