Jean-Baptiste Maunier

Jean-Baptiste Maunier (born December 22, 1990) is a French actor and singer. He is best known for his role in the 2004 French film Les Choristes. Jean-Baptiste Maunier was born to Thierry Maunier, a cameraman, and Muriel Maunier. He has a younger brother, Benjamin. His father sang in a well-known church choir (Les Petits Chanteurs de Saint Marc). Jean-Baptiste attended a Roman Catholic school in Lyon, France. He studied at the Lee Strasberg Institute in New York between 2008 and 2009 to perfect his acting and English, returning to France to sing in Les Enfoirés charity concerts. Maunier gained fame for his starring role in the 2004 French film Les Choristes, in which he plays Pierre Morhange, a delinquent with an exceptional singing voice at the correctional school Fond de L'Étang. Christophe Barratier, the director of Les Choristes, chose Maunier because "he had the right look" and a marvellous voice. He was also exceptionally appealing for the role. Following the release of the film, Maunier and the choir took part in numerous concerts all over the world, including Japan and Canada. In February 2005, he left the choir in order to devote more time to his studies and to his acting career. In April and August 2005, he took part in a four-episode television series for France 2, Le Cri, playing a young steelworker. The series was released in 2006. Maunier appears in Le Grand Meaulnes (2006) as Francois Seurel. In Piccolo, Saxo et compagnie (2006), an animated film, he lent h…