Poupaud to receive a career gong in Paris

Melvil Poupaud began his 40-year career, at the age of 10 Photo: Thomas Brunot/UniFrance

Following in the illustrious wake of talents including Juliette Binoche, Virginie Efira, Olivier Assayas and Olivier Nakache and Éric Toledano, it is the turn of actor Melvil Poupaud to be honoured during the UniFrance Rendezvous with French Cinema in Paris later this month.

He will be given the French Cinema Award during a glittering ceremony at the French Ministry of Culture at a ceremony on 18 January.

Poupaud’s career has stretched across almost four decades, having begun his acting debut at the age of ten in City Of Pirates, directed by Raoul Ruiz, with whom he went on to make a further five critically acclaimed films.

Melvil Poupaud and Amanda Langlet in Eric Rohmer’s A Summer’s Tale Photo: Les Films du Losange

During his career Poupaud has worked with many of France's most respected directors, including Jean-Jacques Annaud, Benoit Jacquot, François Ozon, James Ivory and Éric Rohmer who gave him the lead role in A Summer's Tale, which brought him to the attention of a wide audience and opened the doors to international recognition.

He became one of Ozon’s favourite actors with Time To Leave (2004); The Refuge (2009); Summer of 85 (2019), and By The Grace Of God (2019), for which he was nominated for a César for Best Actor.

His role of a literature teacher who transforms himself into a woman in Xavier Dolan's Laurence Anyways in 2011 brought him increased international exposure, which was to grow with standout roles in Justine Triet's In Bed With Victoria (2016), Marion Vernoux's The Young Lovers (2021), Arnaud Desplechin's Brother And Sister (2022), and more recently Valérie Donzelli's Just The Two of Us, présented at last year's Cannes Film Festival.

He joined Woody Allen’s cast for Coup De Chance last year, in which he played one of the lead roles. It has yet to be released in the UK or the US. He will soon be appearing in Christophe Honoré's new film, Près Des Yeux, Près Du Coeur, as well as the political mini-series Dans l'Ombre, based on the novel by former French Prime Minister Édouard Philippe.