Daniel Auteuil (born January 24, 1950 in Alger, then-French Algeria) is a French actor and director.
He's been acting since age 16. He studied at the prestigious Cours Florent acting school and has appeared in a wide range of genres, including period pieces, melodramas, comedies, romantic comedies, and crime thrillers. One of France's most respected actors, he has won multiple awards, including a Best Actor award at the Cannes Film Festival, two Césars awards and a BAFTA for Best Actor in a Supporting Role.
He is also a director since 2011. Until 2018, he focused on adapting books and plays of Marcel Pagnol (who also wrote the Jean de Florette / Manon des Sources novel duology, which was adapted on film with Auteuil in a starring role in the mid-1980s).
Selected filmography:
- Rape of Love (1978) as Daniel
- Pour cent briques, t'as plus rien... (1982)
- Jean de Florette / Manon des Sources (1986)
- A Heart In Winter (1992)
- La Reine Margot (1994)
- On Guard (1997)
- Sade (2000)
- The Closet (2001)
- 36 quai des Orfèvres (2004)
- Caché (2005)
- Napoleon and Me (2006)
- Rémi sans Famille (2018)
Tropes & Trivia in his works:
- Author Appeal: He's very fond of Marcel Pagnol and has played in several adaptations of the author's works, three of them that he directed himself.
- Development Hell: He has directed and starred in adaptations of Marcel Pagnol's "Marseille Trilogy" stage plays in 2013, Marius and Fanny, but gave up on adapting the third play, César.
- Directed by Cast Member: So far, he has played in every film that he has directed.
- Kavorka Man: He's not what one could call a beautiful man, but he's played husbands and The Casanova more than once.
- Those Two Actors: He has played alongside Gérard Depardieu in Jean de Florette, The Closet, 36 quai des Orfèvres and The Other Woman.
- Tom Hanks Syndrome: In the beginning of his film career, he was mainly famous for his comedic roles, like in The Under-Gifted (1980) and its 1982 sequel, Men Prefer Fat Girls (1981), T'empêches tout le monde de dormir (1982), Pour cent briques, t'as plus rien... (1982), P'tit Con (1984), Palace (1985). Then, in 1986, he played in Jean de Florette and its sequel Manon des Sources, two period dramas adapted from the works of Marcel Pagnol. He won the César Award for Best Actor for his role. Since then, he has been mainly successful in dramatic roles (A Heart In Winter, My Favorite Season, La Reine Margot, The Eighth Day, Girl on the Bridge, 36 quai des Orfèvres, Caché...), though he does still venture in comedy at times.
- What Could Have Been: He was once set to play the title role in both 2001's Vidocq and 2022's Maigret, only to be replaced both times by Gérard Depardieu due to scheduling issues.
