Nicolas Maury
Known to the public for his role as an assistant in the series Dix pour cent (Call My Agent!), Nicolas Maury thrives in unconventional roles. Directed by Yann Gonzalez in film or Robert Cantarella in theatre, he likes to challenge his acting skills to provide the unexpected.
Published on 17/03/2020
2 min
Born in 1980 and raised in a small town in Limousin, Nicolas Maury found a refuge for his imagination in the municipal library. He first encountered the cinema in 1998 when Patrice Chéreau came to shoot Ceux qui m'aiment prendront le train (Those Who Love Me Can Take The Train) in Limoges. Alongside Jean-Louis Trintignant, Valérie Bruni Tedeschi and Charles Berling, he played a small role that enabled him to get a foot in the door. He then joined the Paris National Conservatory for Dramatic Arts and resumed his career in 2005 with appearances in cinema (Les Amants réguliers or Regular Lovers by Philippe Garrel) and the start of a fruitful theatrical collaboration with director Robert Cantarella (La Jalousie du Barbouillé or The Jealousy of Barbouillé at the Théâtre de Dijon).
As a tranvestite maid in Les Rencontres d'après minuit (You And the Night by Yann Gonzalez, 2013), and especially in his iconic role in the series Dix pour cent (from 2015), he slips easily between auteur cinema and popular comedies. In 2020, he goes behind the camera to direct his first film: Garçon chiffon (Cloth Boy).
His assumed homosexuality could have confined Nicolas Maury to typecasting. But that would be disregarding the character of this actor who loves nothing more than playing on his body’s ambiguities to extend his repertoire. Using this quality, he asserts a feisty sense of burlesque in the comedy Let my people go! (Mikael Buch, 2010) before showing a more restrained side with Rebecca Zlotowski (Belle Épine or Dear Prudence, 2011).
His loyalty to writers who make radical choices also allows him to explore new territories. He met Riad Sattouf twice, as well as Yann Gonzalez, who in 2018 offered him the opportunity to play a character with an unbridled imagination alongside his youth idol Vanessa Paradis in Un Couteau dans le cœur (Knife + Heart).
From his first appearance in films in Ceux qui m'aiment prendront le train, Nicolas Maury has climbed the steps at the Cannes Film Festival. He has regularly returned to this major international event with Yann Gonzalez's films, selected twice in 2013 and 2018, as well as Erwan Le Duc's first feature film, Perdrix (The Bare Necessity), nominated for the Caméra d'Or in 2019.
In theatre, Nicolas Maury’s has gained an international reputation with his many appearances at the Festival d’Avignon, including with Robert Cantarella (Hippolyte in 2005) and Guillaume Vincent (La nuit tombe or Night Falls in 2012).
- 1998
1998
Nicolas Maury lands his first role in Ceux qui m'aiment prendront le train by Patrice Chéreau.
- 2001
2001
He graduates from the the Paris National Conservatory for Dramatic Arts.
- 2011
2011
His role in Let my people go! sees him shortlisted for the César for Most Promising Actor.
- 2015
2015
The first season of Dix pour cent is broadcast on France Télévisions. He plays the role of Hervé.
- 2019
2019
After several years of writing, Nicolas Maury begins filming his first feature film as director, Garçon Chiffon, with Nathalie Baye.
Perdrix, by Erwan Leduc and Dix pour cent have been screened internationally by the Institut français.
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