# Yvan Attal
**Yvan Attal** (born 1965 in [Tel Aviv](https://www.edgepedia.org/tel-aviv), Israel) is a French and Israeli actor, film director, screenwriter and dialogue writer who rose to prominence with Eric Rochant's *Un monde sans pitié* (1989), won the César for Most Promising Actor, and later built a directing career around films such as *Ma femme est une actrice* (2001), *Le Brio* (2017), and *Les Choses humaines* (2021).[1](https://www.allocine.fr/personne/fichepersonne-3126/biographie/) • [2](https://www.cinefil.com/star/yvan-attal)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Born | 1965 in Tel Aviv, Israel; nationalities French and Israeli[1](https://www.allocine.fr/personne/fichepersonne-3126/biographie/) |
| Training | Cours Florent, 1986 to 1988, after a childhood in Créteil[1](https://www.allocine.fr/personne/fichepersonne-3126/biographie/) • [3](https://www.premiersplans.org/storage/medias/archives/documents/catalogues/1996-catalogue.pdf) |
| Breakthrough | *Un monde sans pitié* (Eric Rochant, 1989); Prix Michel-Simon 1989, César du Meilleur espoir masculin 1990[1](https://www.allocine.fr/personne/fichepersonne-3126/biographie/) |
| Awards | Prix Jean-Gabin 1997; Swann d'Or for Best Director at the Cabourg Film Festival 2002[1](https://www.allocine.fr/personne/fichepersonne-3126/biographie/) • [4](https://cinefiches.edouardneveu.fr/cv/1559) |
| First feature as director | *Ma femme est une actrice* (2001), with Charlotte Gainsbourg and Terence Stamp[2](https://www.cinefil.com/star/yvan-attal) |
| Long-term partner | Charlotte Gainsbourg, met on *Aux yeux du monde*; his most frequent collaborator with 11 films together[2](https://www.cinefil.com/star/yvan-attal) • [1](https://www.allocine.fr/personne/fichepersonne-3126/biographie/) |
| Dubbing | French voice of Tom Cruise in several films[5](https://www.institutfrancais.at/sites/default/files/inline-files/Cin%C3%A9f%C3%AAte%202022%20-%20DP%20-%20Le%20Brio.pdf) |
| Production | Developed Les Productions du Trésor, which became Trésor Films; vice-president of the Second Committee for the CNC's Avance sur Recettes fund from 2013[6](https://medias.unifrance.org/medias/81/25/137553/presse/elle-l-adore-dossier-de-presse-anglais.pdf) • [14](https://www.tresorprod.com/a-propos/) |
## Early life and start in acting
Attal grew up in Créteil before studying acting at the Cours Florent from 1986 to 1988.[1](https://www.allocine.fr/personne/fichepersonne-3126/biographie/) • [3](https://www.premiersplans.org/storage/medias/archives/documents/catalogues/1996-catalogue.pdf) He made his debut in 1988 on stage in [Neil Simon](https://www.edgepedia.org/neil-simon)'s play *Biloxi Blues* and on television in *Parlez-moi d'amour*, a telefilm directed by Elie Chouraqui.[1](https://www.allocine.fr/personne/fichepersonne-3126/biographie/)
**The Rochant years.** His meeting with director Eric Rochant launched his career. In *Un monde sans pitié* (1989), Rochant's first feature, Attal appeared as the squatter friend of Hippolyte Girardot's character, not in the lead role, and still won the Prix Michel-Simon in 1989 and the César for Most Promising Actor the following year.[1](https://www.allocine.fr/personne/fichepersonne-3126/biographie/) • [2](https://www.cinefil.com/star/yvan-attal) The film was a success with critics, and Rochant gave Attal the lead in his next two features: *Aux yeux du monde* (1991), in which his character hijacks a school bus to reach his girlfriend, and *Les Patriotes* (1994), an espionage film shot in Israel about a young French Jew who joins the Mossad; it was selected in official competition at the 1994 Cannes Film Festival.[1](https://www.allocine.fr/personne/fichepersonne-3126/biographie/) • [2](https://www.cinefil.com/star/yvan-attal) • [7](https://www.festival-cannes.com/en/p/yvan-attal/) It was during the shoot of *Aux yeux du monde* that he met [Charlotte Gainsbourg](https://www.edgepedia.org/charlotte-gainsbourg), who became his partner.[2](https://www.cinefil.com/star/yvan-attal)
## Acting career
In 1997 Attal received the Prix Jean-Gabin and moved into English-language work, taking two consecutive British films: [Michael Winterbottom](https://www.edgepedia.org/michael-winterbottom)'s *With or Without You*, set in Belfast, and Julian Simpson's *The Criminal*, shot in England.[2](https://www.cinefil.com/star/yvan-attal) His roles tend toward tormented heroes and tough characters, from *Cantique de la racaille* to *Bon Voyage*, alongside more sentimental registers with directors such as Jacques Doillon and Marion Vernoux (*Love etc.*).[1](https://www.allocine.fr/personne/fichepersonne-3126/biographie/)
**International work.** In 2005 he co-starred with [Sophie Marceau](https://www.edgepedia.org/sophie-marceau) in Jérôme Salle's *Anthony Zimmer* and appeared in [Sydney Pollack](https://www.edgepedia.org/sydney-pollack)'s *The Interpreter* with [Nicole Kidman](https://www.edgepedia.org/nicole-kidman) and Sean Penn. The next year Steven Spielberg cast him among the young French actors in *Munich*, about the killing of Israeli athletes at the 1972 Olympic Games. He has also taken luxury cameos in Hollywood productions, including the taxi driver in *Rush Hour 3*. He played Serge Klarsfeld on television (*La Traque*) and, in 2023, the notorious nuclear-industry executive Luc Oursel in *La Syndicaliste* and the fraudster Zagury in the series *D'argent et de sang*, as well as Raoul Lévy in *Bardot*.[2](https://www.cinefil.com/star/yvan-attal) • [1](https://www.allocine.fr/personne/fichepersonne-3126/biographie/) • [8](https://www.allocine.fr/personne/fichepersonne-3126/filmographie/)
Among his later screen work are the roles of [Romain Gary](https://www.edgepedia.org/romain-gary) in *Seberg* (2019), Denis Dumar, a conductor in *Maestro(s)* (2022), George Moréas in [Mélanie Laurent](https://www.edgepedia.org/melanie-laurent)'s *Libre* (2024), and Charles Balestra in Olivier Marchal's *Bastion 36* (2025).[8](https://www.allocine.fr/personne/fichepersonne-3126/filmographie/) In 2024 he appeared in *Maria* by Jessica Palud, screened at Cannes as a Cannes Premiere.[7](https://www.festival-cannes.com/en/p/yvan-attal/) AlloCiné counts his career at 75 films, 5 series, and 20.3 million cinema admissions in France, with drama (32 percent) and comedy (31 percent) as his dominant genres.[1](https://www.allocine.fr/personne/fichepersonne-3126/biographie/)
## Directing
Attal began directing with the 1997 short *I got a woman*, which humorously described the situation of a man who shares his life with an actress; four years later it became the basis of his first feature, *Ma femme est une actrice* (2001), in which he acted opposite Gainsbourg and the English actor [Terence Stamp](https://www.edgepedia.org/terence-stamp).[2](https://www.cinefil.com/star/yvan-attal) A study of a sports journalist consumed by jealousy of his famous actress wife, the film drew directly on his own life with Gainsbourg.[9](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2002-jul-14-ca-king14-story.html) In 2004 he made the more ambitious ensemble film *Ils se marièrent et eurent beaucoup d'enfants*, which gathered Alain Chabat and [Emmanuelle Seigner](https://www.edgepedia.org/emmanuelle-seigner) around the Attal-Gainsbourg couple.[1](https://www.allocine.fr/personne/fichepersonne-3126/biographie/) He won the Swann d'Or for Best Director at the Cabourg Film Festival in 2002.[4](https://cinefiches.edouardneveu.fr/cv/1559)
**A director of couple crises.** Attal's directing work centers on the crises of the Parisian bourgeois couple, desire, and marriage, themes he says he could not explore as an actor performing other people's scripts.[9](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2002-jul-14-ca-king14-story.html) • [10](https://www.ilssemarierent-lefilm.com/yvan-attal-realisateur-films-couple/) His feature filmography as director includes *Ils sont partout* (2016), which dismantles clichés about Jews through a gallery of eccentric characters; the comedy *Le Brio* (2017), in which [Daniel Auteuil](https://www.edgepedia.org/daniel-auteuil)'s provocative law professor coaches student Camélia Jordana for a national eloquence contest; *Mon chien Stupide* (2018), which cast Gainsbourg and the couple's son Ben Attal; *Les Choses humaines* (2021), about a young man accused of rape; and the thriller *Un coup de dés* (2023), in which he also acted as Mathieu.[1](https://www.allocine.fr/personne/fichepersonne-3126/biographie/) • [11](https://www.offi.fr/artiste/yvan-attal-5548.html) *Projet K*, his next feature, was shooting in Lyon in the summer of 2026.[12](https://www.leprogres.fr/culture-loisirs/2026/07/16/le-nouveau-film-d-yvan-attal-recherche-des-figurants)
## Production and industry role
Beyond acting and directing, Attal built a producer's career. The company Les Productions du Trésor, which belongs to the career of producer Alain Attal, supported well-received first films such as Romain Lévy's *Radiostars*, which won the Jury Grand Prix at the Alpe d'Huez Comedy Film Festival, and Régis Roinsard's *Populaire*, which earned five César nominations.[14](https://www.tresorprod.com/a-propos/) In 2013 he became vice-president of the Second Committee for the Avance sur Recettes, the CNC subsidy fund that protects the diversity of French cinema, and he has publicly defended independent production.[6](https://medias.unifrance.org/medias/81/25/137553/presse/elle-l-adore-dossier-de-presse-anglais.pdf)
## Voice work and family
Attal is the French dubbing voice of [Tom Cruise](https://www.edgepedia.org/tom-cruise) in several of the actor's films.[5](https://www.institutfrancais.at/sites/default/files/inline-files/Cin%C3%A9f%C3%AAte%202022%20-%20DP%20-%20Le%20Brio.pdf) His partner is the actress Charlotte Gainsbourg, daughter of [Jane Birkin](https://www.edgepedia.org/jane-birkin) and [Serge Gainsbourg](https://www.edgepedia.org/serge-gainsbourg); together they form one of the best-known couples of French cinema.[13](https://researchmgt.monash.edu/ws/portalfiles/portal/457784091/378713529_oa.pdf) Their son Ben Attal is also an actor and has appeared in four of his father's films, from *Ma femme est une actrice* to *Les Choses humaines*.[1](https://www.allocine.fr/personne/fichepersonne-3126/biographie/) A 2017 Vanity Fair shoot photographed the pair as what a French screen-studies article calls the power couple of French cinema.[13](https://researchmgt.monash.edu/ws/portalfiles/portal/457784091/378713529_oa.pdf)
## References
1. [Yvan Attal : Sa biographie, AlloCiné](https://www.allocine.fr/personne/fichepersonne-3126/biographie/)
2. [Yvan Attal : sa biographie, Cinefil](https://www.cinefil.com/star/yvan-attal)
3. [1996 Catalogue, Premiers Plans Festival](https://www.premiersplans.org/storage/medias/archives/documents/catalogues/1996-catalogue.pdf)
4. [CINEFICHES: Yvan Attal](https://cinefiches.edouardneveu.fr/cv/1559)
5. [Cinéfête 2022 press kit: Le Brio, Institut Français Autriche](https://www.institutfrancais.at/sites/default/files/inline-files/Cin%C3%A9f%C3%AAte%202022%20-%20DP%20-%20Le%20Brio.pdf)
6. [Elle l'adore press kit, UniFrance](https://medias.unifrance.org/medias/81/25/137553/presse/elle-l-adore-dossier-de-presse-anglais.pdf)
7. [Yvan Attal, Festival de Cannes](https://www.festival-cannes.com/en/p/yvan-attal/)
8. [Yvan Attal : Filmographie, AlloCiné](https://www.allocine.fr/personne/fichepersonne-3126/filmographie/)
9. [And Stardom Makes Three, Los Angeles Times](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2002-jul-14-ca-king14-story.html)
10. [Yvan Attal réalisateur : filmographie et regard sur le couple](https://www.ilssemarierent-lefilm.com/yvan-attal-realisateur-films-couple/)
11. [Yvan Attal, L'Officiel des spectacles](https://www.offi.fr/artiste/yvan-attal-5548.html)
12. [Le nouveau film d'Yvan Attal recherche des figurants, Le Progrès](https://www.leprogres.fr/culture-loisirs/2026/07/16/le-nouveau-film-d-yvan-attal-recherche-des-figurants)
13. [A marriage of life and art: the celebrity coupledom of Charlotte Gainsbourg and Yvan Attal, French Screen Studies](https://researchmgt.monash.edu/ws/portalfiles/portal/457784091/378713529_oa.pdf)
14. [À propos - Les productions du Trésor](https://www.tresorprod.com/a-propos/)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Screen and stage › Film and television › Screen people and creators › Screen actors of the Anglosphere and Europe › French actors › Surnames A to D*
*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Sep 17, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 15, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*
*Copyright 2026 EdgeChat AI, a subsidiary of Biostate AI.*
License: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license