Agnès Soral (born Agnès Marielle Christiane Bonnet, 8 June 1960) is a French-Swiss actress, best known for her role in the film So Long, Stooge (Tchao Pantin, 1983)..
Early life Agnès Bonnet was born in Aix-les-Bains to a French-Swiss family. She is the youngest of three siblings. Her father worked as a notary and a legal advisor. Her family has roots in Soral, Switzerland, and has long used "Bonnet de Soral" as an unofficial name. She later used "Soral" as a stage name and adopted it as her legal name in the early 1990s.
During the 1960s, her family moved to Meudon, in the Paris area. She later said that she had grown up in a dysfunctional family, and described her father as a "narcissistic pervert" who mistreated his wife and beat his children. In 1973, her father received a prison sentence for fraud in Switzerland. Her family, facing financial ruin, left the Parisian region and settled in Grenoble, then Annemasse.
Career As a teenager, she worked as a ticket taker in a theatre where she debuted on stage by replacing an actress on the spot. She later met actor Jean-Claude Drouot, who encouraged her to persevere. She took acting classes at the Conservatoire de Grenoble and made her film debut aged 17, by starring in the comedy Un moment d'égarement (1977), directed by Claude Berri, where she played a teenager who seduces a middle-aged man.
Soral next appeared on television, getting her breakthrough role six years later in the crime drama So Long, Stooge (1983), a film also directed by Claude Berri where she co-starred with Coluche. For her performance as a wayward punk girl, Soral was nominated to the César Award for Best Supporting Actress and the César Award for Best Female Revelation, though she won neither.
Soral's subsequent work included starring roles in the comedies Réveillon chez Bob (1984) and Twist again à Moscou (1986), the science fiction film Diesel (1985), the drama I Love You (also 1986) and the crime film Bleu comme l'enfer (still 1986). Later on, she played mostly supporting roles in film, also appearing in many television series and working in theatre.
Personal life
Soral is the mother of two daughters. She is a committed environmentalist and, since the 2000s, has been actively involved in a charity that supports the struggle against deforestation and the interests of Amazonian indigenous people.
She is the younger sister of author Alain Soral. During the 1980s, after she achieved prominence as an actress, she allowed him to use her stage name (not yet her legal name) as his pen name. Alain Soral initially gained some fame as a self-styled Marxist and an antifeminist provocateur, before evolving into a well-known far-right, antisemitic ideologue, conspiracy theorist and Holocaust denier. Agnès Soral has condemned her brother's views; they have been estranged since the 2000s. In 2015, she published the book Frangin (French slang for Brother) which recounted her family history and her relationship with her brother.
Theatre Year Title Author Director Notes 1976 Voyage avec la drogue et la mort Dimitris Kollatos Dimitris Kollatos Théâtre d'Art 1982 Un garçon d’appartement Gérard Lauzier Gérard Lauzier Théâtre Marigny 1990 Des journées entières dans les arbres Marguerite Duras Jean-Luc Tardieu 1991 Calamity Jane Jean-Noël Fenwick Jacques Rosny Théâtre Montparnasse La Facture Françoise Dorin Raymond Gérôme Théâtre des Bouffes-Parisiens 1993 Train de vie Nathalie Mongin Agnès Soral Théâtre du Chaudron 1994 Chantecler Edmond Rostand Jérôme Savary Théâtre national de Chaillot1995 Dawn town project Mike Rimbaud Charlélie Couture Assemblywomen Aristophanes Jean-Luc Tardieu (2) 1998 Château en Suède Françoise Sagan Annick Blancheteau Théâtre Saint-Georges 2000 Cat on a Hot Tin Roof Tennessee Williams Patrice Kerbrat Théâtre de la Renaissance 2001 Mr Puntila and his Man Matti Bertolt Brecht Daniel Benoin Comédie de Saint-Etienne2004 Agnès Soral, c’est pas du Ronsard Jacques Pessis & Agnès Soral Éric Métayer Festival d'Avignon Un beau salaud Pierre Chesnot Jean-Luc Moreau Théâtre de Paris 2005 Les Héritiers Alain Krief Jean-Pierre Dravel & Olivier Macé Théâtre Rive Gauche 2007 Agnès Soral aimerait bien vous y voir Jacques Pessis & Agnès Soral Jean-Luc Moreau (2) Comédie de Paris 2012 La Chieuse Patrice Dard & Jean Franco Philippe Hersen Comédie-Caumartin 2016Sœurs malgré toutArmelle JoverRaymond AcquavivaThéâtre Tête d'or 2020ToâSacha GuitryAnne BourgeoisThéâtre Tête d'or
Selected filmography Year Title Role Director Notes1977 Françoise Claude Berri(first film role) Un comique né Michel Polac TV Movie Brigade des mineurs Claude Loursais TV Series (1 Episode)1978 Surprise Sock Charlotte Jean-François Davy Les héritiers Béatrice Juan Luis Buñuel TV Series (1 Episode) 1979 Cinéma 16 Paula Daniel Moosmann TV Series (1 Episode)1980 Caméra une première Jacques Fansten TV Series (1 Episode) Cinéma 16 Claire Patrick Jamain TV Series (1 Episode) 1981 Minitrip Valérie Pierre Joassin TV Movie1983 So Long, Stooge Lola Claude Berri Nominated - César Award for Best Supporting ActressNominated - César Award for Most Promising Actress Zone rouge The Woman Robert Valey TV Movie1984 Réveillon chez Bob Florence Denys Granier-Deferre Série noire Anne Letellier Raymond Vouillamoz TV Series (1 Episode)1985 Diesel Anna Robert Kramer Le caprice de Marion Marion Dachary Jacques Tréfouel TV Movie1986 I Love You Hélène Marco Ferreri Killing Cars Violet Blum Michael Verhoeven Bleu comme l'enfer Carol Yves Boisset Twist again à Moscou Tatiana Jean-Marie Poiré1988 Love and Fear Sabrina Margarethe von Trotta Prisonnières Nicole Beck Charlotte Silvera1989 Australia Agnès Deckers Jean-Jacques Andrien Fantômes sur l'oreiller Elisabeth Labarge Pierre Mondy TV Movie Bonne espérance Prudence Beauvilliers Pierre Lary & Philippe Monnier TV Series The Free Frenchman Nellie Planchet Jim Goddard TV Mini-Series Mon dernier rêve sera pour vous Nathalie de Noailles Robert Mazoyer TV Mini-Series1990 Après après-demain Sophie Gérard Frot-Coutaz Sésame, ouvre-toi ! Manuelle Serge Le Péron TV Movie1993 Window to Paris Nicole Yuri Mamin Tout va bien dans le service Claire Charlotte Silvera (2) TV Movie Prat et Harris Prat Boramy Tioulong TV Movie1994 Le ballon d'or Isabella Cheik Doukouré Target of Suspicion Chandreau Bob Swaim TV Movie Maigret Aline Bauche Andrzej Kostenko TV Series (2 Episodes)1996 Men, Women: A User's Manual Fabio Lini's Girlfriend Claude Lelouch The Ogre Rachel Volker Schlöndorff Oui Alexandre Jardin Catherine the Great Countess Bruce Marvin J. Chomsky & John Goldsmith TV Movie L'embellie The Prostitute Charlotte Silvera (3) TV Movie1997 C'est la tangente que je préfère Sabine's Mother Charlotte Silvera (4) Un étrange héritage Sabine Castel-Fortin Laurent Dussaux TV Movie1998 Ça n'empêche pas les sentiments Odette Jean-Pierre Jackson Comme une bête Claudia Patrick Schulmann Je suis vivante et je vous aime Lucie Roger Kahane 1998-2003 Blague à part Isabelle Dumont François Greze, Pascal Chaumeil, ... TV Series (60 Episodes)2001 Les gens en maillot de bain ne sont pas (forcément) superficiels Anita Éric Assous Un homme à défendre Marthe Rambal Laurent Dussaux (2) TV Movie Joséphine, ange gardien Ariana Dominique Baron TV Series (1 Episode) 2002 Les filles, personne s'en méfie The Editor Charlotte Silvera (5) 2003 Livraison à domicile Marylin's Aunt Bruno Delahaye Le passage Marion Charlotte Walior Short Drôle de genre Dominique Bazin Jean-Michel Carré TV Movie L'affaire Martial Jeanne Martial Jean-Pierre Igoux TV Movie Péril imminent Valérie Monteil Christian Bonnet TV Movie Le Camarguais Béa William Gotesman TV Series (1 Episode) Louis la brocante Mathilde Pierre Sisser TV Series (1 Episode)2004 Les parisiens Pierre's Wife Claude Lelouch (2) L'Incruste Josiane Alexandre Castagnetti & Corentin Julius Femmes de loi Eléonore Destrée Denis Malleval TV Series (1 Episode)2005 Le courage d'aimer A Spectator Claude Lelouch (3) L'antidote Nadine Marty Vincent De Brus Retiens-moi Barbara Jean-Pierre Igoux (2) TV Movie La voie de Laura Rachel Gérard Cuq TV Movie2006 Beyond the Ocean The White Éliane de Latour Les Brigades du Tigre Mademoiselle Amélie Jérôme Cornuau Camping paradis Béatrice Didier Albert TV Series (1 Episode)2007 Confidences Laurent Dussaux (3) TV Mini-Series2008 Sauvons les apparences ! Marie-Claire Nicole Borgeat TV Movie Sous le soleil Lise Hamon Adeline Darraux TV Series (2 Episodes)2009 Suite noire Jules's Mother Patrick Grandperret TV Series (1 Episode)2011 L'été des Lip Suzanne Forestier Dominique Ladoge TV Movie À dix minutes de nulle part Madame Roger-Maillon Arnauld Mercadier TV Movie Commissaire Magellan Barbara Magellan Étienne Dhaene TV Series (1 Episode) Les invincibles Savannah Pierric Gantelmi d'Ille TV Series (4 Episodes)2012 Cassos Mathilde Philippe Carrèse Par les épines Madame Rose Romain Nicolas Des arêtes dans le bifteck Marina Patricia Dinev Short Julie Lescaut Anna Jensen Christian Bonnet (2) TV Series (1 Episode) L'heure du secret Hélène Berthin Elena Hazanov TV Series (1 Episode)2013 Pauvre Richard ! Madame Pélissier Malik Chibane Les petits joueurs Guillaume Breton Short Rouge Brésil Eléonore Rouen Sylvain Archambault TV Mini-Series Myster Mocky présente Jean-Pierre Mocky TV Series (1 Episode)2014 Salaud, on t'aime Bianca Kaminsky Claude Lelouch (4) Calomnies Kenou Jean-Pierre Mocky (2) Coup de coeur Chantal Dominique Ladoge (2) TV Movie2015 Nicolas Le Floch Dame Cahuet de Villiers Philippe Bérenger TV Series (1 Episode) Le Sang de la vigne Emilie Huguenin Aruna Villiers TV Series (1 Episode) 2019 La Vertu des impondérables The Inspector Claude Lelouch 2020 Commissaire Magellan TV Series (1 Episode)2022Plus belle la vieCharlotte GauthierTV series (1 season) Juliette dans son bain Ariane Jean-Paul LilienfeldTV movie Le Principal Mrs Cebulla Chad Chenouga
Publication Frangin, Michel Lafon, 2015,
References
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