Philippe Torreton

On 10 April 2020, during the coronavirus lockdown, Torreton was one of a handful of people to take part in a Good Friday service led by Michel Aupetit, Archbishop of Paris, in the Cathedral of Notre-Dame de Paris, still being rebuilt after the fire a year earlier. All wore protective clothing. During the service, Torreton read Francis Jammes' "Je vous salue, Marie".

Born in Rouen, to a teacher mother, and filling station attendant father, Torreton grew up in a suburb of the city. A student at the lycée Val de Seine de Grand-Quevilly, he discovered there a certain liking for the theater that he nurtured, thanks to his teachers, - he often cites one in particular, - M.Désir. A student of CNSAD, he would return there, this time as a teacher, in October 2008.

He played Capitaine Conan in the film of the same name, directed by Bertrand Tavernier, based on a little-known incident from the time of the First World War, and for which he won the César Award for Best Actor 1997. And, a politically committed actor, he played the role of the principal of a primary school confronted with social problems in Ça commence aujourd'hui, again directed by Tavernier, in 1998.

Torreton entered the Comédie-Française in 1990 as a pensionnaire (salaried actor having no share in the profits) and became a sociétaire (shareholding member of the Comédie-Française) in 1994. He left in 1999 having played many prestigious roles including Scapin, Lorenzaccio, Hamlet, Henry V, Tartuffe.

Philippe Torreton (born 13 October 1965) is a French actor.