Julie Delpy is versatility personified

ETHAN Hawke and Julie Delpy in “Before Midnight”

The acclaimed romantic film trilogy, “Before Sunrise,” “Before Sunset” and “After Midnight,” has belatedly made a scintillating star of its female lead, Julie Delpy. Her new fans want to know more about her “back story,” to determine how, under the show biz “radar” for so many years, she developed herself into the major thespic artist she is today. Highlights of her artistic journey:

Born in France to theater director Albert Delpy and film and theater actress Marie Pillet, Julie was exposed to the arts at a very early age. She recalls that, when she was only 9 years old, she would watch the avant-garde movies of Ingmar Bergman—and absolutely loved them!

Title role

At only 14 years old, she was discovered by another iconic film director, Jean-Luc Godard, who cast her in “Detective” (1985). Two years later, Delpy played the title role in Bertrand Tavernier’s “La Passion Beatrice,” and got her first acting citation—a Cesar (French film) nomination for Most Promising Actress. —Clearly, the lovely young comer was on her way!

Following the success of her 1990 film, “Europa Europa,” Delpy appeared in some Hollywood and European films, working with well-regarded directors, like Krzystof Kieslowski on “The Three Musketeers” and Roger Avary’s “Killing Zoe.”

Delpy came into her own as a significant lead player by way of Richard Linklater’s “Before” and “After” trilogy, for which she wrote a lot of her own dialogue. Eventually, she received her first Oscar nomination for Adapted Screenplay.

‘Triple threat’

Delpy has since firmed up her reputation as a “triple threat” screen talent, winning citations and accolades as actress, scriptwriter and director. Not many stars can lay claim to that unique distinction. She made her debut as director of full-length films in 2002, by way of the production, “Looking for Jimmy,” which she also wrote and produced.

She has quietly done her “homework,” studying filmmaking at New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts, and going on to act in, script and direct more than 30 films, including “The Voyager” (1991) and “Two Days in Paris” (2007).

In 2009, Delpy starred in “The Countess”—which was also her third film as director. She played the title role and costarred with William Hurt. In 2011, Delpy wrote and directed “Le Skylab.”

Adding to Delpy’s reputation for artistic versatility is the fact that, on top of her cinematic achievements, she is also a musical artist. In 2003, she released a self-titled album, and three of its songs were used in “Before Sunset.” She also wrote the original score for “2 Days in Paris.”