Bérénice Bejo

**Bérénice Bejo** (born 7 July 1976) is a French-Argentine actress who achieved international acclaim for playing Christiana in A Knight's Tale (2001) and Peppy Miller in The Artist (2011). Her spectacular performance in The Artist resulted in a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress and won her the César Award for Best Actress. Bejo's impressive acting prowess was further recognized in The Past, for which she won Best Actress at the Cannes Film Festival in 2013 and was nominated for a César. Bejo was born in Buenos Aires, Argentina, the child of an Argentine filmmaker, Miguel Bejo and his wife Silvia, a lawyer. At the tender age of three, her family relocated to France, fleeing from Argentina's tumultuous civil-military dictatorship (1976–1983). Her father guided her initial steps into the theater arts by enrolling her in the school of Les Enfants Terribles. In 2006, Bejo starred in OSS 117: Cairo, Nest of Spies, where she met director Michel Hazanavicius, who later became her spouse. This was her first collaboration with Hazanavicius and actor Jean Dujardin, and the talented trio went on to create a number of remarkable films together. Bejo's American film debut, A Knight's Tale, saw her cast opposite Heath Ledger in 2001. Her career subsequently led her through diverse roles in films such as 24 Hours in the Life of a Woman, The Grand Role, and Cavalcade, demonstrating her dynamic range as an actress. In the 2011 film, The Artist, directed by Hazanavicius and featuring Dujardin, Bejo delivered a highly-praised performance that cemented her reputation as an exceptional talent and earned her a suite of award nominations.