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Bérénice Bejo
Bejo in 2016
Born	(1976-07-07) 7 July 1976 (age 48) Buenos Aires, Argentina
Nationality	Argentina France
Years active	1993–present
Spouse	Michel Hazanavicius
Children	2

Bérénice Bejo (French pronunciation: [beʁenis beʒo]; born 7 July 1976) is a French-Argentine actress best known for playing Christiana in A Knight's Tale (2001) 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.

Personal life

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). Her father enrolled her at the school of Les Enfants Terribles theater.

In 2006, she starred in OSS 117: Cairo, Nest of Spies, where she met director Michel Hazanavicius, whom she later married. They have two children: Lucien and Gloria.

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 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.

In 2007, she made an appearance in the short film La Pomme d'Adam.

In 2008, she appeared in two romantic comedies: Modern Love Bouquet and Stéphane Kazandjian. The same year she gave birth to her first child by Hazanavicius.

In 2009, she participated in the documentary by Serge Bromberg [fr], Henri-Georges Clouzot's Inferno. The documentary reconstructs Clouzot's film, alternating between scenes from the 1964 film and dialogue readings between Jacques Gamblin (for Serge Reggiani) and Béjo (for Romy Schneider).

In the 2011 film, The Artist, which is directed by Hazanavicius and stars Dujardin, Bejo plays Peppy Miller, a 1920s film actress. Her performance received critical acclaim, the César Award for Best Actress, 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, 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. She dubbed the role of Mérida in the French dub of the Disney/Pixar film Brave. In June 2012, Bejo was invited to join the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. The same month, she received the Prix Romy Schneider.

Filmography

Theatre

References

1. "Cannes Film Festival: Awards 2013". Cannes. 26 May 2013. Retrieved 26 May 2013.
2. Diego Lerer (13 March 2003). "Estaba peleado con el país". Clarin (in Spanish). Retrieved 28 February 2012.
3. Gabriel de Lerma (17 February 2012). "Bérénice Bejo, en la cima de la popularidad". El Nuevo Herald (in Spanish). Archived from the original on 28 February 2012. Retrieved 28 February 2012.
4. "Bérénice Bejo se sent 'aussi Argentine que Française'". La Dépêche (in French). Agence France-Presse. 25 January 2012. Retrieved 28 February 2012.
5. ^ Scott Feinberg (8 February 2012). "Bérénice Bejo, Silent Star of The Artist, Talks About the Two Leading Men in Her Life". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 12 February 2012.
6. "The Artist wins six César awards". The Telegraph. 25 February 2012. Retrieved 28 February 2012.
7. SAG awards list Archived 19 November 2017 at the Wayback Machine, sagawards.org.
8. Golden Globes list Archived 29 October 2012 at the Wayback Machine, goldenglobes.org.
9. BBC Oscars coverage 2012
10. "The Artist star to host Cannes film ceremonies". The Telegraph. Retrieved 19 April 2012.
11. "Bérénice Bejo, la voix de Merida dans Rebelle", Le Figaro (in French)
12. "Academy Invites 176 to Membership" (Press release). The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. 29 June 2012. Retrieved 19 July 2013.
13. Yossman, K.J. (17 January 2022). "Daniel Brühl Boards Lone Scherfig's 'The Movie Teller' (EXCLUSIVE)". Variety.
14. Keslassy, Elsa (28 April 2023). "Netflix Sets Xavier Gens' Genre Movie Set in Paris' Seine, Starring Berenice Bejo as Next French Film Original (EXCLUSIVE)". Variety. Retrieved 18 April 2024.

External links

• Bérénice Bejo at IMDb
• Bérénice Bejo on Charlie Rose

• 1976 births
• 21st-century French actresses
• Argentine emigrants to France
• Best Actress César Award winners
• Best Actress Lumières Award winners
• Cannes Film Festival Award for Best Actress winners
• French film actresses
• French silent film actresses
• Living people
• Actresses from Buenos Aires
• 20th-century French actresses