Juliette Binoche was born on 9th March 1964, in Paris.  Her father was a sculptor and her mother a French teacher who gave drama classes.  After a happy childhood growing up in Loir-et-Cher, Juliette and her sister Marion moved to Paris to persue their studies.  Juliette developed a strong interest in the theatre, studying drama and mounting a school production of  Ionesco's Le Roi se meurt at the age of 16.   Having chosen to opt for a career as an actress, she studied drama at the théâtre au Conservatoire de Paris.  To earn a living, she worked as a shop assistant at the Bazar de l'Hotel de Ville in Paris, which she later claimed allowed her to make a close study of human behaviour. 

Attracted by her beauty, the influential New Wave director Jean-Luc Godard gave her a small role in his contraversial film Je vous salue Marie.  Her big break came in 1985 with a leading role in André Téchiné's film Rendez-vous , which earned her instant recognition with critics and public alike.  This was followed by appearances in two of Leos Carax's films which cemented her reputation as a promising acting talent, Mauvais Sang (1986) and Les Amants de Pont-Neuf(1991).  International stardom came her way in 1988 for her role in Philip Kaufman's The Unbearable Lightness of Being.

Since, Juliette Binoche's career has blossomed and she is now regarded as one of the finest actresses of her generation, much sought after by the world's leading film directors.  She appeared opposite Jeremy Irons in Louis Malle's Fatale (1992) and later starred in Krzysztof Kieslowski's Trois Couleurs: Blue (1993) (for which she won a César and the best actress award at Venice).  Further success followed with Jean-Paul Rappeneau's Le Hussard sur le toit (1995), before Téchiné's comparatively unsuccessful Alice et Martin (1998). 

Binoche was awarded an Oscar in 1997 for her supporting role in Anthony Minghella's The English Patient (1996).  In 1999, she starred opposite Daniel Auteuil in Patrice Leconte's moving historical drama La Veuve de Saint-Pierre. 

With the success of Lasse Hallström's English language film Chocolat (2000), for which she was nominated for an Oscar, Binoche has been able to consolidate her international reputation. 

© James Travers 2002