Irène Jacob
Actor
Born in Paris in 1966, Irène Jacob moved to Geneva, Switzerland, as an infant. She made her stage debut at the age of 11. Studying at the Geneva Conservatory of Music, she earned a degree in languages, which has served her well: she speaks French, English, German, and Italian and regularly performs in international productions that draw on this gift for languages. In 1991, Jacob won the award for Best Actress at the Cannes Film Festival for the film La double vie de Véronique, her breakout international performance. In 1995 she received a BAFTA nomination for TROIS COULEURS : ROUGE (1994), also directed by Krzysztof Kieslowski, and she was twice nominated for a César, in 1992, for LA DOUBLE VIE DE VÉRONIQUE and in 1995, for TROIS COULEURS : ROUGE. Over a long and varied career, Jacob has worked with filmmakers like Michelangelo Antonioni, Paul Auster, Theo Angelopoulos, Wim Wenders, Agnieszka Holland, Paul Schrader, Claude Lelouch, Rithy Panh, and Amos Gitai. With Gitai, she has collaborated on both stage and screen, most recently on SHIKUN (2024, which premiered in the Berlinale Special).
Filmography
(a selection)
Actor
- 2024
- Shikun by Amos Gitai
- 2019
- La preuve scientifique de l'existence de Dieu by Frédéric Baillif
- 2015
- Ella Maillart – Double Journey by Mariann Lewinsky, Antonio Bigini
- 2009
- Les yeux de Simone by Jean-Louis Porchet
- 2009
- Déchaînées by Raymond Vouillamoz
- 2007
- Nessuna qualità agli eroi by Paolo Franchi
- 1994
- Trois couleurs : Rouge by Krzysztof Kieslowski