From Wikipedia the free encyclopedia JeanMarc Barr born on 27 September 1960 in Bitburg RhinelandPalatinate Germany is a FrenchAmerican film actor and director His mother is French His American father was in the US Air Force and served in the Second World War JeanMarc Barr is primarily known as an actor but is also a film director screenwriter and producer Barr is bilingual in French and English he speaks French with a nasal hybrid accent reminiscent of his American upbringing with a slight American accent and occasional anglicisms in interviews and English with a MidAtlantic accent He studied philosophy at the University of California Los Angeles the Paris Conservatoire and the Sorbonne He went on to pursue an education in drama at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama in London In London he met his future wife a pianist and composer Irina Dečermić JeanMarc Barr began working in theatre in France in 1986 After some television roles and film work in particular Hope and Glory 1987 by John Boorman he was cast in the tremendously successful The Big Blue 1988 Luc Besson cast him in the role of French diver Jacques Mayol He played in the role opposite Rosanna Arquette and Jean Reno The Big Blue was the most financially successful film in France in the 1980s In 1991 he starred in Danish director Lars von Triers Europa marking the beginning of a long friendship he is the godfather of von Triers children as well as a significant professional relationship He went on to appear in von Triers Europa 1991 Breaking the Waves 1996 Dancer in the Dark 2000 Dogville 2004 and Manderlay 2005 Also in 2005 he starred in the French film Crustacés et Coquillages His collaboration with von Trier put him on track to start directing his own work He debuted in 1999 as a director screenwriter and producer with the intimate love story Lovers This film became the first part of a trilogy the two subsequent parts being the drama Too Much Flesh 2000 and the comedy Being Light 2001 which he codirected with Pascal Arnold He may also be recognized for his role as the attractive divorce lawyer Maitre Bertram in the Merchant Ivory film le Divorce 2003 He appeared as Hugo in The Red Siren in 2002 He appeared as the main character in the video for Blurs 1995 single Charmless Man Description above from the Wikipedia article JeanMarc Barr licensed under CCBYSA full list of contributors on Wikipedia