French Twist

Background:

Initiating career by writing and performing with Splendid, a theater group in Paris, French actress, director and writer of Croat extraction Josiane Balasko was known by French public with her performances in such films as Jean-Marie Poiré's “The Little Wheedlers” (1978), Patrice Lecont's popular “French Fried” (1978) and its sequel “Les Bronzes font du ski” (1979), as well as “Clara et les chics types” and “Men Prefer Fat Girls” (both 1981) before attaining international attention as the mistress of Gerard Depardieu on “Too Beautiful For You” (1989), from which she picked up her first César nomination. She also netted César nominations for her starring roles in “Not Everybody's Lucky Enough to Have Communist Parents” (1993) and Guillaume Nicloux's “Cette femme-là” (2003). Balasko, however, is probably best recalled as the director, writer and star of the French box office smash “French Twist” (1995). She won a César Award for her writing, and received a nomination for her directing. The film itself was nominated for best film. She also took home a Lumiere Award for Best Screenplay for her work in the film. Other films she has directed include her debut, “All Mixed Up” (1985), “Lady Cops” (1987), “My Life Is Hell” (1991), “Un grand cri d'amour (1998) and “The Ex-Wife of My Life” (2004).

Recently starring in the British drama “Ruby Blue” (2007, with Bob Hoskins) and the French comedy “Auberge rouge, L'” (2007), the recipient of César's Honorary Award in 2000,

Balasko, is set to play roles in the upcoming “The Key” (2007), “Musée haut, musée bas (2008)” and “Cliente” (2008), also serving as writer and director.

Josie

Childhood and Family:

Josiane Balasko was born on April 15, 1950, in Paris, France. Her birth name was Josiane Balaskovic. She was married to actor George Aguilar on June 12, 2003. Josiane has a daughter named Marilou Berry (born on February 1, 1983) with actor Philippe Berry. She is also an actress.

Josiane is known by family and her close friends with the nickname Josie.

Too Beautiful for You

Career:

In 1975, Josiane Balasko joined the Parisian theater troupe “Splendid,” whose members included Michel Blanc, Thierry Lhermitte and Dominique Lavanant, and maintained affiliation with the group by acting in and writing for several productions. She moved on to the big screen in the following year when she made her debut with a small part in the French movie “Une Fille unique/A Girl on Her Own.” Later that same year she appeared as an office worker in Roman Polanski's “The Tenant,” starring Isabelle Adjani.

Balasko, however, did not make real impact until she was cast along side Dominique Laffin and Caroline Cartier on the comedy “Les Petits Calins/The Little Wheedlers” (1978), directed and written by Jean-Marie Poiré. She followed it up by starring as Pauline in “Pauline et l'ordinateur” (1978), which also marked her screenwriting debut (dialogue), before gaining further prominence with her role as Nathalie Morin in a hit comedy helmed by her Les Splendid crew Patrice Lecont called “Les Bronzes/French Fried” (1978). She reprised the role in the installment “Les Bronzes font du ski” (1979). Both films established Balasko as a generational icon.

Entering the 1980s, Balasko started to create a reputation for herself as a supposed “anti-sex symbol” thanks to her performances in “Clara et les chics types” (1981) and “Les Hommes preferent les grosses/Men Prefer Fat Girls” (also 1981), which she also co-penned. In 1985, following in the footsteps of Michel Blanc, a cabaret theater star turned movie star, turned director, she made feature directorial debut in “Sac de noeuds/All Mixed Up,” which she also starred in opposite Isabelle Huppert and co-wrote with Jacques Audiard. It was a dark comedy about three social misfits attempting to renew their discomfited lives. She next directed herself in “Les Keufs/Lady Cops” (1987), which premiered at the Toronto Film Festival in September 1988. There she starred as a police inspector trying to crack a harlotry ring. Balasko fared better directed by Bertrand Blier in “Trop belle pour toi/ Too Beautiful for You” (1989), in which she was cast as Gerard Depardieu's emotionally pleasing, but physically unappealing, lover. The fine turn brought her a 1990 César nomination for Best Actress as well as international recognition.

Balasko returned to the director's chair with “Ma vie est un enfer/My Life Is Hell” (1991), in which she starred as a middle-ages single French woman falls for a bothersome demon (played by Daniel Auteuil). It was her touching turn as Irène, a working-class mother and communist activist in the 1950s' Paris, in director Jean-Jacques Zilbermann's “Tout le monde n'a pas eu la chance d'avoir des parents communistes/ Not Everybody's Lucky Enough to Have Communist Parents” (1993), however, that earned the actress plaudit and her next César nomination. Balasko scored even more success with her subsequent effort, “Gazon maudit/French Twist” (1995), a great and refreshing comedy that went on to become one of highest grossing domestic movies of the year. Based on a story by Telsche Boorman, the film won Balasko a César for Best Writing - Original or Adaptation (Meilleur scénario, original ou adaptation), sharing with Boorman, as well as two other nominations for Best Director and Best Film. In addition to directing and writing, she also starred in the movie as a masculine lesbian involved with a conservative couple whose marriage is shivering. Balasko also helmed, acted in and wrote the 1998 comedy “Un grand cri d'amour (1998).

A commodity of the cafe-theater scene of Paris in the early 1970s, Balasko had not departed theater, despite her busy film schedule. In the early 1990s, she discovered on the stage starring in “Solo,” a French version of the London and Broadway hit “Shirley Valentine.” Portraying the wife and mother who dreams of a romantic holiday, she requested a poster for the show featuring herself in a bathing suit. The posters attracted the attention of Paris' women, rather than stopping traffic. They applauded her, saying Balasko, who might be named overweight but scarcely obese, had free them from images of slim models with wired concealments.

Balasko has maintained a busy work in the new millennium. She could be seen acting in such films as “The Frenchman's Son” (2000), directed and written by Gerard Lauzier, “The Libertine” (2000), “A Crime in Paradise” (2001), “Absolument fabuleux” (2001), adapted from the popular British comedy series “Absolutely Fabulous,” and “The Race” (2002). She was nominated for a Best Actress César for her role as a highly depressive cop named Michèle Varin on director-writer Guillaume Nicloux's “Cette femme-là” (2003). After appearing in “Madame Edouard” (2004), Balasko wrote, directed and starred in “The Ex-Wife of My Life” (2004). Her more recent acting credits include “I Saw Ben Barka Get Killed”(2005), “Vie est à nous!, La” (2005), “Friends Forever” (2006), “Ruby Blue” (2007) and “Auberge rouge, L'” (2007).

Currently, Balasko has a project in-post production called “Clef, La/The Key (2007), a thriller helmed by Guillaume Nicloux. She serves as director, writer and actor for the upcoming “Cliente” (2008). She also has a role in director-writer Jean-Michel Ribes' new film, “Musée haut, musée bas (2008),” which is now in pre-production.

Awards:

• César: Honorary Award, 2000

• César: Best Writing - Original or Adaptation (Meilleur scénario, original ou adaptation), “Gazon maudit/French Twist,” 1996

• Lumiere (France): Best Screenplay (Meilleur scénario), “Gazon maudit/French Twist,”1996