Biography

BIOGRAPHY

Janine Piguet is an actress and director from Bern. She grew up in a family of musicians in Arzo on the Italian border, then in Paris and London. She is best known as an actress for her lead role as Bibi in Jean-François Amiguet’s feature film, for which she received several awards in 2022 and 23. She has appeared in a number of feature films before that, including Magga Ettori’s Faeryland, in which she starred alongside Yves Duteil, Plonk et Replonk’s last film in 2021, and shorter appearances in Léa Fazer’s Sasha, J.L. Chautems’ Chroma and Bertrand Bonello’s Yves Saint Laurent. She is also currently appearing in the series I-art (Cannes séries 2021), and in Thierry Pradervand’s film Lost in my heart, in which she plays a melancholic jazz singer.

She trained at Les Enfants Terribles in Paris, then at the European Act program from the RADA and the Actors’ Center in London and lately at the Tankstelle in Berlin. She is particularly fond of Meisner and emotional techniques. Quadrilingual, she performs in theatre and films in German, Swiss-German, French, Italian and English. She regularly sings in films, plays and musicals (DESIREE, September 2023).

PERSONAL BIOGRAPHY

Passionate about theatre and film, I’m lucky enough to work in these fields as an actress, producer and director. I’m a member of the Swiss Film Academy, where I take part in nominations and elections for the Swiss Film Prize, and it’s always a joy to discover the work and talent of my peers. My acting range is vast: from Sleeping Beauty to Gollum, everything is imaginable, except Barbie. I often have the impression that I exist fully between “action” and “cut”, as if the moments on stage or in front of the camera were more intense than the rest. Perhaps time passes more slowly? In my work, I’m whole, flexible and communicative, and I pay a lot of attention to understanding what directors and writers want to convey. As a producer, I like to support films with social themes. As well as film and theatre, I’m interested in music; I play the piano and sing. Biology, and botany in particular, has always had a strong influence on me. I pay close attention to each plant and its relationship with other animals in the streets of the towns I walk through, as well as on my many international trips.