Jules Benchetrit Siblings: A Look at the Actor’s Family Tree
Actor Jules Benchetrit PHOTO/Getty Images
Jules Benchetrit is a French actor born on April 17, 1998, in Paris, into a prominent family deeply rooted in the world of cinema.
As the son of acclaimed director and writer Samuel Benchetrit and the late actress Marie Trintignant, Jules grew up surrounded by the artistry and challenges of the entertainment industry.
His maternal grandparents, Jean-Louis Trintignant and Nadine Trintignant, were iconic figures in French film—Jean-Louis a legendary actor known for roles in films like A Man and a Woman, and Nadine a pioneering director and screenwriter.
Tragedy marked Jules’s early life when he lost his mother at the age of five; Marie Trintignant died in 2003 from injuries sustained during a violent altercation with her then-partner, the musician Bertrand Cantat.
Raised primarily by his father in a blended family environment, Jules pursued studies in photography at the Lycée Brassaï in Paris before fully committing to acting.
Siblings
Jules comes from an expansive blended family; from his mother Marie Trintignant’s previous relationships, Jules shares half-siblings with three older brothers, Roman Kolinka, born in 1986 to drummer Richard Kolinka, who has pursued acting and now runs a restaurant in Paris; Paul Cluzet, born in 1993 to actor François Cluzet, an emerging actor following in his father’s footsteps; and Léon Othnin-Girard, born in 1996 to theater technician Mathias Othnin-Girard, who maintains a lower profile away from the spotlight.
On his father’s side, Jules has a younger half-sibling, Saül Benchetrit, born in 2005 to Samuel Benchetrit and actress Anna Mouglalis; Saül, identifying as non-binary and using they/them pronouns, is an aspiring actress with a budding interest in performance arts.
The family’s dynamics expanded further in 2018 when Samuel Benchetrit married singer and actress Vanessa Paradis, making Jules the stepbrother to Paradis’s children from her previous relationship with Johnny Depp, Lily-Rose Depp, a model and actress born in 1999, and Jack Depp, born in 2002, a musician.
Career
Benchetrit’s screen debut came early, at age 10, in the 2008 short film Chez Gino, directed by his father Samuel Benchetrit, where he portrayed the child version of the protagonist played by José Garcia.
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This familial collaboration set the tone for much of his early work, as he reunited with Samuel for small but poignant roles in Asphalte (2015), a Cannes-selected ensemble drama featuring Isabelle Huppert and Ariane Bazin, and later in the play-turned-film Cette musique ne joue pour personne (2021), where he embodied the introspective Rudy alongside Vanessa Paradis and Gustave Kervern.
Stepping beyond family projects, Jules appeared in Lisa Azuelos’s romantic drama Une rencontre (2014), sharing scenes with Sophie Marceau and François Cluzet, which marked his first major non-familial credit.
His breakthrough arrived in 2018 with the lead role of Mathieu, a prodigiously talented yet troubled pianist from a disadvantaged background, in Ludovic Bernard’s inspirational drama Au bout des doigts.
The performance showcased his raw emotional depth and musical authenticity, earning widespread praise and propelling him into the spotlight.
Continuing his ascent, Jules collaborated with Palme d’Or winner Jacques Audiard in the vibrant, César-winning Les Olympiades (2021), portraying the enigmatic David in a segment of the anthology exploring modern Parisian life.
More recently, he featured in the thriller Le grand carnage (2022) and the biographical miniseries Bardot (2023), playing a young photographer opposite a cast depicting the singer’s early years.
Accolades
Benchetrit’s portrayal in Au bout des doigts catapulted him into the 2019 César Awards nominations, where he was pre-selected among 17 male revelations for the Most Promising Actor category.
This nod placed him alongside peers like his half-sister Lily-Rose Depp and half-brother Roman Kolinka, underscoring the family’s artistic legacy.
Earlier, in 2016, Jules received a pre-nomination in the same category for his work in Asphalte, signaling industry scouts’ early investment in his potential.
Beyond the Césars, his contributions to Les Olympiades contributed to the film’s sweep at the 2022 Césars, including Best Film and Best Director, though Jules himself was not individually honored.
Critical acclaim has followed suit, with outlets like Elle and Gala praising his natural intensity and poise, often comparing his understated charisma to his mother’s.