how Pierre Niney became a key actor in French cinema

Cannes welcomed two sides of Pierre Niney in a short space of time. The 35-year-old French actor was on the Croisette at the beginning of April during the Canneseries festival to present fiascoa comedy series produced for Netflix starring François Civil and Géraldine Nakache. He returns on Wednesday, May 22nd, this time on the big screen, to present The Count of Monte Cristonew adaptation of the novel by Alexandre Dumas, signed by the duo Matthieu Delaporte and Alexandre de la Patellière and screened out of competition. A French blockbuster that marks the culmination of a career that took him to the top of French cinema. A look back at the key moments of his career.

He made his debut at the Comédie Française

It didn’t take Pierre Niney long to find his way around. This son of teachers “the click” when he discovered François Morel on stage. He attends the performance of the play Feet in the water. “I was 6 years old, had no inhibitions and started talking to him. He would answer me while improvising and make the room laugh. My parents were embarrassed. I found that the ability to be on stage and react was a superpower.”he says Le figaro. Playing theater, which he began at the age of 11, shaped his youth.

“In middle and high school, all I did was go to the movies, the theater, and play, play, play.”

Pierre Niney

in “liberation”

After his literary baccalaureate, the free class of the Cours Florent and then the conservatory, for which he did not have time, Pierre Niney joined the Comédie-Française in October 2010. “I checked the area code of the phone number online and was so sure it was fake.”he remembers Release. At just 21 years old, he became the youngest resident.

There he learned patience and humility. “I played seventy times One string attachedwith only one answer and then waiting in my dressing room for two hours before I would say hello.he remembers Psychology Magazine. He rubs himself against it Phaedra from root or An Italian straw hat by Eugène Labiche, but after five years “his home”the actor wants to fly to other skies. “I wanted to start a new chapter and go home with all the good memories I hadhe analyses Type of technology. I needed new energy in my life.”

He takes on the role of the young lead actor

It didn’t take long for the cinema to open its doors to him. He started off by taking on small roles: in high school LOL by Lisa Azuelos, apprentice chocolatier in The emotional anonymoustwo appearances with Robert Guédiguian in The army of crime et The snow of Kilimanjraro. Then a more substantial role in the comedy I like watching girlsby Frederic Louf. “Sometimes people tell me that I’m moving quickly, but before I got a leading role, I appeared in twelve feature films in which I had very short appearances.”he recalls in the magazine Female version.

“I had time to understand a little about the world I was entering before I really wanted and got a leading role. It happened at a young age, but it didn’t happen quickly.”

Pierre Niney

in “Version Femina”

With Like brothersby Hugo Gélin, and 20 years apartIn the romantic comedy with Virginie Efira, the general public discovers this actor with the physique of a young star. “It’s rare, he represents beauty, grace, the masculine and that escapes him!” explains Muriel Mayette-Holtz, former director of the Comédie Française, which recruited him The Figaro. “He had everything I was looking for: a beautiful and charming physique, a slightly naive, youthful side, but also a lively eye and an expression of great maturity.”lists Hugo Gélin in the same newspaper.

He explodes in “Yves Saint Laurent”

Originally, the acronym YSL was just a clothing size for the actor, as he further explains TF1. He was only 21 when director Jalil Lespert offered him the role of creator. The actor experiences “a curiosity about the character and about his love story with Pierre Bergé”he notices Le figaro. To prepare for this first major role, he took on the “Bulldozer method” : “I decided to read everything, see everything.”

He accesses the archives of the Pierre Bergé-Yves Saint Laurent Foundation and speaks to people close to the designer, of course his muse Betty Catroux and Pierre Bergé. He takes drawing lessons to find the line and the way to hold the designer’s pencil. “I also had a styling trainer who taught me how to touch fabrics, how to drape them…” he adds Female version.

“It could have been dizzying, but very quickly I took refuge in work, my only philosophy was to stop thinking about the pressure.”

Pierre Niney

in “Version Femina”

This role earned him the César Award for Best Actor in 2015. At 25, he became the youngest winner in this category. A completely unexpected price, as he admits Channel+. There will be a before and an after for him. “Yves Saint Laurent gave me a big boost, and the César 2015 Best Actor award was of course a bonus. He gave me confidence for the future.”he admits The telegram.

The sequel is precisely constructed with the same involvement in his roles that he prepares alone, cut off from the world. For Frantzby François Ozon, he learned German and the violin. For Save or perish, by Frédéric Tellier, in which he plays a firefighter, he gained almost ten kilos of muscle. In flight recorderin which he plays a young acoustician investigating a plane crash, he films and watches the real technicians for hours to adapt “Their rhythm and the way they type on their computer keyboards”he explains in detail Paris Match.

He enjoys comedies

When crowned for a dramatic role, Pierre Niney always cultivated his comic streak. A fan of Charlie Chaplin, Jim Carrey and even Louis de Funès, he likes to vary his pleasures. “I have played tragedies and comedies in the theater (…) and I have never considered this profession in a single role.”he explains Point. If he wants lightness after being chained Yves Saint Laurent et An ideal man by Yann Gozlan, two demanding roles that he shoots, for example Five with his friend Igor Gotesman.

Then he met François Civil, with whom it was love at first sight. “immediately”assures Pierre Niney Le Figaro Madame. The trio finds each other again fiascoa series that tells the story of the making of a film that turns into a nightmare. “Actually, I tend to find friends (…) to do comedy because I feel like I’m part of the family. In a shared comedy culture, we always laughed at the same films.”explains the actor The Echoes.

His chemistry with Jonathan Cohen also proves this The flame Then The torch on Canal+ and in season 3 of the show “LOL…qui rit sorte” on Amazon Prime. In the short program Casting(s)presented on the benches of the Florentine court with his friend Ali Marhyar and written with Igor Gotesman, he also invites many accomplices to laugh, such as the rapper Orelsan or the actor Eric Judor.

He is credited with the blockbuster “The Count of Monte Cristo”

From now on, Pierre Niney is “bankable” and projects are realized under his name. The audience follows him in the thriller flight recorderwhich attracted more than a million viewers The book of solutionsby Michel Gondry, one of his idols, who had almost 500,000 entries, or even Goliatha drama about the pesticide scandal that has attracted nearly 800,000 viewers. Pierre Niney is so well known that Thomas Pesquet wants to contact him from Houston to congratulate him on his role in Flight recorder. Calls that he carefully ignored out of fear of falling victim to a hoax, as he admits Release and further his account.

“It’s very moving for me to see him become what I expected: he’s one of the best actors of his generation.”

Hugo Gelin, director

in “Le Figaro”

A few months after his friend François Civil put on D’Artagnan’s costume THE The Three MusketeersPierre Niney also stars in an adaptation by Alexandre Dumas Count of Monte Cristo with a budget of 43 million euros. Why him? “Dantès is like Cyrano. It’s the first time we’ve written with an actor in mind.”The directors Matthieu Delaporte and Alexandre de la Patellière explained in the magazine First.

Here, too, the actor worked hard: fencing, horse riding, stunts, free diving, Italian and Romanian lessons… Pierre Niney also changed physically. “It takes about four hours of preparation time. (…) It’s precision work, with prosthetics, very precise make-up, in a very precise order. It’s truly craftsmanship and absolutely artistic.”he continues RTL. Edmond Dantès’ interpreter also shared Footage from the filming of a swimming scene in the middle of a storm and revealed Hollywood stars’ secret to lasting 6 or 7 minutes underwater. “You consume pure oxygen before the dive. This actually doubles the time.”he explains in the podcast “Flood broadcast“. It lasted 3 minutes and 40 seconds. This was necessary to illustrate his investment in “One of the most exciting projects of [sa] compete”as he announced on his account.