Xavier Dolan

Xavier Dolan-Tadros (born 20 March 1989) is a Canadian filmmaker and actor. He began his career as a child actor in commercials before directing several arthouse feature films. He first received international acclaim in 2009 for his feature film directorial debut, I Killed My Mother, which he also starred in, wrote, and produced, and which premiered at the 62nd Cannes Film Festival in the Directors' Fortnight section and won three awards from the program.
Since 2009, he has written and directed eight feature films, all of which have premiered at Cannes, with the exception of Tom at the Farm—which premiered at the 70th Venice International Film Festival in 2013—and his first English-language film, The Death & Life of John F. Donovan, which premiered at the 2018 Toronto International Film Festival. Dolan has also directed music videos, notably with Adele for her singles "Hello" (2015), and "Easy on Me" (2021), for which he received a Grammy Award for Best Music Video nomination.
Dolan has won many accolades for his work, including the Jury Prize at the 2014 Cannes Film Festival for Mommy and the Grand Prix at the 2016 Cannes Film Festival for It's Only the End of the World. He has also won several Canadian Screen Awards and César Awards.
Outside of his own films, he has also starred in films from other directors, such as Elephant Song (2014), Boy Erased (2018), Bad Times at the El Royale (2018), and It Chapter Two (2019).
Early life
Dolan was born and raised in Montreal, Quebec. He is the son of Geneviève Dolan, a Quebecois teacher, and Manuel Tadros, a successful Egyptian-Canadian actor and singer of Coptic and Lebanese descent.
Career
Early films
Dolan attracted international attention with his directorial debut, I Killed My Mother, which he wrote, directed, produced and starred in at the age of 19, using funds from his extensive work as a child actor. He reportedly began writing the script when he was 16 years old. He said in an interview with Canadian newspaper that the film was partly autobiographical.
The film was at first financed solely by Dolan, but he asked Telefilm and the SODEC for subsidies when he needed more money. Each turned him down for different reasons. SODEC, who had loved the project but refused to finance it because it was submitted to a too commercial department, encouraged Dolan to submit it again in a more appropriate "indie" department, which he did. In December 2008, SODEC gave him a $400,000 subsidy. In all, the film cost around $800,000 CAD. Dolan said that the system to acquire funding is "an obsolete financing mechanism that holds the creative assets of Quebec hostage."
The film premiered at the Director's Fortnight program of the 2009 Cannes Film Festival where it received an eight-minute standing ovation and won three awards: the Art Cinema Award, the SACD Prize for screenplay, and the Prix Regards Jeunes. It also won a Lumière Award and four Jutra Awards, including Best Film, Best Screenplay, and Most Successful Film Outside Québec, beating out Denis Villeneuve's film (2009) in what was deemed an "upset".
Dolan later said that the film was "flawed" and Peter Brunette of The Hollywood Reporter called it "a somewhat uneven film that demonstrates a great deal of talent". Brunette also called the film "funny and audacious", while Allan Hunter of Screen International said that it possessed "the sting of shrewdly observed truth".
The film received the Claude Jutra Award (now known as the Canadian Screen Award for Best First Feature) at the Genies, and the Toronto Film Critics Association awarded Dolan the inaugural $5,000 Jay Scott Prize for emerging talent. I Killed My Mother was named one of Canada's Top Ten features of the year by the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) and chosen as Canada's official entry for Best Foreign Language Film for the 2010 Academy Awards, though it failed to receive a nomination from the academy. Distribution rights were later sold to more than 20 countries. Due to legal problems experienced by the film's U.S. distributor, Regent Entertainment, it was not released theatrically in the U.S. until 2013, and once released, it earned little at the box office.
The second feature film Dolan directed, Heartbeats, was financed privately. The film follows two friends who are infatuated with the same mysterious young man and their friendship suffers. It premiered in the Un Certain Regard category at the 63e Festival de Cannes in May 2010 where it received a standing ovation. It won the top prize of the Official Competition at the Sydney Film Festival in June and screened at several film festivals throughout 2011, but failed to find audiences in non-French-speaking countries. It received several Genie nominations and the AQCC (Québec association of film critics) award for Best Film.
His third film, Laurence Anyways, was selected to compete in the section at the 2012 Cannes Film Festival. Suzanne Clément's performance in the film won the section's award for Best Actress. The film received praise or qualified praise from critics. A critic for MTV's The Out Take, which focuses on LGBT films, called the film "the best film of the year." Despite the praise, the film was not released commercially for a year. Upon release, the film struggled at the box office, and only grossed roughly $500,000 in Canada.
In May 2012, Dolan announced that his fourth film would be an adaptation of Michel Marc Bouchard's play Tom at the Farm (Tom à la ferme). It received its world premiere in the main competition section at the 70th Venice International Film Festival on 2 September 2013, and won the FIPRESCI award. Though Tom at the Farm played the festival circuits in 2013, it was not released in the U.S. until 2015. In an August 2015 interview, Dolan said: "No one knows me in the States, because the movies have been released in such an awkward, irregular fashion, all by different distributors... I don't want to sound pretentious, but it's puzzling."
Mommy
Dolan's 2014 film, Mommy, shared the Jury Prize in the main competition section at the 2014 Cannes Film Festival with Jean-Luc Godard's film Goodbye to Language. The jury president for the 2014 festival was Jane Campion and, upon receiving the award, Dolan stated: The Piano [Campion's film] was the first film that I watched that truly defined who I am... It made me want to write films for beautiful women with soul and will and strength. To even stand on the same stage as you [Campion] is extraordinary.The film was singled out by critics as Dolan's "most mature" film to date and proved to be a breakthrough in his career as a director. It was his first film to achieve significant success at the box office, grossing over $3.5 million domestically in 2014, becoming the highest-selling film in Quebec for 2014. According to the Montreal Gazette, over one million people watched it in France. Mommy won the César Award for Best Foreign Film in 2015.
It's Only the End of the World
Dolan's next film was an adaptation of the play by , titled It's Only the End of the World. The film stars , and . Filming started in late May 2015. The film was an official selection for the 2016 Cannes Film Festival, in competition for the Palme d'Or, and it won the festival's Grand Prix and the Ecumenical Jury Prize.
Dolan stated that It's Only the End of the World is his best film and the one he's the most proud of. The film premiered to polarized reactions from festival audiences and critics, with Vanity Fair calling it "the most disappointing film at Cannes." The Hollywood Reporter called it "a cold and deeply unsatisfying" film and Variety dubbed it "a frequently excruciating dramatic experience". During the festival, Dolan spoke out against the negative criticism in the media. The film also received positive reviews from critics, including The Guardian, which called it a "brilliant, stylised and hallucinatory evocation of family dysfunction".
It's Only the End of the World was a box office hit in France, where it debuted at number one and sold over 1 million tickets. For his work on the film, Dolan won the César Awards for Best Director and Best Editing at the 42nd ceremony on 24 February 2017. He also won 3 Canadian Screen Awards for Best Motion Picture, Best Achievement in Direction and Best Adapted Screenplay.
The Death & Life of John F. Donovan
In March 2013, Dolan was in pre-production for his first English-language film The Death & Life of John F. Donovan; he co-wrote the screenplay with Jacob Tierney. The film follows John F. Donovan (Kit Harington), a Hollywood film actor whose life and career are turned upside-down when a gossip columnist (Jessica Chastain) exposes his private correspondence with an 11-year-old British fan. The film also stars Susan Sarandon as Donovan's mother and Kathy Bates as his manager. In February 2018, Dolan confirmed via Instagram that Chastain had been cut from the film, and that the story had been altered throughout post-production.
The film had its world premiere at the 2018 Toronto International Film Festival, making it Dolan's first film to premiere at the festival. Following its premiere at the festival, it received universally negative reviews from critics. IndieWire dubbed the film the "worst" of Dolan's career. The Guardian gave the film one out of five stars, deeming it a "dubious mess". Now magazine called the film "mediocre at best". In a more positive review, Screen International wrote that the film "may revisit a lot of familiar territory for Dolan but on this form it is good to welcome him home."
Dolan's eighth film was titled . It centres on the titular Matthias (played by Gabriel D'Almeida Freitas) and Maxime (played by Xavier Dolan), lifelong friends whose relationship is tested when they act in a short film whose script calls for them to kiss each other, leaving them both questioning their sexual identities when the experience awakens their long-dormant feelings for each other.
The film had its world premiere at the Cannes Film Festival on 22 May 2019. The film was nominated for seven awards at the 22nd Quebec Cinema Awards, including Best Supporting Actor for Funk and Best Editing for Dolan. It won for Best Supporting Actress for Bernard, Best Music for Jean-Michel Blais, and Most Successful Film Outside Quebec.
Retirement plans
In November 2022, Dolan indicated to Le Journal de Montréal his desire to step away from the film industry.
In July 2023, in an interview with the Spanish newspaper El País, Dolan announced that he intends to retire from cinema and filmmaking. He told the newspaper that "I no longer have the desire or strength to commit myself to a project for two years that barely anyone sees. I put too much passion into it to have so many disappointments. It makes me wonder if my filmmaking is bad, and I know it's not." He revealed his frustration with having not earned anything with his series The Night Logan Woke Up after investing his own money in the production and accepting loans from his father to pay for it. He described it as a thankless process that left him tired and discouraged. He plans to completely retire from film and will not direct any more music videos for Adele. However, before the pandemic, Dolan promised to shoot an English-language series for HBO, which he described as "still in an embryonic state. I'm going to keep my word and then I'll quit." He also discussed his fears of a "civil war caused by intolerance" and went on to say, "I don't understand what is the point of telling stories when everything around us is falling apart. Art is useless and dedicating oneself to the cinema, a waste of time." He concluded, "I want to take time to be with my friends and family. I want to shoot commercials and build myself a house in the country one day when I have enough money saved. I don't say that in a sad way at all. I just want to live something else, other experiences."
Other work
In 2015, Dolan was selected to serve on the jury for the main competition section of the 2015 Cannes Film Festival. Also that year, he directed the music video for "Hello", the lead single from the album 25 by Adele. The video broke the Vevo record for most views in 24 hours, over 27.7 million views. It was also notable for featuring footage shot in IMAX. Dolan received the Juno Award for Video of the Year for directing the video.
Dolan played supporting roles in two 2018 American films: Boy Erased, opposite Lucas Hedges and Troye Sivan, which premiered at the 2018 Toronto International Film Festival; and Bad Times at the El Royale, as British-accented music producer Buddy Sunday. He appeared in the horror follow-up It Chapter Two, which was released in September 2019. He has also starred in Lost Illusions, an adaption of by , directed by Xavier Giannoli.
In December 2021, Dolan confirmed via Instagram the end of the shooting of his first TV Drama, The Night Logan Woke Up, based on Michel Marc Bouchard's play of the same name.
Dolan co-owns the production company Sons of Manual along with producer Nancy Grant.
Influences and style
Dolan has said that he is not particularly influenced by any specific directors, though in 2009, he identified Michael Haneke as one of his favourite directors for his precise camerawork and strong writing, citing Haneke's Funny Games and The Piano Teacher as favourites.
At the 2014 Cannes Film Festival, he said that Jane Campion's The Piano was a major inspiration for him. He has also cited seeing the film Titanic as an early influence on his decision to enter the film industry. He has mentioned paying tribute to My Own Private Idaho with a sequence in I Killed My Mother, and that he was influenced by the frog rain scene at the end of Magnolia, but said in 2013,What I'm trying to say is that I'm not that influenced by directors... I've read basically every review of my films because I'm crazy and I focus on what's negative and I want to know what people think—and why they think it. So many times I've been bullied into references and influences that were never mine by viewers that would project their opinions and associations and assumptions on me... But let's get real—ideas travel and everything's been done. It's all a matter of interpreting things again now.
Personal life
Dolan is openly gay, and described his first film I Killed My Mother as semi-autobiographical.
Filmography
Film
As filmmaker
Acting roles
As voice actor
Dolan is also a voice actor and has dubbed several films in Quebec French.
Note: Many films that are dubbed in French are also dubbed in the French spoken in Québec or in one of the versions of French known as international French. DVDs may be labelled VQ for "version Québécoise", which uses a Québécois accent and terms unique to that variety of the French language, or VFQ for "version francophone québécoise", which presents a generally neutral accent but pronounces English words in a way found in North America rather than in France.
Josh Hutcherson
2009: Cirque du Freak: The Vampire's Assistant – Steve "Leopard" Leonard
2010: The Kids Are All Right – Laser Allgood
2012: Journey 2: The Mysterious Island – Sean Anderson
2012: The Hunger Games – Peeta Mellark
2012: Red Dawn – Robert Kitner
2013: Epic – Nod
2013: The Hunger Games: Catching Fire – Peeta Mellark
2014: The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 1 – Peeta Mellark
2015: The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 2 – Peeta Mellark
2017: The Disaster Artist – Philip Haldiman
2018: Elliot the Littlest Reindeer – Elliot
Taylor Lautner
2005: The Adventures of Sharkboy and Lavagirl in 3-D – Sharkboy
2008: Twilight – Jacob Black
2009: The Twilight Saga: New Moon – Jacob Black
2010: Valentine's Day – Willy
2010: The Twilight Saga: Eclipse – Jacob Black
2011: Abduction – Nathan Harper
2011: The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn – Part 1 – Jacob Black
2012: The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn – Part 2 – Jacob Black
2013: Grown Ups 2 – Andy
2015: Tracers – Cam
Rupert Grint
2001: Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone – Ron Weasley
2002: Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets – Ron Weasley
2004: Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban – Ron Weasley
2005: Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire – Ron Weasley
2007: Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix – Ron Weasley
2009: Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince – Ron Weasley
2010: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 1 – Ron Weasley
2011: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 2 – Ron Weasley
2023: Knock at the Cabin – Redmond
Aaron Taylor-Johnson
2010: Kick-Ass – Dave Lizewski / Kick-Ass
2012: Savages – Ben Leonard
2012: Anna Karenina – Count Alexei Kirillovich Vronsky
2013: Kick-Ass 2 – Dave Lizewski / Kick-Ass
2014: Godzilla – U.S. Navy EOD LT Ford Brody
2020: Tenet – Ives
2022: Bullet Train – Tangerine
Dylan O'Brien
2014: The Maze Runner – Thomas
2015: Maze Runner: The Scorch Trials – Thomas
2016: Deepwater Horizon – Caleb Holloway
2017: American Assassin – Mitch Rapp
2018: Maze Runner: The Death Cure – Thomas
2020: Flashback – Fredrick Fitzell
2022: The Outfit – Richie Boyle
Nicholas Hoult
2005: The Weather Man – Mike
2013: Jack the Giant Slayer – Jack
2015: Mad Max: Fury Road – Nux
2015: Equals – Silas
2016: Collide – Casey Stein
2019: Dark Phoenix – Hank McCoy / Beast
Eddie Redmayne
2011: My Week with Marilyn – Colin Clark
2014: The Theory of Everything – Stephen Hawking
2015: The Danish Girl – Einar Wegener / Lili Elbe (Lili Elvenes)
2016: Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them – Newt Scamander
2018: Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald – Newt Scamander
2022: Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore – Newt Scamander
Daryl Sabara
2001: Spy Kids – Juni Cortez
2002: Spy Kids 2: The Island of Lost Dreams – Juni Cortez
2003: Spy Kids 3-D: Game Over – Juni Cortez
2007: Halloween – Wesley Rhoades
2011: Spy Kids: All the Time in the World – Juni Cortez
2012: John Carter – Ned
Nat Wolff
2013: Admission – Jeremiah Balakian
2014: The Fault in Our Stars – Isaac
2015: Paper Towns – Quentin "Q" Jacobsen
2015: The Intern – Justin
2017: Home Again – Teddy Dorsey
Haley Joel Osment
2000: Pay It Forward – Trevor
2002: The Hunchback of Notre Dame II – Zephyr
2002: The Country Bears – Beary Barrington
2003: The Jungle Book 2 – Mowgli
2003: Secondhand Lions – Walter
Live-action
2000: My Dog Skip – Spit
2005: Saw II – Daniel Matthews
2006: Alpha Dog – Keith Stratten
2007: Whistler – Quinn McKaye
2008: High School Musical 3: Senior Year – Donnie Dion
2012: Life of Pi – Pi Patel
2012: Chernobyl Diaries – Chris
2014: Maleficent – Prince Philip
2014: The Amazing Spider-Man 2 – Harry Osborn
2016: Everybody Wants Some!! – Jake
2019: Spider-Man: Far From Home – Brad Davis
2019: The Death & Life of John F. Donovan – John F. Donovan
2021: Dune: Part One – Paul Atreides
Animation
2003: Finding Nemo – Tad
2006: Grossology – Ty
2007: Magi-Nation – Tony
2009: South Park – Stan Marsh
2009: Planet 51 – Skiff
2010: How To Train Your Dragon – Hiccup
2011: The Smurfs – Brainy Smurf
2015: Inside Out – Fear
2017: The Emoji Movie – Gene
2018: Anatane: Saving the Children of Okura – Anatane
2023: Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse – The Spot/Dr. Jonathan Ohnn
As a music video director
Frequent collaborators
Accolades
Books on Xavier Dolan
See also
List of Canadian actors
List of Canadian directors
List of Canadian producers
References
Further reading
Pierre-Alexandre Fradet, "Xavier Dolan", Séquences, No. 279, July–August 2012, pp. 46–47, interview at Cannes.
Dominique Hétu, "Reconnaissance de soi et revendication de l'autre: éthique du care et identité trans dans Laurence Anyways et Le sexe des étoiles" , in Sylvano Santini et Pierre-Alexandre Fradet (eds.), issue "Cinéma et philosophie", Nouvelles Vues (winter-spring 2016)
External links
1989 births
Best Director César Award winners
Canadian male television actors
Canadian male film actors
Canadian male child actors
Film directors from Montreal
Canadian screenwriters in French
Canadian male voice actors
French-language film directors
Canadian gay actors
Knights of the National Order of Quebec
Canadian LGBT film directors
Canadian LGBT screenwriters
Living people
Male actors from Montreal
Members of the Order of Canada
Canadian people of Coptic descent
Canadian people of Lebanese descent
Canadian people of Egyptian descent
Canadian gay writers
20th-century Canadian male actors
21st-century Canadian male actors
Best First Feature Genie and Canadian Screen Award winners
French Quebecers
Writers from Montreal
Film producers from Quebec
LGBT film producers
Best Director Genie and Canadian Screen Award winners
Best Editing Genie and Canadian Screen Award winners
Best Screenplay Genie and Canadian Screen Award winners
Best Costume Design Genie and Canadian Screen Award winners
Canadian music video directors
Juno Award for Video of the Year winners
Best Director Jutra and Iris Award winners
Gay screenwriters
21st-century Canadian LGBT people
20th-century Canadian LGBT people
Producers of Best Picture Genie and Canadian Screen Award winners