Benoît Magimel

French actor Benoît Magimel successfully made the transition from child actor to grown up one, and has built a sizable following in his homeland, with several award-winning performances. Magimel made his professional acting debut in 1988's "La vie est un long fleuve tranquille," before landing his true breakthrough role with the 1996 film "Thieves." The movie (in which he played the character Jimmy Fontana) landed Magimel an Acteurs à l'Écran Award win (for "Best Actor"), as well as a César Award nomination (for "Most Promising Actor").

While working on the 1999 film "The Children of the Century," Magimel fell in love with his co-star, Juliette Binoche. The year 2001 would see the release of another critically acclaimed film in which Magimel would play a major part, "The Piano Teacher," for which he won a Cannes Film Festival Award ("Best Actor") and earned a European Film Award nomination (also for "Best Actor"), for his portrayal of the character Walter Klemmer.