Guillaume Gallienne

Guillaume Gallienne (born 8 February 1972) is a French actor, screenwriter and film director. He has received two Molière Awards for his stagework and has won two César Awards, one for writing and the other for his performance in his autobiographical comedy film Me, Myself and Mum (2013).

Early life

Gallienne was born in Paris to French businessman Jean-Claude and Russian-Georgian aristocrat Melitta Gallienne, the third of four sons. From the age of 10, he attended La Salle Passy Buzenval where he was bullied for his effeminate personality. Two years later, after a nervous breakdown, he was sent to St John's College near Portsmouth in England. The death of a close cousin convinced him to take up acting at the age of 19. He attended Cours Florent for three years before studying under Daniel Mesguich, Stéphane Braunschweig and Dominique Valadié at the French National Academy of Dramatic Arts, graduating in 1998.

Career

Gallienne made his film debut in 1992 in Tableau d'honneur and he has starred in Sofia Coppola's 2006 film Marie Antoinette. Between 2008 and 2010, he had a short sketch segment entitled Les Bonus de Guillaume on Le Grand Journal, parodying DVD bonus features. He won a Molière Award for Best Newcomer in 2010 in his one-man stage show Boys and Guillaume, to the table! (Les Garçons et Guillaume, à table!) and another for Best Supporting Actor in 2011 in Un fil à la patte. He collaborated with choreographer Nicolas Le Riche to write the libretto for the 2011 Paris Opera Ballet production of Caligula. He adapted Bolshoi Ballet's 2014 Parisian production of Illusions perdues, choreographed by Alexei Ratmansky.