Martin Provost, born May 13, 1957 in Brest, is a French film director and writer.
Born in Brest, he dreamed of becoming a filmmaker, but his father, a naval officer, advised him against trying the IDHEC (Institut des hautes études cinématographiques) because of his deplorable level in all scientific subjects, which at the time were required in the entrance exam. He decided to become an actor, which he thought would keep him away from his vocation for a while, but would prove to be very formative.
At eighteen, he left for Paris and entered the Cours Simon.
He soon landed his first role, in 1976, in Nelly Kaplan's Néa, then, in 1977, as Philippe de Plessis-Vaudreuil in Robert Mazoyer's saga Au plaisir de Dieu, adapted from Jean d'Ormesson's best-selling novel; but, strongly attracted by the theater, he wrote his first play, Le Voyage immobile, which he performed with Yann Collette at the Studio d'Ivry in 1980, directed by Antoine Campo.
Noticed by Philippe Adrien, he joined the Comédie-Française as a trainee, playing Valère in Le Médecin volant. Jean-Pierre Vincent took him on as a boarder. He acted in several plays with him, including Macbeth, (Cour d'Honneur at the Avignon Festival, role of Rosse), Nikolaï Erdman's Le Suicidé (Odéon, role of the deaf mute), and also worked with Jacques Lassalle, Alain Françon and others. Les Poupées, his second play, was read at the Chapelle Sainte-Claire in Avignon by Denise Gence, then premiered at the TEP Page d'aide sur l'homonymie [pas clair] in 1992.
