Jean-Marc Barr

Jean-Marc Barr

Born 1960-09-27 (age 65) Bitburg, Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany
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Biography

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Jean-Marc Barr (born on 27 September 1960 in Bitburg, Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany) is a French-American film actor and director. His mother is French. His American father was in the US Air Force and served in the Second World War. Jean-Marc Barr is primarily known as an actor, but is also a film director, screenwriter and producer. Barr is bilingual in French and English: he speaks French with a nasal, hybrid accent, reminiscent of his American upbringing - with a slight American accent and occasional anglicisms in interviews - and English with a Mid-Atlantic accent.

He studied philosophy at the University of California, Los Angeles, the Paris Conservatoire and the Sorbonne. He went on to pursue an education in drama at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama in London. In London he met his future wife, a pianist and composer Irina Dečermić.

Jean-Marc Barr began working in theatre in France in 1986. After some television roles and film work, in particular, Hope and Glory (1987) by John Boorman, he was cast in the tremendously successful The Big Blue (1988). Luc Besson cast him in the role of French diver Jacques Mayol. He played in the role opposite Rosanna Arquette and Jean Reno. The Big Blue was the most financially successful film in France in the 1980s.

In 1991, he starred in Danish director Lars von Trier's Europa, marking the beginning of a long friendship (he is the godfather of von Trier's children) as well as a significant professional relationship. He went on to appear in von Trier’s Europa (1991), Breaking the Waves (1996), Dancer in the Dark (2000), Dogville (2004) and Manderlay (2005). Also in 2005 he starred in the French film Crustacés et Coquillages.

His collaboration with von Trier put him on track to start directing his own work. He debuted in 1999 as a director, screenwriter and producer with the intimate love story Lovers. This film became the first part of a trilogy; the two subsequent parts being the drama Too Much Flesh (2000) and the comedy Being Light (2001) which he co-directed with Pascal Arnold.

He may also be recognized for his role as the attractive divorce lawyer, Maitre Bertram in the Merchant Ivory film le Divorce (2003). He appeared as Hugo in The Red Siren in 2002. He appeared as the main character in the video for Blur's 1995 single, "Charmless Man".

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Known For

Nymphomaniac: Vol. II
Nymphomaniac: Vol. II

2013

as Debtor Gentleman

The Big Blue
The Big Blue

1988

as Jacques Mayol

Dogville
Dogville

2003

as The Man with the Big Hat

Maurice
Maurice

1987

as French Colleague (uncredited)

Dancer in the Dark
Dancer in the Dark

2000

as Norman

Breaking the Waves
Breaking the Waves

1996

as Terry

Manderlay
Manderlay

2005

as Mr. Robinsson

The Pod Generation
The Pod Generation

2023

as The Founder

Europa
Europa

1991

as Leopold Kessler

Le Divorce
Le Divorce

2003

as Maitre Bertram

Buğday
Buğday

2017

as Erol

Marching in Darkness
Marching in Darkness

1996

as Silvio Roatto

Silent Land
Silent Land

2022

as diver Arnaud

What is Love?
UK18
UK18

2017

as The Foreigner

Being Light
Being Light

2001

as Jack Lesterhoof

The Academy
The Academy

2025

as Prof. Robert Copley

King David
King David

1985

as Absalom

My Best Part
My Best Part

2020

as The director

Cut Off
Cut Off

2018

as Trevor De Blanc