Melvil Poupaud

Melvil Matthias Julien Poupaud (born 26 January 1973) is a French actor.

Early life Poupaud was born in Paris, the son of Michel Poupaud and filmmaker Chantal Poupaud. He has an elder brother, Yarol, who is a musician.

Career Poupaud made his film debut at the age of 10 in Raúl Ruiz's City of Pirates (1983), having been introduced to the director by his mother. He subsequently appeared in nine more of Ruiz's films, including The Insomniac on the Bridge (1985), Treasure Island (1986), Genealogies of a Crime (1997), Time Regained (1999) and Love Torn in a Dream (2000). For his roles in Jacques Doillon's The 15 Year Old Girl (1989) and Laurence Ferreira Barbosa's Normal People Are Nothing Exceptional (1993), Poupaud received two nominations for the César Award for Most Promising Actor.

He starred in François Ozon's Time to Leave, and co-starred with Parker Posey in Zoe Cassavetes' Broken English.

He also appeared in films such as Eric Rohmer's A Summer's Tale, Arnaud Desplechin's A Christmas Tale, and François Ozon's The Refuge.

He co-starred with Suzanne Clément in Xavier Dolan's Laurence Anyways.

Personal life Poupaud dated actress Chiara Mastroianni for four years from the age of 16 to 20. Though the two split up they remained friends and collaborators for decades with Mastroianni crediting Poupaud with encouraging her to pursue acting as a career and Poupaud crediting Mastroianni for his friendship with her former husband Benjamin Biolay.

Poupaud was previously married to writer Georgina Tacou, with whom he has a daughter.

Filmography

As actor

Year Title Role Notes 1983 City of Pirates Malo 1984 Qui es-tu Johnny Mac ? Johnny Mac Short (also as director and screenwriter) 1985 Treasure Island Jim Hawkins The Insomniac on the Bridge Michel Ces jours où les remords font vraiment mal au cœur The boy Short (also as director and screenwriter) 1986 Dans un miroir 1988 3 jours... Melvil Short (also as director and screenwriter) 1989 The 15 Year Old Girl Thomas Nominated - César Award for Most Promising Actor 1992 Archipel Michel The Lover The Younger Brother 1993 À la belle étoile Mathieu Les gens normaux n'ont rien d'exceptionnel Germain Also as composerNominated - César Award for Most Promising Actor 1994 Fado majeur et mineur Antoine Boulevard Mac Donald Short (also as director, screenwriter and composer) 1995 Élisa Pharmacist's Son Innocent Lies Louis Bernard Those Were the Days Axel Hillbilly Chainsaw Massacre Short La Vie de Marianne Valville TV movie 3000 scénarios contre un virus TV series (1 episode) 1996 Souvenir Charles A Summer's Tale Gaspard Le journal du séducteur Gregoire Three Lives and Only One Death Martin 1997 Marianne Valville Le ciel est à nous Lenny Genealogies of a Crime René 1998 Les kidnappeurs Armand Carpentier 1999 Time Regained Prince de Foix Quelque chose The man Short (also as director, screenwriter and cinematographer) 2000 A Raiz do Coração Vicente Corvo La Chambre obscure Bertrand Love Torn in a Dream Paul 2001 A Hell of a Day Ben Rémi Rémi Short (also as director and screenwriter) 2003 Feelings François Le Divorce Charles-Henri de Persand Shimkent hôtel Alex Pronobis Philippe Short (also as director and screenwriter) 2004 Eros thérapie Bruno Monde extérieur Régis Short Qui a tué Johnny Mac ? Johnny Mac Short (also as director, screenwriter and cinematographer) 2005 Time to Leave Romain Valladolid International Film Festival - Best Actor 2006 Melvil Melvil Also as director, screenwriter, cinematographer and editor 2007 A Lost Man Thomas Koré Towards Zero Guillaume Neuville Broken English Julien 2008 The Broken Stefan Chambers Speed Racer Johnny 'Goodboy' Jones A Christmas Tale Ivan Vuillard Crime Is Our Business Frédéric Charpentier 2009 The Refuge Louis Lucky Luke Jesse James 44 Inch Chest Loverboy San Diego Film Critics Society Award for Best Performance by an Ensemble 2010 La lisière François Black Heaven Vincent Mysteries of Lisbon Colonel Ernesto Lacroze The Counterfeiters Edouard TV movie 2011 L'orpheline avec en plus un bras en moins Robinson The Argument Man Short 2012 Laurence Anyways Laurence Alia Lisbon & Estoril Film Festival - Best ActorNominated - Canadian Screen Award for Best ActorNominated - Vancouver Film Critics Circle Award for Best Actor in a Canadian Film Lines of Wellington Marechal Massena 2014 Fidelio: Alice's Odyssey Gaël 2015 Mad Love The Priest Face Down Samy By the Sea François The Great Game Pierre Blum 2016 In Bed with Victoria Vincent Kossarski Nominated — César Award for Best Supporting Actor 2017 The Lady in the Portrait Jean Denis Attiret La pimbêche à vélo Melvil Short 2018 La belle et la belle Marc By the Grace of God Alexandre Guérin Nominated — César Award for Best Actor Les grands squelettes Insoupçonnable Paul Brodsky TV series (10 episodes)Nominated - ACS Award for Best Actor 2019 Golden Youth Hubert Robert J'accuse Maître Labori 2020 Summer of 85 M. Lefèvre 2021–2022 UFOs Didier Mathure TV series (24 episodes)ACS Award for Best Actor (2021)Nominated - ACS Award for Best Actor (2022) 2022 Brother and Sister Louis 2022 One Fine Morning Clément 2023 Jeanne du Barry Le Comte du Barry Just the Two of Us Grégoire Coup de chance Jean 2025-2026 Privileges Édouard Balzaim HBO TV series 2026 A Bit Before Midnight Léo

As filmmaker Year Title Credited as NotesDirectorWriter Cinematographer 1984 Qui es-tu Johnny Mac ? Short 1985 Ces jours où les remords font vraiment mal au cœur Short 1988 3 jours… Short 1994 Boulevard Mac Donald Short (also as composer) 1999 Quelque chose Short 2001 Rémi Short 2003 Pronobis Short 2004 Qui a tué Johnny Mac ? Short 2006 Melvil Also as editor