From locksmith to limelight: Dujardin, star of 'The Artist,' adored in France
| Paris
Move over G茅rard Depardieu. France has a new face on the global silver screen.
Jean Dujardin, who manages to be both suave and folksy 鈥� in a French sort of way 鈥� is a 2012 "Best Actor" Oscar nominee for his role in 鈥淭he Artist,鈥� a black and white 鈥渟ilent鈥� throwback to the 1920s, with swing-era jazz and plenty of playful nostalgia.
Mr. Dujardin, unknown abroad until now, is loved in France as an unsnobby comic who rose from a working class Paris suburb, a one-time locksmith who was told his face was too rotund for the camera.
鈥淚 adore him 鈥e is a born clown,鈥� says Christine Bertholts, a legal secretary in Paris, in a typical comment. 鈥淎nd those eyebrows!鈥澛犅�
While France has produced several female Oscar winners, Dujardin, will be the first French male to take home the prize聽if he gets the nod on Feb. 26.聽
Dujardin plays George Valentin, a silent star with a pencil-thin moustache who can鈥檛 or won鈥檛 make the transition to talkies and goes into a funk, but is saved by his adorable dog and a woman he generously helps when he鈥檚 riding high.
The French actor learned to tap dance for the part, and says his favorite American actor is Paul Newman. He is up against George Clooney, Brad Pitt, Demian Bichir, and Gary Oldman for the Oscar. 聽
The Artist is nominated for 10 Oscars, including Best Picture. It just won three Golden Globe awards 鈥� including best actor in a comedy for聽Dujardin 鈥� throwing film-crazy France into a small state of euphoria.聽In interviews after the ceremony, French radio hosts had fun with an Anglo version of Dujardin鈥檚 last name, asking if they were speaking with 鈥淛ean of the Garden.鈥�
"When I started [as an actor],鈥� Dujardin said after winning the Golden Globe, 鈥淎n agent told me, 鈥榊ou won鈥檛 make films, your face is too expressive鈥︹�橧t's not my fault,鈥� I told him, 鈥楳y eyebrows act independently!鈥�"
France's main Hollywood presence for years has been Mr. Depardiu, who earned a 1990 Academy Award nomination for Green Card, but did not win. Le Point, a French news magazine, said of Dujardin, 鈥淗e may even de-throne Depardieu in the Anglo-Saxon heart.鈥�
"We thought it would be a film for festivals, a film that critics could like, but we weren鈥檛 counting on this!" French daily Figaro quoted director Michel Hazanavicius saying about its commercial and critical success.
It's a good thing "The Artist" is a silent film. Dujardin speaks little English and says he鈥檚 not preparing for work outside of France.
鈥淗e鈥檚 just a regular guy,鈥� says Remi, a young financier who works near the Arc de Triomphe. 鈥淗e doesn鈥檛 care about the show-biz world or the paparazzi and all that. The public has seen him grow and we can identify with him. He is one of us.鈥�
Dujardin made a rare-for-France crossover from TV to film. His ability to reprise and mimic the foibles and quirks of the average French guy earned him a place in the public鈥檚 heart. Some of his characters are modeled on friends he met in Army barracks when he served in the military.
He starred in an unusual TV series, 鈥淎 Guy, a Girl鈥� 鈥� some 500 micro-sketches of seven minutes each 鈥� that garnered attention in the late 1990s. The two characters, Loulou (guy) and Chouchou (girl), often compete or are mean but in the end stay together, seen as a parody of relationships with a French touch.
Dujardin and "A Guy, a Girl"聽lead actress Alexandra Lamy became a real life couple, sending buzz about them into the French stratosphere. They are now 鈥淛eanlexandra,鈥� a transatlantic equivalent of 鈥淏rangelina鈥� (Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie).
鈥淲e have been lucky to聽be able to watch聽the love grow between Jean Dujardin and Alexandra Lamy over the years,鈥� said Ms. Bertholts, the legal secretary. 鈥淚t's like watching friends of yours get together after years of friendship.鈥�
In 2005, Dujardin broke through in film, playing a clueless sun-bleached surf bum in the film 鈥淏rice de Nice.鈥� His character, after whom the movie is named, sees himself as a character in the film Point Break, but never quite gets that there are no big waves on France鈥檚 calm Mediterranean coast.
Dujardin also spoofs James Bond spy films, conjuring a cross between Peter Sellers's character Inspector Clouseau and Mike Meyers's Austin Powers in 鈥�OSS 117: Cairo, Nest of Spies鈥� and 鈥淥SS 117: Lost in Rio.鈥�
鈥淚t鈥檚 quite funny that a man who produced a film like Brice de Nice could actually win an Oscar 鈥� I mean it鈥檚 really far from anything you could call 鈥榤ajor cinema,鈥欌�� said a French student out for a stroll in Paris.
