---
name: "Irène Jacob"
canonical: "https://film.one/person/irene-jacob"
fi1m_id: "irene-jacob"
imdb_id: "nm0001393"
tmdb_id: 1350
wikidata_id: "Q230659"
roles: ["Actor"]
born: "15 July 1966"
reviewed_on_fi1m: 4
average_fi1m_score: 86
average_as: "actor"
average_over: 4
updated: "2026-09-17T19:39:06.145133+00:00"
licence: "© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL."
---

# Irène Jacob

## Identity

Irène Jacob

- **Canonical:** https://film.one/person/irene-jacob
- **Type:** Person
- **Fi1m ID:** irene-jacob
- **IMDb ID:** nm0001393
- **TMDB ID:** 1350
- **Wikidata ID:** Q230659
- **Same entity:** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ir%C3%A8ne_Jacob, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q230659, https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0001393/, https://www.themoviedb.org/person/1350

Actor. Born 15 July 1966 in Suresnes, Hauts-de-Seine, France.

## Details

- **Work:** Actor
- **Born:** 15 July 1966, Suresnes, Hauts-de-Seine, France
- **Active:** 1987–2018
- **Also known as:**  Irene Jacob, Iren Zhakob, ایرن ژاکوب
- **Frequently works with:** [Krzysztof Kieślowski](https://film.one/person/krzysztof-kieslowski.md), [Krzysztof Piesiewicz](https://film.one/person/krzysztof-piesiewicz.md)
- **Cannes Film Festival:** 1 Cannes prize (1 won)
- **Average Fi1m score:** 86, as actor, over 4 titles
- **Fi1m score by decade:** 1980s 90 (1), 1990s 88 (2), 2010s 78 (1)
- **Fi1m against the critics:** 86 to 81 across 4 titles
- **Score spread:** 3 at 80+, 1 at 60–79, 0 under 60
- **Lead roles:** 2 of 2 acting credits billed first or second
- **Genres:** Drama 4, Fantasy 1, Mystery 1, Romance 1, War 1
- **Screen time:** 5 hours of reviewed films
- **Box office:** $11m across 3 films with figures
- **Elsewhere:** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ir%C3%A8ne_Jacob, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q230659, https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0001393/, https://www.themoviedb.org/person/1350

## Streaming the US now

- **HBO Max:** [*Three Colors: Red*](https://film.one/film/three-colors-red.md) (90)
- **The Criterion Channel:** [*The Double Life of Véronique*](https://film.one/film/the-double-life-of-veronique.md) (86)

For United States; add `?region=XX` for another country.

## Fi1m on Irène Jacob

> Irène Jacob makes kindness look like something a person has to work at. Her quiet, attentive performances suit Kieślowski’s films particularly well; in *Three Colours: Red*, she gives a carefully arranged story someone we can believe in.

In *Three Colours: Red* (1994), Irène Jacob’s Valentine gives the reclusive judge her attention without surrendering her own concerns. There is concentration in her kindness, and no expectation that we should applaud her merely for being good. Her openness keeps the encounter approachable even when Jean-Louis Trintignant makes the man opposite her forbidding. We rate this performance so highly because Valentine stays interesting without having to become less decent.

Her first film part was a piano teacher in Louis Malle’s *Au revoir les enfants* (1987). The international breakthrough came with Kieślowski’s *The Double Life of Véronique* (1991), playing Weronika and Véronique. Her ability to convey emotional uncertainty with little dialogue made her well suited to his films, and *Red* was their second collaboration. She then moved into English-language work as Desdemona in *Othello* (1995) and Marie in *U.S. Marshals* (1998). She also continued to work in European films and theatre.

The friendship in *Red* depends on Jacob resisting the easy version of this part. A model who befriends a withdrawn judge could become little more than a reward for his suffering, and she keeps Valentine’s separate life in view. We were moved by their encounters because she remains a person with needs of her own, while Trintignant makes the difficulty of caring about somebody else visible. The film can be insistent about its coincidences; Jacob gives us a person worth following through them.

Piotr Sobociński’s cinematography sometimes pulls our attention elsewhere, using colour, camera movement and the placement of actors to make us inspect an encounter closely. Claude Lenoir’s production design encourages the same scrutiny, and the care is occasionally distracting. We find ourselves examining the surroundings for meaning when the two actors already have enough happening between them. Start with *Red*, and watch Jacob as closely as the film invites us to watch its carefully arranged surroundings.

## Biography

Irène Jacob is a French-Swiss actress. Born on 15 July 1966 in Suresnes, France, she was raised in Geneva, Switzerland, where she attended the Geneva Conservatory of Music and made her stage debut at the age of 11. She later studied at the Drama Studio in London.

She gained international recognition for her performances in Krzysztof Kieślowski's *The Double Life of Véronique* (1991), for which she received the Cannes Film Festival Award for Best Actress, and *Three Colors: Red* (1994). Other film credits include *Au Revoir les Enfants* (1987), *The Secret Garden* (1993) and *U.S. Marshals* (1998). She has also appeared in television series including *The Affair* (2014) and *The OA* (2016).

*Sources: en.wikipedia.org, imdb.com.*

## On Fi1m (4)

- *Patrick Melrose* (2018), Fi1m 78, as Jacqueline D'Alantour — [page](https://film.one/tv/patrick-melrose.md)
- *Three Colors: Red* (1994), Fi1m 90, as Valentine — [page](https://film.one/film/three-colors-red.md)
- *The Double Life of Véronique* (1991), Fi1m 86, as Weronika / Véronique — [page](https://film.one/film/the-double-life-of-veronique.md)
- *Au Revoir les Enfants* (1987), Fi1m 90, as Ms. Davenne, Piano Teacher — [page](https://film.one/film/au-revoir-les-enfants.md)

## Complete filmography (83)

Every credit, newest first. Titles without a page can be requested for review on the HTML page.

- *The Road to Jericho* (2026), Actor
- *Maigret and the Dead Lover* (2026), as Louise Maigret
- *Log Out* (2025), series, as Josèphe
- *Golem in Pompei* (2025), Actor
- *A Private Life* (2025), as Vera
- *La Vie Pathé-Baby* (2025), as (Voix)
- *Why War* (2025), Actor
- *Who by Fire* (2024), as Hélène Falke
- *Meeting with Pol Pot* (2024), as Lise Delbo
- *Hôtel Silence* (2024), as Kristina
- *Shikun* (2024), Actor
- *Le Voyage en pyjama* (2024), as Florence
- *Liaison* (2023), series, as Sophie Saint-Roch
- *Septième Ciel* (2023), series, as Isabelle Rotanger
- *Cherchez la femme !* (2022), series, as (voice)
- *Villa Caprice* (2021), as Nancy Fontaine
- *Les Dominos* (2020), as Irène
- *Romantic Guide to Lost Places* (2020), as Brigitte
- *The Scientific Proof of the Existence of God* (2019), as Christine
- *For the Ones We Loved* (2019), as Eliane
- *Letter to Theo* (2019), as Narrator (voice)
- *Patrick Melrose* (2018), series, as Jacqueline D'Alantour — Fi1m 78, [page](https://film.one/tv/patrick-melrose.md)
- *Tales of Mexico* (2017), as Ángela
- *Angela Merkel, une histoire allemande* (2017), as Narrator
- *13 Summers Underwater* (2017), Actor
- *Two Snails Set Off* (2017), as (voice)
- *Home Away From Home* (2017), as Writer
- *The OA* (2016), series, as Elodie
- *Eternity* (2016), as Mère de Gabrielle
- *Sayonara* (2015), Actor
- *Capitaine Marleau* (2015), series, as Sœur Maryse, Elisa
- *Ella Maillart: Double Journey* (2015), as Ella Maillart (voice)
- *Paris, Love, Cut* (2015), as Chloé Artaud
- *The Easy Way Out* (2015), as Mathilde
- *Dying of the Light* (2014), as Michelle Zuberain
- *François Truffaut l'insoumis* (2014), as Narrator (voice)
- *The Affair* (2014), series, as Juliette Le Gall
- *We Love You, You Bastard* (2014), as Printemps Kaminsky
- *Les enfants rouges* (2014), Actor
- *The Lanzac Clan* (2013), as Valérie Lanzac
- *La solitude du pouvoir* (2012), as Laurence
- *Rio Sex Comedy* (2010), as Irène
- *Déchaînées* (2009), as Aurore
- *The French Kissers* (2009), as La mère d'Aurore
- *The Dust of Time* (2008), as Eleni
- *Fallen Heroes* (2008), as Anne
- *The Inner Life of Martin Frost* (2007), as Claire Martin
- *The Education of Fairies* (2006), as Ingrid
- *Battle of the Brave* (2004), as Angélique de Roquebrune
- *Autumn* (2004), as Michelle
- *The Pornographer: A Love Story* (2004), as Anna
- *Nés de la mère du monde* (2003), as Clara Sidowski
- *The Legend of Princess Parva* (2003), as Parva's Mother (voice)
- *Letter from an Unknown Woman* (2002), as Rose
- *The Landlords* (2002), as Julie
- *Four Play* (2001), as Fiona Delgrazia
- *The Marcorelle Affair* (2000), as Agneska
- *Spy Games* (1999), as Natasha Scriabina / Anna Belinka
- *My Life So Far* (1999), as Aunt Heloise
- *The Big Brass Ring* (1999), as Cela Brandini
- *American Cuisine* (1998), as Gabrielle Boyer
- *U.S. Marshals* (1998), as Marie
- *Incognito* (1997), as Prof. Marieke van den Broeck
- *Victory* (1996), as Alma
- *Othello* (1995), as Desdemona
- *All Men Are Mortal* (1995), as Regina
- *Beyond the Clouds* (1995), as The Girl
- *Runaways* (1995), as Prune
- *Three Colors: Red* (1994), as Valentine — Fi1m 90, [page](https://film.one/film/three-colors-red.md)
- *Enak* (1993), as Lucielle Spaak
- *The Prediction* (1993), as Ludmila Egorova
- *The Secret Garden* (1993), as Mary's Mother / Lilias Craven
- *Claude* (1992), as Beatrice de Lucio
- *Le Moulin de Daudet* (1992), as Mme Daudet
- *The Secret of Sarah Tombelaine* (1991), as Sarah
- *The Double Life of Véronique* (1991), as Weronika / Véronique — Fi1m 86, [page](https://film.one/film/the-double-life-of-veronique.md)
- *Errors of Youth* (1989), as Anne
- *Gang of Four* (1989), as Marine
- *Au Revoir les Enfants* (1987), as Ms. Davenne, Piano Teacher — Fi1m 90, [page](https://film.one/film/au-revoir-les-enfants.md)
- *Alice*, series, as Mariette Guy
- *The Prominents*, as Janot Blum
- *The Custom of the Country*, Actor
- *Sans cesse mon chéri*, Actor

## Gallery

- ![Irène Jacob](https://film.one/media/person/79632/gallery-cd2503cd43fd.jpg) Irène Jacob — Georges Biard, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons (https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/1c/Ir%C3%A8ne_Jacob_Deauville_2017.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail_unscaled)
- ![Irène Jacob](https://film.one/media/person/79632/gallery-5f9e8989c8e3.jpg) Irène Jacob — Image via TMDB
- ![Irène Jacob](https://film.one/media/person/79632/gallery-1470eafbe191.jpg) Irène Jacob — Image via TMDB
- ![Irène Jacob](https://film.one/media/person/79632/gallery-486967275fb6.jpg) Irène Jacob — Image via TMDB
- ![Irène Jacob](https://film.one/media/person/79632/gallery-8eaabfa57c9b.jpg) Irène Jacob — Image via TMDB
- ![Irène Jacob](https://film.one/media/person/79632/gallery-e324d4b6e341.jpg) Irène Jacob — Image via TMDB
- ![Irène Jacob](https://film.one/media/person/79632/gallery-a878d3977475.jpg) Irène Jacob — Image via TMDB

## Awards

### Cannes Film Festival — 1 won

- 1991: Best Actress (won), for *The Double Life of Véronique*

### Other awards — 3 won, 2 nominated

- Officer of Arts and Letters 2022: Officer of Arts and Letters (won)
- Officer of the National Order of Merit 2019: Officer of the National Order of Merit (won)
- Knight of the National Order of Merit 2009: Knight of the National Order of Merit (won)
- César Award for Best Actress 1995: César Award for Best Actress (nominated), for *Three Colours: Red*
- César Award for Best Actress 1992: César Award for Best Actress (nominated), for *The Double Life of Véronique*

*From Wikidata, which records wins more completely than nominations.*

---
© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL. Canonical: https://film.one/person/irene-jacob