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Patrick Bauchau: Nova Gente

Patrick Bauchau actor, husband of Brigitte Bardot's sister

From Nova Gente -- July 5, 2000 (English Translation)

"I found balance next to my wife"

He's married to Mijanou Bardot, sister of Brigitte Bardot, with whom he has a daughter. He has filmed with Wenders, Bigas Luna and Zulawzki. This year he's made three movies. His free time is spent with his wife at home.

Patrick Bauchau was born in Brussels on December 6, 1938. The son of a writer and a Russian teacher, he soon revealed his independent and adventurous spirit. He left his parents' house and lived periods of his life between Switzerland and England, where he earned his Modern Languages diploma at Oxford.

Polyglot - in his youth, he already spoke French, English, German, Spanish and Italian - Bauchau dreamed of becoming "a writer like my father, although I started out working as an actor because I realized it was the best way to express myself on an artistic level," he remembers.

He started in France, from there going on to several European productions. He revealed himself to the world in the film La Collectionneuse (The Collector), by Eric Rohmer. "For my first big role I couldn't have had a better director. Eric deeply impressed me," he says. But the actor had to wait many years to find fame.

He waited 20 years to win, in 1982, the Gold Lion in Venice for his role in The State of Things by Wim Wenders. "I waited for my opportunity," he stresses, "and I knew how to take care of myself. Currently I have found balance with Mijanou Bardot, my wife." For some time she followed in her sister's footsteps, but she ended up on a different path and began to write.

Patrick Bauchau's resumé includes the film A View to a Kill from 1985, and Le Femme Publique by Andrzej Zulawski, from the same year in which he also did Emmanuelle 4. He worked with Bigas Luna (Lola) and was directed a second time by Wenders in the movie Lisbon Story. This year he made The Beat Nicks with Kevin Williams, The Cell (Tarsem) and The Sculptress (Ian Merrick).

In the privacy of his home, in Los Angeles, when he has free time, Patrick spends it with his wife and Camille, their daughter. He has a collection of oriental art, one of his main hobbies, and he never misses a daily session of yoga.

Thank you to Sandra and Rita for sending the article and assisting with translation from the original Portuguese.

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