# Bérénice Bejo

Bérénice Bejo (French pronunciation:; born 7 July 1976) is a French-Argentine actress best known for playing Christiana in A Knight's Tale (2001) and Peppy Miller in The Artist (2011). Her work in the latter earned her a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress and won her the César Award for Best Actress. For her performance in The Past, she won Best Actress at the Cannes Film Festival in 2013 and was nominated for a César.

## Personal life

Bejo was born in Buenos Aires, Argentina, and is the daughter of Argentine filmmaker Miguel Bejo and his wife Silvia, a lawyer. When she was three, her family moved to France, escaping from Argentina's most recent civil-military dictatorship (1976–1983). Her father enrolled her at the school of Les Enfants Terribles theater.
In 2006, she starred in OSS 117: Cairo, Nest of Spies, where she met director Michel Hazanavicius, whom she later married. They have two children: Lucien and Gloria.

## Career

In 2001, Bejo made her American film debut, playing the role of Christiana in A Knight's Tale opposite Heath Ledger. Christiana is a lady-in-waiting to Jocelyn (Shannyn Sossamon).
In 2002, she toured in France with Marie-France Pisier and Guillaume Depardieu.
In 2003, Bejo starred as Olivia in 24 Hours in the Life of a Woman by Laurent Bouhnik.
Under the direction of Steve Suissa, she seduces Stephane Freiss and Titoff in The Grand Role (2004), a comedy about the world of actors, and Cavalcade (2005), a drama dealing with the theme of disability.
In 2006, she appeared alongside Jean Dujardin in OSS 117: Cairo, Nest of Spies by Michel Hazanavicius. This was the first collaboration of the trio.
In 2007, she made an appearance in the short film La Pomme d'Adam.
In 2008, she appeared in two romantic comedies: Modern Love Bouquet and Stéphane Kazandjian. The same year she gave birth to her first child by Hazanavicius.
In 2009, she participated in the documentary by Serge Bromberg [fr], Henri-Georges Clouzot's Inferno. The documentary reconstructs Clouzot's film, alternating between scenes from the 1964 film and dialogue readings between Jacques Gamblin (for Serge Reggiani) and Béjo (for Romy Schneider).
In the 2011 film, The Artist, which is directed by Hazanavicius and stars Dujardin, Bejo plays Peppy Miller, a 1920s film actress. Her performance received critical acclaim, the César Award for Best Actress, and several award nominations: the Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Supporting Role, the Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actress – Motion Picture award, BAFTA Award for Best Actress in a Leading Role and the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress. In 2012, she was announced as the host of the opening and closing ceremonies at the 2012 Cannes Film Festival. She dubbed the role of Mérida in the French dub of the Disney/Pixar film Brave. In June 2012, Bejo was invited to join the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. The same month, she received the Prix Romy Schneider.

## Filmography

| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
| 1993 | Pain perdu | | Short |
| 1996 | Les sœurs Hamlet | Karine | |
| 1996 | Histoires d'hommes | Laurence | TV movie |
| 1996 | L'amour est à réinventer | The girl | TV series (1 Episode) |
| 1997 | Julie Lescaut | Lila | TV series (1 Episode) |
| 1997 | Le juge est une femme | Raphaëlle Fauvet-Colombin | TV series (1 Episode) |
| 1997 | Un et un font six | Sophie | TV series (6 Episodes) |
| 1999 | Sapajou contre Sapajou | Emma Verdier | TV movie |
| 2000 | Most Promising Young Actress | Laetitia Rance | Nominated – César Award for Most Promising Actress |
| 2000 | La Captive | Sarah | |
| 2000 | Passionnément | Faustine | |
| 2000 | Les redoutables | | TV series (1 Episode) |
| 2000 | Sauvetage | Valentine | TV series (6 Episodes) |
| 2001 | A Knight's Tale | Christiana | |
| 2002 | 24 Hours in the Life of a Woman | Olivia | |
| 2002 | Comme un avion | Lola | |
| 2002 | Une petite fée | The young woman | Short |
| 2002 | Vertiges | Margo | TV series (1 Episode) |
| 2003 | Dans le rouge du couchant | The girl on the boat | |
| 2003 | Dissonances | Margo | |
| 2003 | Sem Ela | Fanfan Vieira | |
| 2003 | Jeux de plage | Marthe | Short |
| 2004 | Le grand rôle | Perla Kurtz | |
| 2004 | Ciao bambino | Liccia | Short |
| 2004 | Sans douleur | | Short |
| 2005 | Cavalcade | Manon | |
| 2006 | OSS 117: Cairo, Nest of Spies | Larmina El Akmar Betouche | |
| 2006 | Nuages | Cécile Marsac | TV movie |
| 2007 | La maison | Cloé | |
| 2007 | 13 m² | Sophie | |
| 2007 | Un homme peut en cacher un autre | Inès / Adèle | Short |
| 2008 | Modern Love | Elsa | |
| 2008 | Bouquet final | Claire | |
| 2008 | Le courrier du parc | The young woman | Short |
| 2008 | Sa raison d'être | Fabienne | TV movie |
| 2009 | La pomme d'Adam | Girl on the metro | Short |
| 2010 | La Traque | Claire | |
| 2010 | Love Me Baby | Marie | Short |
| 2011 | The Artist | Peppy Miller | César Award for Best Actress Capri Actress Award Hollywood Film Festival Spotlight Award Phoenix Film Critics Soc. Award: Best Supporting Actress Santa Barbara International Film Festival – Cinema Vanguard Award St. Louis Gateway Film Critics Association Award for Best Supporting Actress Women Film Critics Cicle Award for Best Screen Couple (with Jean Dujardin) Lumières Award for Best Actress Nominated – Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress Nominated – Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actress – Motion Picture Nominated – BAFTA Award: Best Actress in a Leading Role Nominated – Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Supporting Role Nominated – Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture Nominated – Alliance of Women Film Journalists Award for Best Supporting Actress Nominated – ALMA Award for Favorite Movie Actress - Comedy/Musical Nominated – Broadcast Film Critics Association Award for Best Supporting Actress Nominated – Broadcast Film Critics Association Award for Best Cast Nominated – Dallas–Fort Worth Film Critics Association Award for Best Supporting Actress Nominated – Detroit Film Critics Society Award for Best Supporting Actress Nominated – Georgia Film Critics Association Award for Best Supporting Actress Nominated – San Diego Film Critics Society Award for Best Supporting Actress Nominated – Washington D.C. Area Film Critics Association Award for Best Supporting Actress |
| 2012 | Populaire | Marie Taylor | |
| 2012 | Aujourd'hui | Louise | Short |
| 2012 | Brave | Mérida's voice | European French Version |
| 2013 | The Past | Marie Brisson | Cannes Film Festival Award for Best Actress FIPRESCI Prize for Best Actress of the Year in a Foreign-Language Film Nominated – César Award for Best Actress Nominated – CinEuphoria Award for Best Actress Nominated – CinEuphoria Award for Best Ensemble |
| 2013 | Au bonheur des ogres | Aunt Julia | |
| 2014 | The Search | Carole | |
| 2014 | Le Dernier Diamant | Julia | |
| 2014 | Frères d'armes | Voice | TV Mini-Series |
| 2016 | The Childhood of a Leader | The Mother | |
| 2016 | After Love | Marie | |
| 2016 | Sweet Dreams | Elisa | |
| 2016 | Eternity | Gabrielle | |
| 2017 | Redoubtable | Michèle Rosier | |
| 2017 | Three Peaks | Lea | |
| 2018 | The Extraordinary Journey of the Fakir | Nelly Marnay | |
| 2018 | Funan | Chou (voice) | |
| 2018 | La Quietud | Eugenia | |
| 2018 | Le Jeu | Marie | |
| 2020 | Le Prince oublié | La voisine / La femme à la porte | |
| 2020 | Le Bonheur des uns... | Léa Monteil | |
| 2021 | A Bookshop in Paris | Yolande | |
| 2021 | Shake Your Cares Away | Alma | |
| 2021 | The Man in the Basement | Hélène Sandberg | |
| 2022 | Final Cut | Nadia | |
| 2022 | The Hummingbird | Luisa Lattes | |
| 2023 | The Movie Teller | María Magnolia | |
| 2024 | Another End | Ebe | |
| 2024 | Under Paris | Sophia | Netflix Original |

## Theatre

| Year | Title | Author | Director | Theater |
| 1999 | The Threepenny Opera | Bertolt Brecht | Steve Kalfa | Théâtre des Champs-Élysées |
| 2016 | Tout ce que vous voulez | Matthieu Delaporte [fr], Alexandre de La Patellière [fr] | Bernard Murat [fr] | Théâtre Édouard VII |