Dashing, refined and articulate, 26-year-old French actor Pierre Niney gained mainstream popularity in France with EuropaCorp romantic laugher “It Boy,” and broke out last year on a larger stage in Jalil Lespert’s “Yves Saint Laurent.” His performance as the famed fashion designer earned him a Cesar award for best actor.
EARLY YEARS
Niney trained at the prestigious Comedie-Francaise, and started his acting career in theater, but he has a soft spot for silent film comedy. “I grew up watching Charlie Chaplin and Buster Keaton,” he says. “When preparing a role, I work first on the body language and physical aspects of the performance; the psychological dimension comes naturally, once I’m in character.”
FEST FAVE
Niney wowed the crowd with his versatility at the recent COLCOA fest celebrating French films in L.A., playing a troubled writer in Yann Gozlan’s Alfred Hitchcock-influenced thriller “A Perfect Man” (which has grossed a healthy $4 million in key overseas territories), and collecting the audience prize for the short he directed, “Pour le role,” which made its world premiere at the festival.
BRANCHING OUT
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Having just finished production on “Altamira,” his English-language debut, starring opposite Antonio Banderas, the actor is reading scripts with his agent at UTA. And he’ll star with Audrey Tautou in “The Odyssey,” a biopic of legendary ocean explorer Jacques Cousteau. But he’s also preparing to launch a film company to partner with local talent, and emerging screenwriters and directors. He singles out Leonardo DiCaprio and his Appian Way Prods. as an influence. “He’s a model for me,” Niney says. “I like the way he leads his career and initiates projects.”
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