Early life and career

Binoche was born in Paris, the daughter of Jean-Marie Binoche, a director, actor, and sculptor, and Monique Stalens, a teacher, director, and actress. Binoche's mother is of Polish descent, and her maternal Polish-Catholic grandparents were imprisoned at Auschwitz because they were intellectuals. Binoche also has French, Flemish, Brazilian and Moroccan ancestry. Her parents divorced when she was four and Binoche, with her sister Marion, was sent to a boarding school.

Binoche began acting in amateur stage productions, and at 17 directed and starred in a student production of the Eugène Ionesco play, Exit the King. The next year, she studied acting at the National Conservatory of Dramatic Arts of Paris (CNSAD). She found an agent through a friend and joined a theatre troupe in which she toured France, Belgium and Switzerland under the pseudonym of "Juliette Adrienne".

After quiting the CNSAD, she began acting lessons with famed coach Vera Gregh. Following in her mother's footsteps, she became a stage actress, occasionally taking small parts in French feature films. Her first screen role was a small part in the 1983 television film Dorothée, danseuse de corde by Jacques Fensten, which was followed by a similarly small role in the provincial television film Fort bloque by Pierrick Guinnard. After Binoche secured her first big screen appearance with a small supporting role in Pascal Kané's Algeria-themed Liberty Belle, she decided to pursue a career in cinema.

Juliette Binoche

Juliette Binoche (in French pronounced [ʒylijɛt biˈnɔʃ]; born March 9, 1964) is a French film actress. Binoche is well known worldwide for her roles in popular, award-winning films such as The English Patient (1996) and Chocolat (2000) as well as internationally successful arthouse films including Three Colors: Blue (1993) and Caché (2005). She won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress in 1997 for The English Patient.