32 Years After His Screen Debut, Guess Who’s Now a Top French Actor?

Recently featured on the show Grand Ecran on AlloCiné and currently starring in the action film Ad Vitam on Netflix, Guillaume Canet is now a prominent figure in French cinema. Famous for his acting career (memorable for his roles in Love Me If You Dare opposite Marion Cotillard, in Merry Christmas, and more recently in the compelling In the Name of the Land), he is also known for his work as a director.

• He first appeared in cinema 62 years ago, and today he is one of the biggest action stars. Do you recognize him?

First Role in 1993

Awarded a César for his outstanding work in Tell No One and achieving commercial success with Little White Lies, he was even tasked with directing the latest live-action Asterix adventure, The Middle Kingdom, stepping into the shoes of the famous little Gaul himself alongside his pal Gilles Lellouche.

But before achieving the fame we know today, what was Guillaume Canet’s very first screen role? We have to go back to 1993 to find out.

Then just in his early twenties and having had to give up a career as a jockey due to an accident, the young man made his television debut after training as an actor at the Cours Florent.

A Debut on Club Dorothée

His first role was in a well-known sitcom among fans of Club Dorothée, where he was seen in a very brief scene in the series Premiers Baisers, now 32 years ago. His role: a boy with the same first name as him, though he was not credited in the episode’s credits.

Following this very modest debut, Guillaume Canet’s career quickly took off. Soon after, with several minor roles under his belt, he shared the screen with Jean Rochefort in the thriller Barracuda. Following two notable performances in In All Innocence by Pierre Jolivet and I Follow in My Father’s Footsteps by Rémy Waterhouse, he established a solid status, including internationally, which enabled him to act alongside Leonardo DiCaprio in Danny Boyle’s The Beach.

By 2002, less than a decade after stepping onto the set of Premiers Baisers, he directed his first feature film: the dramatic comedy My Idol.

What is your favorite film by or featuring Guillaume Canet?

(Re)discover the trailer for “My Idol”…