Sandrine Bonnaire is an internationally-famous French actress, born 31 May 1967 in the town of Gannat in the Auvergne region. Throughout her career, Sandrine Bonnaire has conducted herself in a rather serious manner, she herself admitting that her demeanour must appear to others as sombre. She was born into a working-class background, the seventh of eleven children. Her acting career began at the age of 16 in 1983, when she starred in the Maurice Pialat film À nos amours. She played, somewhat autobiographically, a girl from the suburbs beginning her sexual awakening. In 1984 she was awarded the César Award for Most promising new female.
Her international breakthrough came in 1986 when she played the title role in Sans toit ni loi (Vagabond), directed by Agnès Varda, for which part she won her second César Award. She portrays an innocent vagrant, who confronted by the strife of everyday life, fails both physically and morally. The film Monsieur Hire directed by Patrice Leconte followed in 1989, along with further work with directors Jacques Doillon and Claude Sautet.
She has a daughter from a relationship with the actor William Hurt, whom she met in 1991 during filming of the Albert Camus novel La Peste (The Plague). Since March 2003 she has been married to fellow actor and screenwriter Guillaume Laurant; the couple have one daughter.
