Bérénice Bejo

Bérénice Bejo is a French-Argentine actress best known for playing Christiana in A Knight's Tale and Peppy Miller in The Artist (2011). Her work in the latter earned her a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress and won her the César Award for Best Actress. For her performance in The Past, she won Best Actress at the Cannes Film Festival in 2013 and was nominated for a César. She plays Alice Guy-Blaché, the first female film director, in the upcoming six-part drama series Alice.

Early life and education Bérénice Bejo was born in Buenos Aires, Argentina, and is the daughter of Argentine filmmaker Miguel Bejo and his wife Silvia, a lawyer. When she was three, her family moved to France, escaping from Argentina's most recent civil-military dictatorship (1976–1983).

Career In 2001 Bejo made her American film debut, playing the role of Christiana in A Knight's Tale opposite Heath Ledger. Christiana is a lady-in-waiting to Jocelyn (Shannyn Sossamon).

In 2002 she toured in France with Marie-France Pisier and Guillaume Depardieu.

In 2003 Bejo starred as Olivia in 24 Hours in the Life of a Woman by Laurent Bouhnik.

Under the direction of Steve Suissa, she seduces Stephane Freiss and Titoff in The Grand Role (2004), a comedy about the world of actors, and she also starred in Cavalcade (2005), a drama dealing with the theme of disability.

In 2006 she appeared alongside Jean Dujardin in OSS 117: Cairo, Nest of Spies by Michel Hazanavicius. This was the first collaboration of the trio. and several award nominations: the Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Supporting Role, the Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actress – Motion Picture award, the BAFTA Award for Best Actress in a Leading Role, and the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress.

In 2012 she was announced as the host of the opening and closing ceremonies at the 2012 Cannes Film Festival. Also in 2012, she voiced the role of Mérida in the French dub of the Disney/Pixar animated film Brave. In June 2012 Bejo was invited to join the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.

She has been announced to star as Alice Guy-Blaché, the first female film director, in the upcoming six-part Wild Bunch TV / HBO / France Télévisions drama series Alice. The series is co-created by Irish playwright Tim Loane and along with Claire Lemaréchal, and co-written by Loane, Lemaréchal, and André Gulluni. It is due for release in 2026.

Recognition and awards Bejo received the Prix Romy Schneider in 2012.

For her performance in The Past, she won Best Actress at the Cannes Film Festival in 2013.

Personal life In 2006 Bejo met director Michel Hazanavicius when she was acting in OSS 117: Cairo, Nest of Spies, whom she later married. They have two children.

Filmography

Theatre Year Title Author Director Theater 1999 The Threepenny Opera Bertolt Brecht Steve Kalfa Théâtre des Champs-Élysées 2016 , Théâtre Édouard VII