Nominated for three Césars, Raphaël Quenard did not initially intend for a career as an actor. A look back at the astonishing journey of the new darling of French cinema.
The year 2023 was definitely that of Raphaël Quenard. The 32-year-old actor was in all the projects, whether in cinema or streaming. Last year, we saw him on Netflix in Cash, on Prime Video in Sentinels and in theaters, quickly in I’ll Always See Your Faces, but also in Scrapyard Dog and Yannick. His performances in these last two films were praised to such an extent that the actor was nominated this Friday, February 23, for the César for Best Male Newcomer for the first and for the César for Best Actor for the second. He was also nominated as director and producer for the César for best documentary short film for The Actor, or the Surprising Virtue of Incomprehension.
However, originally, Raphaël Quenard did not intend for a career on the screens. After growing up on the outskirts of Grenoble, he studied chemistry and graduated from the ENS of chemistry in Paris in 2014. He also worked for a few months as a parliamentary assistant alongside the MP for the fourth constituency of Savoie. Bernadette Laclais.
Nothing prepared Raphaël Quenard, initially, to become an actor. And yet, the actor began studying in Jean-Laurent Cochet’s classes, before meeting director Emma Benestan during a workshop. One thing led to another and his connections allowed him to audition for the HP series.
In 2021, Raphaël Quenard also appears in the cast of season 3 of Family Business. After a performance in the César-winning short film The Bad Boys, he took on supporting roles: first in Coupez! then in Mandibles and Fumer fait cough which mark his first collaborations with Quentin Dupieux, director of Yannick. And since then, it has become a must-have in the French seventh art.
