Niels Schneider

Niels Schneider is a French-Canadian actor who gained prominence through his roles in early films directed by Xavier Dolan. Born in Paris, France, on June 18, 1987, he later obtained citizenship in Canada. Throughout his career, he has spent the majority of his time living and working out of Paris.

Schneider grew up as the second of five boys in a family connected to the arts. His father, Jean-Paul Schneider, worked as an actor, while his mother, Isabelle Schneider, was a model. His paternal grandmother was a Russian Jewish immigrant who fled to France with her family during the Russian Revolution in 1920. At the age of nine, Schneider moved with his family to Montreal. He eventually started his acting career by working in voice-over roles.

Tragedy struck the family on September 8, 2003, when his 17-year-old eldest brother, actor Vadim Schneider, died in a road accident alongside co-star Jaclyn Linetsky while traveling to the set of the television series 15/Love. His three younger brothers—Aliocha, Volodiya, and Vassili Schneider—also became actors.

Schneider achieved his breakthrough role in Xavier Dolan's 2009 directorial debut feature, I Killed My Mother. He earned further international recognition the following year by starring in Dolan's second film, Heartbeats (2010). Schneider's performance in the 2016 film Dark Inclusion marked another significant career milestone, earning him widespread industry attention.

Throughout his career, Schneider has received several major honors. In 2011, he was awarded the Trophée Chopard for Male Revelation of the Year at the Cannes Film Festival. For his performance in Dark Inclusion, he won the César Award for Most Promising Actor in 2017. Later, in 2019, he was named a Knight of the Order of Arts and Letters in France.

In addition to his early film work, Schneider has appeared in various television and cinema productions. He starred in Xavier Giannoli's 2023 television series Of Money and Blood. Between 2023 and 2024, he filmed a two-part biographical film about Charles de Gaulle, portraying General Leclerc.

In his personal life, Schneider is an atheist. Since 2017, he has been in a relationship with actress Virginie Efira, with whom he shared the screen in An Impossible Love (2018) and Sibyl (2019). The couple resides in the 11th arrondissement of Paris and had a son named Hiro on August 28, 2023. In June 2024, Schneider signed a petition urging French President Emmanuel Macron to officially recognize the State of Palestine.