Biography
A rising star and bonafide heartthrob in his native France, Guillaume Canet became known to international audiences as one of the stars of
Danny Boyle's
The Beach. As the affable, levelheaded Etienne, Canet held his own against co-stars
Leonardo DiCaprio and
Virginie Ledoyen, and in the process he established himself as the European Union's latest poster boy for sensitive, trod-upon hunks everywhere.
Born in Boulougne-Billancourt on April 10, 1973, Canet began his professional career on the stage. He got his breakthrough starring with Christophe Malavoy in Pierre Boutron's production of La Ville dont Le Prince est un Enfant, and he subsequently acted in and directed a number of stage productions. After starring in various television features, Canet made his film debut in 1997's
Barracuda, a
Misery-esque psychological thriller in which the young actor played a comic book artist held hostage in the home of a mad man (
Jean Rochefort).
In 1998, Canet won critical adulation for his starring role opposite
Virginie Ledoyen in
Pierre Jolivet's Un Plein Coeur. Cast as Ledoyen's hopelessly devoted boyfriend (a role that he would essentially repeat in
The Beach), the actor earned a César nomination for Most Promising Young Actor for his portrayal. He went on to play a son looking for guidance from his errant father
Jean Yanne in Remi Waterhouse's
Je règle mon pas sur le pas de mon père (1999), and in 2000, he starred in the highly anticipated but ultimately disappointing
The Beach. That same year, Canet appeared in
Andrzej Zulawski's
La Fidélité, a romantic drama that cast the up-and-coming actor alongside the likes of
Sophie Marceau, Pascal Greggory, and
Edith Scob. ~ Rebecca Flint Marx, All Movie Guide