The Rise and Rise of Matthias Schoenaerts

Over the past two years Matthias Schoenaerts has become one of Hollywood’s hottest properties. In 2014 Schoenaerts came to the fore as the lead romantic interest in a number of feature dramas. Now, in the thick of 2015, he stars opposite Kate Winslet in Alan Rickman’s A LITTLE CHAOS, on digital platforms from 10th August and Blu-ray and DVD from 24th August, courtesy of Lionsgate Home Entertainment.

2014 was without doubt Matthias Schoenaerts’ year. Starring in several films throughout the year, Schoenaerts gained recognition as one of the most talented actors in the business, eliciting comparisons to such greats as Marlon Brando. The Belgian had great successes in The Drop, Suite Française and Far from the Madding Crowd, not to mention Jacques Audiard’s Rust and Bone, for which Schoenaerts won the César Award for Most Promising Actor in 2013.

One performance that has gone under the radar was Schoenaerts’ role of Filip in Erik Van Looy’s Loft (2008), which became the most successful Flemish film at the Belgian-box office, earning over £7 mil. In 2014, Erik Van Looy re-made his film, now titled The Loft, with an English speaking cast consisting of James Marsden, Karl Urban, Wentworth Miller and Schoenaerts retaining his role as Phillip, in which he shone once again.

After an impressive 2014 Schoenaerts’ Hollywood stock has risen and he is now widely recognised as one of the most talented leading men in the industry. Most recently his brooding on-screen presence lent itself beautifully to the role of French architect André Le Notre in Alan Rickman’s A Little Chaos. When brilliantly talented landscape gardener Madame Sabine De Barra (Kate Winslet – Labor Day, Revolutionary Road) finds herself an unlikely candidate for landscape architect of the still‐to-be-completed Palace of Versailles, she is thrown into the bewildering world of the court of King Louis XIV (Alan Rickman – Lee Daniels’ The Butler, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows). Matthias Schoenaerts plays Le Nôtre, Sabine’s employer. She has little time for the classical, ordered designs of the famous architect Le Nôtre, but as she works on her creation, she finds herself irresistibly drawn to him, while attempting to negotiate the perilous rivalries and intricate etiquette of the court. A wonderfully sumptuous drama set in some of the most stunning gardens in Europe, A Little Chaos boasts an all-star supporting cast, which includes Stanley Tucci (The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 1, The Devil Wears Prada), Helen McCrory (Skyfall, Being Jane), Jennifer Ehle (The King’s Speech, TV’s Pride and Prejudice) and Rupert Penry-Jones (Match Point, TV’s Persuasion).

In his teen years, Schoenaerts appeared in stage productions opposite his actor father, Julien Schoenaerts. He continued gracing the stage until he made his first film debut at the age of 15 in the 1992 Belgian film Daens, which was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film that year.

Schoenaerts’ bilingualism allowed his career to flourish into the film industries of France, England, the US and the Netherlands as well as his native Belgium. Some of his most notable international credits include Linkeroever (Left Bank), Pulsar, and De Bende Van OSS (The Gangs of OSS). In the states, Schoenaerts has appeared alongside Hollywood superstars; Clive Owen and Billy Crudup in the thriller Blood Ties as well as Tom Hardy and James Gandolfini in The Drop.

Last year Schoenaerts’ enchantingly sculpted features graced not only the silver screen but magazine covers and advertising boards all over the world as he became the face of Louis Vuitton’s 2014 Menswear. The magazine introduced a new series, “Desert Philosophies” in which Schoenaerts travels in style while showcasing the brand’s timeless and iconic collection.

In the upcoming year, Schoenaerts will play William Clark in an HBO miniseries Lewis and Clark, co-starring Casey Affleck with a supporting cast of Tom Hanks, Edward Norton and Brad Pitt. He will also be starring in A Bigger Splash, opposite Tilda Swinton, Dakota Johnson and Ralph Fiennes, about love, jealousy and desire.