**Jean-Pierre Léaud** (Paris, May 28, 1944) is a French actor, an icon of the Nouvelle Vague. His career is inextricably linked to François Truffaut, who cast him at the age of twelve as Antoine Doinel in *Les Quatre Cents Coups* (*The 400 Blows*, 1959). He then reprised the role of Doinel in four subsequent Truffaut films, creating one of the most memorable characters in French cinema.

Léaud was also Jean-Luc Godard's favored actor, appearing in films such as *Masculin Féminin* (*Masculine Feminine*, 1966) and *La Chinoise* (*The Chinese Woman*, 1967). His acting style, often described as natural, spontaneous, and slightly awkward, made him the embodiment of the rebellious and melancholic youth of an entire generation. Beyond the Nouvelle Vague, he worked with international directors such as Bernardo Bertolucci (*Last Tango in Paris*) and Aki Kaurismäki, maintaining his status as a legend of auteur cinema.