Sandrine Bonnaire

Sandrine Bonnaire (; born 31 May 1967) is a French actress, film director and screenwriter who has appeared in more than 40 films. She won the César Award for Most Promising Actress for À Nos Amours, the César Award for Best Actress for Vagabond (1985) and the Volpi Cup for Best Actress for La Cérémonie (1995). Her other films include Under the Sun of Satan (1987), Monsieur Hire (1989), East/West (1999) and The Final Lesson (2015).

Life and career

Bonnaire was born in the town of Gannat, Allier, in the Auvergne region. She was born into a working-class family, the seventh of eleven children. She grew up in Grigny, Essonne. Her acting career began in 1983, when she starred in the Maurice Pialat film À Nos Amours at age 16, as a girl from Paris beginning her sexual awakening. In 1984 she received the César Award for Most Promising Actress.

Her international breakthrough came in 1985 with her portrayal of the main character, a vagrant who fails both physically and morally, in Vagabond (Sans toit ni loi), directed by Agnès Varda. The film earned Bonnaire her second César Award. Vagabond premiered at the 42nd Venice International Film Festival, where it won the Golden Lion. The jury deemed Bonnaire's performance among the best of the year, but decided against awarding her the Volpi Cup for Best Actress prize because both the actresses they judged to have given the best performances were in films that won major awards.

Bonnaire worked again with Pialat on Under the Sun of Satan (Sous le soleil de Satan) which won the Palme d'Or at the 1987 Cannes Film Festival. Monsieur Hire, directed by Patrice Leconte, followed in 1989, along with further work with directors Jacques Doillon and Claude Sautet.

In 1995, Bonnaire starred as an apparently simple maid in Claude Chabrol's widely acclaimed thriller La Cérémonie. The film and its stars won awards internationally, including the Volpi Cup for Best Actress at the 52nd Venice Film Festival for both Bonnaire and co-star Isabelle Huppert.

In 2004, Bonnaire starred in another Leconte film, Intimate Strangers, which was an arthouse box-office hit in the United States.

In 2017, Bonnaire starred in Gaël Morel's film about reverse immigration, Prendre le large. At the 8th Magritte Awards she received an Honorary Magritte Award from the Académie André Delvaux.

In 2024, Bonnaire began the filming of Slow Joe.

Personal life Bonnaire has a daughter from a relationship with actor William Hurt, whom she met in 1991 during filming of the Albert Camus novel The Plague (La Peste). They acted together in Secrets Shared with a Stranger (1994). In 2003, she married actor and screenwriter Guillaume Laurant, with whom she has a second daughter. She wrote and directed the 2012 movie J'enrage de son absence with her ex William Hurt as the main role. Bonnaire and Guillaume Laurant divorced in 2015.

Selected filmography Bonnaire at the 2009 66th Venice International Film Festival as member of the jury.

As actress Year Title Role Director 1982 Les Sous-doués en vacances Extra (uncredited) Claude Zidi 1983 À Nos Amours Suzanne Maurice Pialat 1984 Fire on Sight Marilyn Marc Angelo 1985 Blanche et Marie Marie Jacques Renard A Better Life Veronique Renaud Victor Police Lydie Maurice Pialat Vagabond Mona Bergeron Agnès Varda 1986 The Prude Manon Jacques Doillon 1987 Under the Sun of Satan Mouchette Maurice Pialat Jaune revolver Angèle Olivier Langlois Les Innocents Jeanne André Téchiné 1988 A Few Days With Me Francine Claude Sautet Thick Skinned Annie Patricia Mazuy 1989 Monsieur Hire Alice Patrice Leconte 1990 Captive of the Desert The captive Raymond Depardon Towards Evening Stella Francesca Archibugi 1991 The Sky Above Paris Suzanne Michel Béna 1992 The Plague Martine Luis Puenzo Prague Elena Ian Sellar 1994 Joan the Maid, Part 1: The BattlesJoan the Maid, Part 2: The Prisons Joan of Arc Jacques Rivette 1995 One Hundred and One Nights The female vagabond Agnès Varda La Cérémonie Sophie Claude Chabrol 1996 Never Ever Katherine Charles Finch 1997 Debt of Love Monika Andreas Gruber 1998 Secret Defense Sylvie Jacques Rivette Stolen Life Olga Yves Angelo 1999 The Color of Lies Vivianne Claude Chabrol East/West Marie Régis Wargnier 2001 Mademoiselle Claire Philippe Lioret C'est la vie Suzanne Jean-Pierre Améris 2002 Femme Fatale As herself Brian De Palma 2003 Resistance Lucette Todd Komarnicki 2004 Intimate Strangers Anna Patrice Leconte The Giraffe's Neck Hélène Safy Nebbou The Light Mabé Philippe Lioret 2006 Could This Be Love? Elsa Pierre Jolivet Demandez la permission aux enfants Marie Eric Civanyan 2007 A Simple Heart Félicité Marion Laine 2008 Mark of an Angel Claire Safy Nebbou 2009 Queen to Play Hélène Caroline Bottaro 2013 Adieu Paris Françoise Dupret Franziska Buch 2014 Salaud, on t'aime Nathalie Béranger Claude Lelouch Soul of a Spy Jacqueline Vladimir Bortko Rouge sang Jacqueline Xavier Durringer TV film 2015 The Final Lesson Diane Pascale Pouzadoux 2016 Heaven Will Wait 2017 Capitaine Marleau Jeanne Dewaere Josée Dayan A Season in France Catch the Wind 2021 Happening Gabrielle Duchesne Audrey Diwan Love Is Better Than Life Sandrine Massaro2022 Umami Louise Carvin Slony Sow Les Combattantes Éléonore Dewitt 2023 Dance First Suzanne Dechevaux-Dumesnil James Marsh 2024 Limonov: The Ballad TBA Kirill SerebrennikovFinalementClaude Lelouch 2025 La vie devant moi

As director/screenwriter Year Title Cast Notes 2007 Elle s'appelle Sabine (Her Name is Sabine) Sabine Bonnaire DocumentaryCannes Film Festival - Directors' Fortnight or Critics' WeekFrench Syndicate of Cinema Critics - Best First FilmGlobe de Cristal for Best DocumentaryNominated - Cannes Film Festival - Golden CameraNominated - Chicago International Film Festival - Best DocumentaryNominated - César Award for Best Documentary Film 2012 J'enrage de son absence William Hurt, Alexandra Lamy Feature film 2016 Marianne Faithfull - Fleur d'âme Marianne Faithfull, Sandrine Bonnaire Documentary film

Awards and nominations