Agnès Jaoui

Acting

Agnès Jaoui

Born 1964-10-19 · Antony, Hauts-de-Seine, France

Agnès Jaoui (born 19 October 1964) is a French actress, screenwriter, film director and singer. Jaoui has won six César Awards, three Lumières Awards, and a Best Screenplay Award at the Cannes Film Festival. She has received numerous other awards and nominations, including a nomination for Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film. Jaoui was born in Antony, Hauts-de-Seine, and is of Tunisian Jewish descent. She is the daughter of Hubert Jaoui and Gyza Jaoui, who are both writers. They moved to Paris when she was 8 years old. She started theatre when she was in high school at the Lycée Henri-IV in Paris. She entered the Cours Florent when she was 15. Patrice Chéreau, director of the Théâtre des Amandiers in Nanterre where she began attending drama classes in 1984, gave her a role in the film Hôtel de France in 1987. That same year, she appeared in Harold Pinter's L'anniversaire with Jean-Pierre Bacri, who later became a faithful colleague and companion. Jaoui and Bacri wrote the play Cuisine et dépendances, which was adapted onscreen in 1992 by Philippe Muyl. In 1993, director Alain Resnais asked them to write an adaptation of Alan Ayckbourn's 8-part play Intimate Exchanges, which became the 2-part film Smoking/No Smoking. This ironic diptych about free will and destiny won the César Award for Best Writing in 1994. In 1996, they came to know greater success with Cédric Klapisch's adaptation of their play Family Resemblances (Un air de famille), which showed their ability to observe and depict everyday life, and to criticize the social norms through bitter and corrosive humor. Once again, they won the César Award for Best Writing in 1997 and the same year collaborated again with Resnais on Same Old Song (On connaît la chanson), which they wrote but also interpreted: together, they won their third César Award for Best Writing, and Jaoui her first César Award for Best Supporting Actress. Jaoui directed her first feature film, The Taste of Others (Le Goût des autres, 2000, written with Bacri), which questions social-cultural identities. The film was a huge success in France and attracted 4 million spectators. It also won 4 César Awards in 2001 including Best Film and Best Writing, and was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film. In 2004, Jaoui's second film as a director, Look at Me (Comme une image), co-written with Bacri, was selected for the Cannes Festival and won the prize for Best Screenplay. She starred in the last Richard Dembo's film, La maison de Nina (2005) and then focused on music and released her album of Latin songs, Canta (2006). She returned to cinema in 2008 with Let's Talk About the Rain (Parlez-moi de la pluie), with French humorist Jamel Debbouze in a different role from what he was used to. In 2012, Jaoui directed her latest film to date, Under the Rainbow (Au bout du conte), also co-written with Bacri. She revisits several fairy tales such as Cinderella, Snow White, and Little Red Riding Hood. It received acclaim from critics and audiences for originality and humor in the writing and dialogue. ... Source: Article "Agnès Jaoui" from Wikipedia in English, licensed under CC-BY-SA 3.0.

Acting credits

Le Déménagement poster
4.6

Qui n'a pas connu le stress d'un déménagement ? Surtout quand on est un jeune écrivain comme Alain, sur le point de quitter une bonne maison d'édition pour écrire un sitcom pour la télévision, que sa femme est sur le point d'accoucher et de surcroît quand les déménageurs sont des Roumains qui travaillent au noir et qu'ils n'ont pas vraiment le sens de la ponctualité...

Le Déménagement

1997

Kitchen with Apartment poster
7.0

Jacques and Martine, an ordinary bourgeois couple, invite to dinner a friend whom they have not seen the last ten years. Since then he has become a media star and everything has to go just right at dinner.

Kitchen with Apartment

1993

Le temps des femmes ? poster
8.0

Has the time of women finally come? Have their everyday lives truly changed over the past sixty years? Guided by Agnès Jaoui, women—famous and unknown—share their stories across generations. From childhood to retirement, the documentary traces shared experiences shaped by prejudice, but also by hope, strength, and humor. Blending personal archives, historic moments, and social media footage, the film places women at the center of their own story. Welcome to the Time of Women.

Le temps des femmes ?

2025

I Got Life! poster
6.1

Aurore has separated, just lost her job, and learns that she is going to be a grandmother.

I Got Life!

2017

The Taste of Others poster
6.9

Unpolished and ultra-pragmatic industrialist Jean-Jacques Castella reluctantly attends Racine's tragedy "Berenice" in order to see his niece play a bit part. He is taken with the play's strangely familiar-looking leading lady Clara Devaux. During the course of the show, Castella soon remembers that he once hired and then promptly fired the actress as an English language tutor. He immediately goes out and signs up for language lessons. Thinking that he is nothing but an ill-tempered philistine with bad taste, Clara rejects him until Castella charms her off her feet.

The Taste of Others

2000

The Sweet Escape poster
6.6

Michel, a fifty year old man, graphic designer, decides to change the urban lifestyle and go on an adventure. Fascinated by airmail, he dreams at Jean Mermoz when he's on scooter. One day, Michel sees a picture of a kayak.

The Sweet Escape

2015

This Life of Mine poster
5.3

Barbie, once an attractive, devoted mother and partner, faces newfound challenges as she turns 55, descending into darkness, violence, and absurdity while grappling with her identity, relationships, and life's complexities.

This Life of Mine

2024

Women in Love poster
5.0

A gaggle of young women gather at the seaside to celebrate their friend's birthday and help mend her recently broken heart. As the women confide in each other and trade thoughts on love, a young American man catches their attention, and they begin to engage in a series of games.

Women in Love

1987

A Wonderful Girl poster
5.7

Mimi is 29 years old and still dreaming about a job she could get. She meets Paul, a sidelined lawyer, as she decides to seek employment. Together, they will defend Christophe, a conman who proclaims his innocence.

A Wonderful Girl

2023

Room 999 poster
5.8

In 1982, Wim Wenders asked 16 of his fellow directors to speak on the future of cinema, resulting in the film Room 666. Now, 40 years later, in Cannes, director Lubna Playoust asks Wim Wenders himself and a new generation of filmmakers (James Gray, Rebecca Zlotowski, Claire Denis, Olivier Assayas, Nadav Lapid, Asghar Farhadi, Alice Rohrwacher and more) the same question: “is cinema a language about to get lost, an art about to die?”

Room 999

2023

Yuku and the Himalayan Flower poster
5.9

Yuku is a young mouse who lives with her family in the cellar of a castle. Her grandmother passes on the family values by telling her timeless folk tales. Injured in a tussle with a cat, the old mouse is bedridden and she tells her children that she will have to leave them to follow the little blind mole into the Earth’s tunnels. In one of her grandmother’s storybooks, Yuku learns that the flower of the Himalayas can bring her eternal light. She leaves on a journey of discovery to find the flower.

Yuku and the Himalayan Flower

2022

Hôtel de France poster
5.4

A French family is shown as they go through the daily routines of life. Arguing, feasting, crying, and yearning for love are just some of the human emotions encountered. The mood wavers between excessive noise to silence while those not participating in the conversations eavesdrop.

Hôtel de France

1987

Rire (enfin) au féminin poster
NR

For a long time, in France, comedy was the preserve of men. Female roles were mostly secondary and corresponded to stereotypes such as the pretty doll, the funny but unattractive woman, or the troublesome, even cantankerous wife

Rire (enfin) au féminin

2024

Wow! poster
5.1

Catherine and Oracio are real estate advisors, and are visiting two properties in quick succession: a large bourgeois house "which can have a swimming pool and RER view", and a small modern apartment in the heart of Bougival's golden triangle.

Wow!

2023

Becoming Marilyn poster
7.3

The story of how Norma Jeane Mortenson became Marilyn Monroe (1926-62), a lucid path of self-discovery, from anonymity to stardom: the painful birth of a myth.

Becoming Marilyn

2022

Same Old Song poster
7.0

Business executive Odile seeks a new, larger apartment. Her younger sister Camille, having completed her doctoral thesis in history, is a Paris tour guide. Simon is a regular on Camille's tours as he's attracted to her. However, Camille has fallen for Marc, and they begin an affair. Nicolas is also looking for an apartment, since he hopes to eventually have his family join him in Paris.

Same Old Song

1997

Place publique poster
5.5

Revolves around Castro, who was once a very famous TV host, but as he grows old, his popularity is dwindling.

Place publique

2018

Under the Rainbow poster
5.6

Laura is still waiting for Prince Charming at the age of 24. So when Sandro appears at a party, exactly like her Prince would in her dreams, she thinks she's found the right one. But then again, when she meets Maxime, Laura starts to wonder if some Princes could be more charming than others? Of course Sandro has problems of his own : his father, Pierre, just bumped into Madam Irma at his father's funeral and this reminded him of the date of his own death which Madame Irma had predicted ages ago. Now Pierre is unable to make any plans, not with his new partner Eleonore, nor with Sandro. And Maxime has his own problems, and so does Eleonore, Marianne, Jacqueline and many others. But don't worry, in the end, they'll all live happily ever after.

Under the Rainbow

2013

This is My Mother poster
7.0

Pierre, a successful 33-year-old florist, has his life turned upside down by the sudden arrival of his mother Judith, whom he hasn’t seen for two years. Mercurial and extravagant, she suffers from bipolar disorder and has recently escaped from a clinic. Pierre has only one idea in mind: bring her back as quickly as possible so his life can get back on track. But nothing happens as he hoped for. Their unexpected reunion, as funny and explosive as it is heart-wrenching, will transform Pierre and Judith forever.

This is My Mother

2024

Family Resemblances poster
7.3

An upper middle-class French family celebrates a birthday in a restaurant. In one evening and during one meal, family history, tensions, collective and separate grudges, delights, and memories both clash and coalesce.

Family Resemblances

1996

24 Hours in the Life of a Woman poster
5.6

Set in 1913, 1936 and 2001. When he returns to the casino and seaside resort of his early teens, Louis, a 78 year old man encounters Olivia, a 19 year old young woman madly in love with a violent cad. Louis tells the story of his own mother having a passionate, driven fling with his Italian tennis instructor in 1936, and of Marie Collins Brown, the slightly older widowed woman who helped him through his confusion and pain by recounting the story of her passionate 24 hour fling with a hopeless young Polish gambler in 1913.

24 Hours in the Life of a Woman

2002

Le concert de Noël avec Roberto Alagna et l'orchestre philharmonique de Monte-Carlo poster
NR

Roberto Alagna celebrates Christmas surrounded by his friends Christophe Willem, Nolwenn Leroy, Karine Deshayes, Aleksandra Kursak, and Patrick Fiori. They perform the most beautiful popular tunes and Christmas carols accompanied by the Philharmonic Orchestra and the Monte-Carlo Opera Choir under the direction of Yvan Cassar. Recorded at the Salle des Étoiles Sporting d'Été in Monte Carlo.

Le concert de Noël avec Roberto Alagna et l'orchestre philharmonique de Monte-Carlo

2015

The Cousin poster
6.3

Nounours is the nickname of a "cousin" an informer with a special arrangement with the police: he gets 10% of the drugs seized thanks to his help. When his personal contact, inspector Maurin, commits suicide, inspector Gérard Delvaux takes over. Meanwhile, judge Lambert is uncovering the illegal practices of the policemen. Her persistent investigations, which had cornered Maurin, are leading to Gérard, and also to Nounours as the source of heroin that led to recent cases of deadly overdoses. Nounours promises Gérard increasingly bigger catches which he is intent on realising before he is forced to reveal who Nounours is to judge Lambert.

The Cousin

1997

On the Run poster
5.8

Albert is an introverted travel agent living a lonely life in New York. When Louie, his best friend from childhood, appears having just escaped from prison, Albert's quiet existence is permanently disrupted. what ensues is one long, crazy night in New York that will change both their lives forever.

On the Run

1999

Behind the camera

Kitchen with Apartment poster
7.0

Jacques and Martine, an ordinary bourgeois couple, invite to dinner a friend whom they have not seen the last ten years. Since then he has become a media star and everything has to go just right at dinner.

Kitchen with Apartment

1993

Kitchen with Apartment poster
7.0

Jacques and Martine, an ordinary bourgeois couple, invite to dinner a friend whom they have not seen the last ten years. Since then he has become a media star and everything has to go just right at dinner.

Kitchen with Apartment

1993

The Taste of Others poster
6.9

Unpolished and ultra-pragmatic industrialist Jean-Jacques Castella reluctantly attends Racine's tragedy "Berenice" in order to see his niece play a bit part. He is taken with the play's strangely familiar-looking leading lady Clara Devaux. During the course of the show, Castella soon remembers that he once hired and then promptly fired the actress as an English language tutor. He immediately goes out and signs up for language lessons. Thinking that he is nothing but an ill-tempered philistine with bad taste, Clara rejects him until Castella charms her off her feet.

The Taste of Others

2000

The Taste of Others poster
6.9

Unpolished and ultra-pragmatic industrialist Jean-Jacques Castella reluctantly attends Racine's tragedy "Berenice" in order to see his niece play a bit part. He is taken with the play's strangely familiar-looking leading lady Clara Devaux. During the course of the show, Castella soon remembers that he once hired and then promptly fired the actress as an English language tutor. He immediately goes out and signs up for language lessons. Thinking that he is nothing but an ill-tempered philistine with bad taste, Clara rejects him until Castella charms her off her feet.

The Taste of Others

2000

Smoking poster
7.7

Two actors play eighteen different roles in a story that asks the question: would my life have been different if I had lit a cigarette?

Smoking

1993

Same Old Song poster
7.0

Business executive Odile seeks a new, larger apartment. Her younger sister Camille, having completed her doctoral thesis in history, is a Paris tour guide. Simon is a regular on Camille's tours as he's attracted to her. However, Camille has fallen for Marc, and they begin an affair. Nicolas is also looking for an apartment, since he hopes to eventually have his family join him in Paris.

Same Old Song

1997

Place publique poster
5.5

Revolves around Castro, who was once a very famous TV host, but as he grows old, his popularity is dwindling.

Place publique

2018

Place publique poster
5.5

Revolves around Castro, who was once a very famous TV host, but as he grows old, his popularity is dwindling.

Place publique

2018

Under the Rainbow poster
5.6

Laura is still waiting for Prince Charming at the age of 24. So when Sandro appears at a party, exactly like her Prince would in her dreams, she thinks she's found the right one. But then again, when she meets Maxime, Laura starts to wonder if some Princes could be more charming than others? Of course Sandro has problems of his own : his father, Pierre, just bumped into Madam Irma at his father's funeral and this reminded him of the date of his own death which Madame Irma had predicted ages ago. Now Pierre is unable to make any plans, not with his new partner Eleonore, nor with Sandro. And Maxime has his own problems, and so does Eleonore, Marianne, Jacqueline and many others. But don't worry, in the end, they'll all live happily ever after.

Under the Rainbow

2013

Under the Rainbow poster
5.6

Laura is still waiting for Prince Charming at the age of 24. So when Sandro appears at a party, exactly like her Prince would in her dreams, she thinks she's found the right one. But then again, when she meets Maxime, Laura starts to wonder if some Princes could be more charming than others? Of course Sandro has problems of his own : his father, Pierre, just bumped into Madam Irma at his father's funeral and this reminded him of the date of his own death which Madame Irma had predicted ages ago. Now Pierre is unable to make any plans, not with his new partner Eleonore, nor with Sandro. And Maxime has his own problems, and so does Eleonore, Marianne, Jacqueline and many others. But don't worry, in the end, they'll all live happily ever after.

Under the Rainbow

2013

Family Resemblances poster
7.3

An upper middle-class French family celebrates a birthday in a restaurant. In one evening and during one meal, family history, tensions, collective and separate grudges, delights, and memories both clash and coalesce.

Family Resemblances

1996

Let It Rain poster
5.5

Agathe Villanova is a self-centered, workaholic feminist politician who, upon reluctantly returning to her home in the south of France to sort out her mother's affairs, runs for a local election. Upon her arrival, Agathe grudgingly agrees to take part in a documentary being made by the blundering duo of Karim, an aspiring filmmaker, and self-professed "reporter" Michel, on the subject of "successful women." As Agathe's life hilariously unravels, the camera is there to capture it all.

Let It Rain

2008

Let It Rain poster
5.5

Agathe Villanova is a self-centered, workaholic feminist politician who, upon reluctantly returning to her home in the south of France to sort out her mother's affairs, runs for a local election. Upon her arrival, Agathe grudgingly agrees to take part in a documentary being made by the blundering duo of Karim, an aspiring filmmaker, and self-professed "reporter" Michel, on the subject of "successful women." As Agathe's life hilariously unravels, the camera is there to capture it all.

Let It Rain

2008

Crescendo poster
6.7

Behind the scenes of an ambitious staging of the opera The Marriage of Figaro, an accusation of sexual assault emerges, upsetting the balance of the cast. The film explores the tensions linked to generational conflicts and individual stances, in an artistic context in crisis.

Crescendo

2026

Crescendo poster
6.7

Behind the scenes of an ambitious staging of the opera The Marriage of Figaro, an accusation of sexual assault emerges, upsetting the balance of the cast. The film explores the tensions linked to generational conflicts and individual stances, in an artistic context in crisis.

Crescendo

2026

Smoking / No Smoking poster
6.5

Two actors portray eighteen Yorkshire villagers, who offer several iterations of their lives depending on whether or not they lit a cigarette at a certain point in time.

Smoking / No Smoking

1993

Look at Me poster
6.3

Talented 20-year-old Lolita dreams of a singing career. But her self-esteem is low due to her weight problem and her narcissistic father, Étienne, a literary star with scant interest in his daughter's life. Lolita finds little comfort in the attentions of her vocal coach, suspecting the woman is using her to meet her influential father. Étienne's second wife proves to be Lolita's only trustworthy ally in her private battle to find a sense of worth.

Look at Me

2004

Look at Me poster
6.3

Talented 20-year-old Lolita dreams of a singing career. But her self-esteem is low due to her weight problem and her narcissistic father, Étienne, a literary star with scant interest in his daughter's life. Lolita finds little comfort in the attentions of her vocal coach, suspecting the woman is using her to meet her influential father. Étienne's second wife proves to be Lolita's only trustworthy ally in her private battle to find a sense of worth.

Look at Me

2004

No Smoking poster
7.7

Two actors play eighteen different roles in a story that asks the question: would my life have been different if I hadn't lit a cigarette?

No Smoking

1993