The actress Karin Viard who grew up and began her education in Rouen supports the Rouen Seine Normande 2028 candidacy!
“Rouen is my city: the city of my childhood, of my adolescence, of my first times, of the days when I first decided I wanted to become an actress. So it’s a city that has had a lasting impact on my life and it’s a place I very much care about. Over the years, I’ve seen it change in some ways, but the bomb-damaged Palais de Justice, rue Eau de Robec, the train station, the Gros Horloge (Big Clock), the cathedral, the pedestrian-only streets – all of these places are forever engraved upon my mind.” This is how Karin Viard described her strong ties with Rouen to us when she agreed to become a supporter for the candidacy for European Capital of Culture.
The career of this actress, who has become one the most beloved actresses in France, started with two years of schooling at the Conservatoire de Rouen. Ms Viard then went on to Paris, where she took acting lessons from Vera Gregh and Blanche Salant.
In the 1990s, she had her first movie roles in three comedies, working with the directors Etienne Chatilliez, Jean-Pierre Jeunet and Cédric Klapisch.
She swiftly gained experience and recognition, moving from noteworthy supporting roles, as in Auntie Danielle and Delicatessen, to leading roles in works such as Heads Above Water by Xavier Durringer (for which she was nominated for France’s César award for Most Promising Actress) and Hikers by Philippe Harel (nominated for the César for Best Supporting Actress).
In 2000, she was awarded the César for Best Actress and the Prix Lumières (a French film award presented by the Académie des Lumières press association to honour the best in the French-speaking cinema of the previous year) for Best Actress for her role in Haut les Cœurs! by Solveig Anspach. Next, in 2003, she won the César for Best Supporting Actress for Summer Things by Michel Blanc.
Since those early days, Ms Viard has become one of the country’s most popular and sought-after actresses, appearing in a wide variety of films: dramas such as Radio Silence by Pierre Pinaud, Polisse by Maïwenn (nominated for the César for Best Actress, winner of the Globe de Cristal for Best Actress), Ma Part du Gâteau by Cédric Klapisch and 21 Nights with Pattie by Jean-Marie and Arnaud Larrieu (nominated for the César for Best Supporting Actress);and comedies like The Bélier Family by Eric Lartigau (nominated for the César for Best Actress), Potiche by François Ozon, Change of Plans by Danièle Thompson, Jealous by David and Stéphane Foenkinos (nominated for the César for Best Actress and Globe de Cristal for Best Actress), the Bruno Podalydès adaptation of Bécassine! and Kiss & Tell by Michel Blanc.
In 2018, she starred in the film Little Tickles by Andréa Bescond and Eric Métayer. For this film, she won the César for Best Supporting Actress as well as the Globe de Cristal for Best Actress.
In 2019, Ms Viard appeared alongside Benjamin Biolay in Marc Fitoussi’s film Appearances, as well as in Lullaby by Lucie Borleteau (nomination for the César for Best Actress).
In 2021, Ms Viard starred in Fantasies by Stéphane and David Foenkinos, Dear Mother by Laurent Lafitte and Tokyo Shaking by Olivier Peyon.
That same year, she could be seen in the film La Vengeance au Triple Galop directed by Alex Lutz in the broadcast on French premium television channel Canal Plus.
In 2022, she appeared in Une Mère by Sylvie Audcoeur, The Midwife directed by Jennifer Devoldere, Maria into Life directed by Lauriane Escaffre and Yvon
