Antoine Monnier

Antoine Monnier is a former French actor whose debut film was also his last. But calling him an actor is a bit of a stretch; Monnier was chosen to portray a leading role by Robert Bresson--best known for such landmark films as 1959's "Pickpocket" and 1967's "Mouchette"--in the director's 1977 award-winning character study, "The Devil, Probably," because of his lack of acting experience. Though another actor had already cast, when Bresson saw Monnier, he decided that the teenager was the only person who could play the film's lead. "He was not very interested in how I spoke but that I was not afraid of what I was saying, also that I was not afraid of the camera," recalled Monnier of his screen test. (The original actor apparently was intimidated by being filmed.) Monnier played Charles, a young intellectual who, after searching for a shred of meaning in his life, concludes that suicide is the best alternative. The film's minimalistic style and lack of traditional acting was praised by critics, and it earned the Silver Bear at the 1977 Berlin International Film Festival, among other accolades. Monnier, who had been irked that filming Bresson's movie disrupted his summer plans, never acted again.