Jean-Christophe Bouvet

Jean-Christophe Bouvet (; born 24 March 1947) is a French actor, director and screenwriter. Best known in his homeland for his role as General Edmond Bertineau in Luc Besson's Taxi film series, he gained international fame for his appearance as designer Pierre Cadault in Darren Star's Emily in Paris television series.

Biography Jean-Christophe Bouvet took drama classes under Jean-Laurent Cochet at the Théâtre Édouard VII. He also studied film, linguistics, and psychoanalysis at Paris VIII University. During this time, he met André Téchiné and Claude Chabrol, subsequently becoming their assistant director. He worked simultaneously as an actor, assistant director, and writer.

He landed his first major role in Paul Vecchiali's La Machine (1977), portraying a man sentenced to death for the murder of a child. He had previously collaborated with the director on the controversial film Change pas de main, released on 18 June 1975. The film received an 18+ rating due to numerous unsimulated sex scenes, including a sequence featuring a close-up of Bouvet during a group sex scene.

In 1989, he served as the model for L'Origine de la guerre ("The Origin of War"), an artwork by Orlan.

Bouvet is particularly known for portraying disturbing or shady characters, such as Pierre Lentier, the murderer in La Machine; Satan, depicted as a perverse and complex horse dealer in the Bernanos-Pialat adaptation Under the Sun of Satan; and Jean-Paul Martoni, the corrupt politician in La Cité de la peur. He has appeared in a wide variety of films, ranging from the radical auteur cinema of Jean-Claude Biette to mainstream productions by Luc Besson. In 2016, he played Gauthier, a caustic and herd-minded salesman, in Pierre Léon's Deux Rémi, deux. In 2017, he played a shifty, homosexual innkeeper in Jours de France, the debut feature film by Jérôme Reybaud. In 2018, he played Tonton, an old sage fond of yoga, in Jean-Claude Brisseau's Que le diable nous emporte.

Described by film director and critic Louis Skorecki as the "greatest actor in the world", Jean-Christophe Bouvet is also considered by Serge Kaganski to be the "Jean-Pierre Léaud of the post-New Wave generation".

Filmography As actor

1969: La philosophie dans le boudoir as Le grand prêtre 1975: Change pas de main as Alain 1977: The Machine (directed by Paul Vecchiali) as Pierre Lentier 1977: Le théâtre des matières (directed by Jean-Claude Biette) as Christophe 1980: That's Life as Richard 1980: Le borgne 1981: Loin de Manhattan as Christian 1983: Archipel des amours as Le travelo (segment "Masculins singuliers") 1983: At the Top of the Stairs as Un snob à l'exposition 1987: Sous le soleil de Satan (directed by Maurice Pialat) as Le maquignon 1991: J'embrasse pas (directed by André Téchiné) as Le client au bois 1992: Savage Nights (Les Nuits fauves) (directed by Cyril Collard) as Serge 1992: Krapatchouk as Ministre 1994: La Cité de la peur directed by Alain Berbérian) as Jean-Paul Martoni, le député du R.E.P.N. 1994: L'Eau froide directed by Olivier Assayas) as Professeur 1994: Le terminus de Rita 1995: Le rocher d'Acapulco as Le maître de cérémonie 1995: Le complexe de Toulon (directed by Jean-Claude Biette) as Chris Patsch 1996: Le contre-ciel 1997: Vicious Circles (directed by Sandy Whitelaw) as Le Notaire 1998: Le Plaisir (et ses petits tracas) as Bob, le dealer 1998: L'examen de minuit as Le Vendeur du Manoir 1999: Gloria (directed by Manuela Viegas) as Vicente 1999: Les passagers (directed by Jean-Claude Guiguet) as Le Voyageur 1999: Recto/Verso as Maître Maillard 1999: Lovers as Le Kiosquier 1999: Le domaine 2000: Taxi 2 (directed by Gérard Krawczyk) as Général Edmond Bertineau 2000: Lise et André (directed by Denis Dercourt) as Charles 2000: La chambre obscure 2001: Folle de Rachid en transit sur Mars (segment "Eléphants de la planète Mars, Les") 2001: La boîte (directed by Claude Zidi) as Bloret 2001: Off to the Revolution by a 2CV as Capo inpresa polizia 2001: Being Light as Hotel clerk 2002: Jojo la frite (directed by Nicolas Cuche) as Benz 2002: Les naufragés de la D17 (directed by Luc Moullet) as Le sergent chef 2002: Le nouveau Jean-Claude as Le directeur du grand magasin 2002: The Red Siren (directed by Olivier Megaton) as Lucas 2003: Taxi 3 (directed by Gérard Krawczyk) as Général Edmond Bertineau 2003: Saltimbank (directed by Jean-Claude Biette) as Bruno Saltim 2004: À vot' bon coeur as Le vice-président de la Commission de l'Avance sur Recettes 2004: Notre musique (directed by Jean-Luc Godard) as C. Maillard 2004: Courts mais GAY: Tome 8 as Le père (segment "Prisonnier") 2004: Mensonges et trahisons et plus si affinités... (directed by Laurent Tirard) as L'éditeur 2005: Comme un frère as L'admirateur 2005: Journal IV 2006: L'Ivresse du pouvoir (directed by Claude Chabrol) as Me Parlebas 2006: Les Brigades du Tigre (directed by Jérôme Cornuau) as Le juge au procès 2006: Marie-Antoinette (directed by Sofia Coppola) as Duc de Choiseul 2006: Il sera une fois (directed by Sandrine Veysset) as Henri, le père de Pierrot 2006: Chacun sa nuit (directed by Pascal Arnold et Jean-Marc Barr) as Vincent Sylvaire 2006: La vie privée (directed by Mehdi Ben Attia et Zina Modiano) as Jean-Emmanuel 2006: Le prestige de la mort as Maître chanteur 2006: Lisa et le pilote d'avion (directed by Philippe Barassat) as Le pilote 2007: Taxi 4 as Général Edmond Bertineau 2007: La France as Elias 2007: Capitaine Achab as Le roi d'Angletere 2007: L'Auberge rouge as Maître Rouget 2008: Des Indes à la planète Mars as M. Senn 2009: La famille Wolberg as Maurice, le médecin 2009: Cinéman as Monsieur Coq - le proviseur 2009: The Beast (La bête) 2010: L'autre Dumas as M. Bocquin 2010: Black Venus as Charles Mercailler, le journaliste 2010: Belleville-Tokyo as Jean-Loup 2011: Cat Run as Dobber 2011: Let My People Go! as Commissaire 2011: Notre Paradis as Le premier client 2012: Paris by Night as L'hôte au Café Carmen 2012: Désordres as Le proviseur 2012: Les Rencontres d'après minuit as Brigadier chef / Chief Brigadier 2013: Gare du Nord as Juriste 2013: Hasta mañana as Jean-Louis 2015: Deux Rémi, deux as Gauthier 2016: Jours de France as L'homme de Savoie 2016: Where Horses Go To Die (directed by Antony Hickling) as Daniel 2016: Sélection officielle as Jean-Michel Bitume 2017: We Are Tourists as Jacky 2017: Des amours, désamour as Le père de Manon 2018: Que le diable nous emporte as Tonton 2018: La légende as Président Rousseleau 2018: L'oeuf dure as Lui-même 2020: La rupture as Jean 2020: Emily in Paris as Pierre Cadault 2021: Down in Paris as Robert 2026 Everything I Said I Wasn't (directed by Antony Hickling) as JC Bouvet