Albert Dupontel

Biography: life and films

Albert Dupontel was born on 11th January 1964. Intending to follow his father's profession as a doctor, he studied medicine but eventually he abandoned his studies so that he could train to be an actor at the Théâtre National de Chaillot, where he stayed for two years, appearing on stage in small roles. Not long afterwards, he began appearing in films, making his debut in a small role in Jacques Rivette's La Bande des quatre (1988). After a difficult period in the early 1990s when he struggled to find success as a comedian, Dupontel finally made his name in France through his one-man show Sale spectacle, which he performed at the Olympia in 1992 to great acclaim. His first substantial film role was in Jean-Michel Ribes' Chacun pour toi (1994), where he appeared with another anarchic comic, albeit one belonging to the previous generation, Jean Yanne.

By now an established comedian, Dupontel revealed his potential as a dramatic actor in Jacques Audiard's Un héros très discret (1996), in a role that earned him a César nomination for Best Supporting Actor. That same year, he also made his directing debut with Bernie (1996), a provocatively eccentric comedy in which he also played the leading role. This he followed with three similarly unhinged comedies - Le Créateur (1999), Enfermés dehors (2006) and Le Vilain (2009) - which reveal not only a totally madcap sense of humour, but also a manic flair for cinematic innovation.

Michel Deville gave Dupontel his first lead dramatic role in La Maladie de Sachs (1999). His portrayal of a disillusioned medical practitioner garnered not only considerable critical acclaim but also a Best Actor César nomination. By 2000, Dupontel had shown that not only was he an outstandingly original comedian, he was also an extremely capable dramatic actor, and directors were lining up to make use of his talents. Valérie Guignabodet's Monique (2002) required Dupontel to adopt a full-size dummy as his femme idéale, whilst Gaspar Noé's Irréversible (2002) sees him go on a killer rampage with Vincent Cassel. More down to Earth, he appeared in Jean-Pierre Jeunet's Un long dimanche de fiançailles (2004) and Danièle Thompson's Fauteuils d'orchestre (2006), before going into hard man overdrive in Florent-Emilio Siri's savagely realist war film L'Ennemi intime (2007).

In Jean Becker's Deux jours à tuer (2008), Dupontel gave one of his most intense performances, as a man desperately looking for meaning in his life. Just when you thought Dupontel's filmography couldn't get any weirder, Bertrand Blier casts him in his most bizarre role to date, playing Jean Dujardin's malevolent cancer in Le Bruit des glaçons (2010). Eric Valette's action thriller La Proie (2011) gave Dupontel his most physical performance to date, as an escaped convict caught up in a deadly game of cat and mouse. Then, in Gustave de Kervern and Benoît Delépine's Le Grand soir (2012), we witness the conversion of Dupontel from middle-class conformity to out-and-out punk anarchist, assisted by his Belgian alter ego, Benoît Poelvoorde. It's almost too terrifying to contemplate where Albert Dupontel's career will take him next...

Filmography

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