Chiara Charlotte Mastroianni (born 28 May 1972) is a French actress and singer. She is the daughter of actors Marcello Mastroianni and Catherine Deneuve.

Chiara Mastroianni
Mastroianni in 2013
Born
Chiara Charlotte Mastroianni

(1972-05-28) 28 May 1972 (age 52)
Paris, France
OccupationActress
Years active1993–present
Spouse
(m. 2002; div. 2009)
Children2
Parents
Relatives

Early life

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Mastroianni was born to French actress Catherine Deneuve and Italian actor Marcello Mastroianni. Her parents were both married to other people at the time of their affair and stayed together for four years, separating in 1975, when Chiara was two years old. She later revealed that she could not recall them being together: "I've never seen my parents together, never in my whole life. They split when I was two, so I've no recollection of them as a couple. I've never even seen them kiss except in the movies."[1]

Mastroianni has two half-siblings, a brother, Christian Vadim, from her mother's relationship with director Roger Vadim, and a sister, Barbara Mastroianni, from her father's marriage to actress Flora Carabella. Carabella is rumoured to have offered to adopt Mastroianni and raise her with her older sister as both her parents worked often and travelled from home, an offer Deneuve rejected.[2]

Through her mother, Mastroianni is connected to the famous Dorléac family of actors, which includes her maternal grandparents, Maurice Dorléac and Renée Simonot, and her aunts, Françoise Dorléac (who died five years before Chiara was born) and Sylvie Dorléac.

Career

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Mastroianni earned a César Award nomination for her first feature film appearance in André Téchiné's My Favorite Season (1993), starring her mother in the lead role. The next year she played Kim Basinger's assistant in Prêt-à-Porter, directed by Robert Altman. Her first starring role came in 1995, opposite Melvil Poupaud in Le Journal du séducteur, a romantic comedy inspired by "The Seducer's Diary" chapter from Søren Kierkegaard's Either/Or. She worked with Poupaud again in Three Lives and Only One Death (1996), playing the daughter of her real-life father, and in Time Regained (1999), also starring her mother.

Along with a few supporting performances in French films, she appeared in Gregg Araki's Nowhere (1997) and took time off to have her first child with sculptor Pierre Thoretton. She returned to filmmaking to star in Manoel de Oliveira's The Letter (1999), based on Madame de La Fayette's novel La Princesse de Clèves.

After appearances in Mike Figgis's Hotel (2001) and Le parole di mio padre (2001), she played the lead in Delphine Gleize's interconnected drama Carnages (2002), a winner at several international film festivals. In 2003, she starred in the comedy drama Il est plus facile pour un chameau....

In July 2016, Mastroianni was named a member of the main competition jury for the 73rd Venice International Film Festival.[3] In 2019 she won the Un Certain Regard Best Performance award for On a Magical Night.[4]

In 2024, Mastroianni was appointed Jury member at the 2024 Tokyo International Film Festival for its section 'International competition'.[5]

Collaborations

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Mastroianni is a friend and frequent collaborator of French filmmaker Christophe Honoré. She has appeared in roughly half of his films in either major roles or cameos, beginning with the 2007 film Love Songs.

Before her father's death she appeared in two films with him, Prêt-à-Porter (1994) and Three Lives and Only One Death (1996).

Mastroianni also works frequently with her mother; they often play mother and daughter onscreen. Mastroianni first appeared in one of Deneuve's films in 1979 in an uncredited role in Us Two. Her second onscreen appearance also occurred in one of her mother's films, My Favorite Season (1993). Other notable films in which Mastroianni has acted opposite Deneuve include Persepolis, A Christmas Tale, Three Hearts and Claire Darling.

Mastroianni collaborated with her then-husband, musician Benjamin Biolay, on the album Home, released in 2004.[6] She also appeared on the track ¡Encore Encore! on Biolay's 2017 album Volver.

Personal life

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Mastroianni dated actor Melvil Poupaud for four years from the age of 16 to 20. He encouraged her to pursue acting as a career and they remained friends for decades, with Poupaud saying he still loved her in 2018.[7]

In 1996, Mastroianni gave birth to son Milo, whose father is sculptor Pierre Thoretton.[8] In 2002, she married singer Benjamin Biolay. They had a daughter, Anna, in 2003, and divorced in 2009.[9]

Filmography

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Mastroianni at the 1997 Cannes Film Festival
Year Title Role Notes
1993 Ma saison préférée Anne Nominated — César Award for Most Promising Actress
1993 A la belle étoile Claire
1994 Prêt-à-Porter Sophie Choiset
1995 All Men are Mortal Françoise
1995 Le Journal du séducteur Claire Conti
1995 Don't Forget You're Going to Die Claudia
1996 Comment je me suis disputé... (ma vie sexuelle) Patricia
1996 Three Lives and Only One Death Cécile
1996 Cameleone Léa
1997 Nowhere Kriss
1998 On a très peu d'amis Vivianne
1998 À vendre Mireille
1999 Le temps retrouvé Albertine
1999 Libero Burro Rosa Agnello
1999 La Lettre Madame de Clèves
2000 Six-Pack Marine
2001 Hotel Infirmière de l'hotel
2001 Le parole di mio padre Ada Malfenti
2002 Carnages Carlotta
2003 Il est plus facile pour un chameau... Bianca
2005 Akoibon Barbara
2007 L'Heure zéro Audrey Neuville
2007 Persepolis Marjane Satrapi (voice)
2007 Les Chansons d'amour Jeanne
2008 A Christmas Tale Silvia
2008 La Belle Personne La jeune femme dans le café
2008 Le crime est notre affaire Emma Charpentier
2009 Un chat un chat Nathalie/Célimène
2009 Park Benches Marianne's mother
2009 Making Plans For Lena Lena
2010 Man at Bath Actress
2011 Chicken with Plums[10] Lili (adult)
2011 Beloved Véra Passer Nominated — Lumières Award for Best Actress
2011 Americano Claire
2012 Lines of Wellington Hussar
2013 Bastards Raphaëlle
2014 La Rançon de la gloire Rosa
2014 Three Hearts Sophie
2016 Saint-Amour
2018 La Dernière Folie de Claire Darling Marie Darling
2019 On a Magical Night Maria Mortemart Un Certain Regard – Best Actress
Nominated — César Award for Best Actress
The Girl with a Bracelet Céline Bataille
2022 Other People's Children Alice
2023 Eureka El Coronel / Maya
2024 Langue Étrangère
2024 Marcello Mio Herself / Marcello

Awards and nominations

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Year Award Category Nominated work Result Ref.
2019 Cannes Film Festival Un Certain Regard Best Performance Prize On a Magical Night Won [11]

References

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  1. ^ Solomons, Jason (7 April 2012). "Chiara Mastroianni: I only saw my parents together on screen". The Observer. Retrieved 28 April 2019.
  2. ^ Robin Adams Sloan (25 September 1976). Mary Hemingway Keeps In Touch. St. Petersburg Independent.
  3. ^ Vivarelli, Nick (24 July 2016). "Laurie Anderson, Joshua Oppenheimer, Zhao Wei Set For Venice Jury". Variety. Retrieved 24 July 2016.
  4. ^ DEBRUGE, PETER (25 May 2019). "Bong Joon-ho's 'Parasite' Wins the Palme d'Or at Cannes".
  5. ^ Abid Rahman (1 August 2024). "Tokyo Film Festival Reveals 2024 Competition Jury Members". Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 8 September 2024.
  6. ^ DENIZET-LEWIS, Benoit (27 March 2005). "Le Pop Star". The New York Times. Retrieved 29 April 2019.
  7. ^ "Benjamin Biolay et Melvil Poupaud évoquent la très célèbre ex-compagne qu'ils ont en commun". Voici (in French). 7 April 2014.
  8. ^ "Chiara Mastroianni : « J'ai emménagé dans la rue derrière chez ma mère ! »". Elle (in French). 16 June 2017.
  9. ^ Morrow, Fiona (16 March 2004). "Chiara Mastroianni: Independent woman". The Independent.
  10. ^ "'Chicken with Plums' full of the unexpected". The Boston Globe. 20 September 2012. Retrieved 21 September 2012.
  11. ^ Tartaglione, Nancy (24 May 2019). "Cannes' Un Certain Regard Prizes Led By 'The Invisible Life Of Euridice Gusmao'; 'Beanpole's Kantemir Balagov Named Best Director". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved 8 September 2024.
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