Jean-Marc Barr
Encyclopedia
Jean-Marc Barr 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 anglicism
s 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
".
He is set to play author Jack Kerouac
in the upcoming film adaption
of the Beat Generation
autobiographical novel Big Sur
.
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
-American film actor
Actor
An actor is a person who acts in a dramatic production and who works in film, television, theatre, or radio in that capacity...
and director
Film director
A film director is a person who directs the actors and film crew in filmmaking. They control a film's artistic and dramatic nathan roach, while guiding the technical crew and actors.-Responsibilities:...
. His mother is French. His American father was in the US Air Force and served in the Second World War
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
. Jean-Marc Barr is primarily known as an actor
Actor
An actor is a person who acts in a dramatic production and who works in film, television, theatre, or radio in that capacity...
, but is also a film director
Film director
A film director is a person who directs the actors and film crew in filmmaking. They control a film's artistic and dramatic nathan roach, while guiding the technical crew and actors.-Responsibilities:...
, screenwriter
Screenwriter
Screenwriters or scriptwriters or scenario writers are people who write/create the short or feature-length screenplays from which mass media such as films, television programs, Comics or video games are based.-Profession:...
and producer
Film producer
A film producer oversees and delivers a film project to all relevant parties while preserving the integrity, voice and vision of the film. They will also often take on some financial risk by using their own money, especially during the pre-production period, before a film is fully financed.The...
. 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 anglicism
Anglicism
An Anglicism, as most often defined, is a word borrowed from English into another language. "Anglicism" also describes English syntax, grammar, meaning, and structure used in another language with varying degrees of corruption.-Anglicisms in Chinese:...
s in interviews – and English with a Mid-Atlantic
Mid-Atlantic English
Mid-Atlantic English is a cultivated or acquired version of the English language that is not a typical idiom of any location. It blends American and British without being predominantly either. It is also used to describe various forms of North American speech that have assimilated some British...
accent.
He studied philosophy at the University of California, Los Angeles
University of California, Los Angeles
The University of California, Los Angeles is a public research university located in the Westwood neighborhood of Los Angeles, California, USA. It was founded in 1919 as the "Southern Branch" of the University of California and is the second oldest of the ten campuses...
, the Paris Conservatoire and the Sorbonne
University of Paris
The University of Paris was a university located in Paris, France and one of the earliest to be established in Europe. It was founded in the mid 12th century, and officially recognized as a university probably between 1160 and 1250...
. He went on to pursue an education in drama at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama
Guildhall School of Music and Drama
Guildhall School of Music and Drama is an independent music and dramatic arts school which was founded in 1880 in London, England. Students can pursue courses in Music, Opera, Drama and Technical Theatre Arts.-History:...
in London. In London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
he met his future wife, a pianist and composer Irina Dečermić.
Jean-Marc Barr began working in theatre
Theatre
Theatre is a collaborative form of fine art that uses live performers to present the experience of a real or imagined event before a live audience in a specific place. The performers may communicate this experience to the audience through combinations of gesture, speech, song, music or dance...
in France in 1986. After some television
Television
Television is a telecommunication medium for transmitting and receiving moving images that can be monochrome or colored, with accompanying sound...
roles and film work, in particular, Hope and Glory (1987) by John Boorman
John Boorman
John Boorman is a British filmmaker who is a long time resident of Ireland and is best known for his feature films such as Point Blank, Deliverance, Zardoz, Excalibur, The Emerald Forest, Hope and Glory, The General and The Tailor of Panama.-Early life:Boorman was born in Shepperton, Surrey,...
, he was cast in the tremendously successful The Big Blue
The Big Blue
The Big Blue is a 1988 English-language film made by French director Luc Besson. The film stars Jean-Marc Barr, Rosanna Arquette, Jean Reno and depicts a fictionalized account of the sporting rivalry between two famed free divers.-Background:...
(1988). Luc Besson
Luc Besson
Luc Besson is a French film director, writer, and producer. He is the creator of EuropaCorp film company. He has been involved with over 50 films, spanning 26 years, as writer, director, and/or producer.-Early life:...
cast him in the role of French diver Jacques Mayol
Jacques Mayol
Jacques Mayol was the holder of many world records in free diving.Jacques Mayol was a French national born in Shanghai, China. He was the first free diver to descend to 100 meters , and he managed to descend to 105 meters when he was 56 years old...
. He played in the role opposite Rosanna Arquette
Rosanna Arquette
Rosanna Lauren Arquette is an American actress, film director, and producer.-Early life:Arquette was born in New York City, the daughter of Brenda Olivia "Mardi" , an actress, poet, theater operator, activist, acting teacher, and therapist, and Lewis Arquette, an actor and director. Her paternal...
and Jean Reno
Jean Reno
Jean Reno is a French actor. Working in French, English, Spanish and Italian, he has appeared not only in numerous successful Hollywood productions such as The Pink Panther, Godzilla, The Da Vinci Code, Mission: Impossible, Ronin and Couples Retreat, but also in European productions such as the...
. The Big Blue was the most financially successful film in France in the 1980s.
In 1991, he starred in Danish
Denmark
Denmark is a Scandinavian country in Northern Europe. The countries of Denmark and Greenland, as well as the Faroe Islands, constitute the Kingdom of Denmark . It is the southernmost of the Nordic countries, southwest of Sweden and south of Norway, and bordered to the south by Germany. Denmark...
director Lars von Trier
Lars von Trier
Lars von Trier is a Danish film director and screenwriter. He is closely associated with the Dogme 95 collective, although his own films have taken a variety of different approaches, and have frequently received strongly divided critical opinion....
'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
Breaking the Waves
Breaking the Waves is a 1996 film directed by Lars von Trier and starring Emily Watson. Set in the Scottish Highlands in the early 1970s, it tells the story of an unusual young woman, Bess McNeill, and of the love she has for Jan, her husband. The film is an international co-production led by Lars...
(1996), Dancer in the Dark
Dancer in the Dark
Dancer in the Dark is a 2000 Danish musical drama film directed by Lars von Trier and starring Icelandic singer Björk, Catherine Deneuve, David Morse, Cara Seymour, Peter Stormare, Siobhan Fallon Hogan, and Joel Grey...
(2000), Dogville
Dogville
Dogville is a 2003 drama written and directed by Lars von Trier, and starring Nicole Kidman, Lauren Bacall, Chloë Sevigny, Paul Bettany, Stellan Skarsgård, Udo Kier, and James Caan...
(2004) and Manderlay
Manderlay
Manderlay is the 2005 sequel to the film Dogville. It is the second part of Lars von Trier's projected USA - Land of Opportunities trilogy. Bryce Dallas Howard replaces Nicole Kidman in the role of Grace Mulligan. The film co-stars Willem Dafoe, replacing James Caan...
(2005). Also in 2005 he starred in the French film Crustacés et Coquillages
Crustacés et coquillages
Crustacés et coquillages also known as Côte d'Azur, is a 2005 French film directed by Olivier Ducastel and Jacques Martineau.-Main cast:...
.
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
Le Divorce
Le Divorce is a 2003 Merchant Ivory Productions' film directed by James Ivory and the screenplay by Ruth Prawer Jhabvala and Ivory, based on Diane Johnson's bestselling novel.-Summary:...
(2003). He appeared as Hugo in The Red Siren
The Red Siren
The Red Siren is a 2002 French criminal thriller film based upon the novel by same name by Maurice G. Dantec film directed by Olivier Megaton from a script by Olivier Megaton, Alain Berliner, Norman Spinrad, and Robert Conrath.-Plot:...
in 2002. He appeared as the main character in the video for Blur
Blur (band)
Blur is an English alternative rock band. Formed in London in 1989 as Seymour, the group consists of singer Damon Albarn, guitarist Graham Coxon, bassist Alex James and drummer Dave Rowntree. Blur's debut album Leisure incorporated the sounds of Madchester and shoegazing...
's 1995 single, "Charmless Man
Charmless Man
"Charmless Man" is a song by English alternative rock band Blur and is the fourth track on their fourth studio album, The Great Escape. It was released on 29 April 1996 as the fourth and final single from that album, charting at #5 in the UK Singles Chart...
".
He is set to play author Jack Kerouac
Jack Kerouac
Jean-Louis "Jack" Lebris de Kerouac was an American novelist and poet. He is considered a literary iconoclast and, alongside William S. Burroughs and Allen Ginsberg, a pioneer of the Beat Generation. Kerouac is recognized for his spontaneous method of writing, covering topics such as Catholic...
in the upcoming film adaption
Big Sur (film)
Big Sur is an upcoming film, based on the autobiographical novel Big Sur by Beat Generation poet and novelist Jack Kerouac. The director is independent filmmaker Michael Polish...
of the Beat Generation
Beat generation
The Beat Generation refers to a group of American post-WWII writers who came to prominence in the 1950s, as well as the cultural phenomena that they both documented and inspired...
autobiographical novel Big Sur
Big Sur (novel)
Big Sur is a 1962 novel by Jack Kerouac. It recounts the events surrounding Kerouac's three brief sojourns to a cabin in Bixby Canyon, Big Sur, owned by Kerouac's friend and Beat poet Lawrence Ferlinghetti...
.