Jean-Baptiste Maunier was born on the 22nd December 1990 at Brignoles in the Var, and now lives in Sainte Foy les Lyon, a suburb of Lyon. He has a younger brother called Benjamin, aged 12, that he loves to scrap with! Jean-Baptiste said in an interview that Benjamin was a bit put out by the publicity that the success of "Les Choristes" brought his elder brother, and that he would be jealous...

Thierry, his father (a cameraman) and his mother, Muriel, try to protect him and avoid his becoming big-headed. Above all they want Jean-Baptiste to stay as he is, and not changed by his success. Muriel would also like the fans, especially the female ones, to calm down a bit, both regarding the quantity of mail and the increasing harrassment he is being subjected to. She asks us to remember that Jean-Baptiste is still very young, and that he has difficulty in managing it all. This is easy to understand! Some have even managed to get the family's home telephone number (although it had been changed and put on the restricted list), which did not please his mother at all.

Jean-Baptiste is now in Class One at Lyon.
When he entered Class Six he was asked to make a choice between various activities. He selected singing and became a member of the Petits Chanteurs de Saint-Marc, thereby following the example of his father who was himself a member of the Petits Chanteurs de Saint-Raphael. As a result he was able to develop his singing voice thanks to the help of the choirmaster, Nicolas Porte. He is pleased to have chosen singing because it enabled him to make new friends ("it's like a second family") and to travel.

It's also thanks to the choir that Jean-Baptiste was spotted for his first full-length film, Christophe Barratier's "Les Choristes".

"Les Choristes" opened in cinemas on March 17th 2004 and was agreat success, with about 8.6 million entries in France.It was distributed widely and translated into several languages. Following on from this, Jean-Baptiste and the choir took part in numerous concerts all over the world, a wave of enthusiasm being generated by the film. Jean-Baptiste left the choir in February 2005 so as to be able to devote more time to his studies, which are a priority, and to his career as an actor.

To keep a souvenir of his voice before it broke, he decided to take part = in a singing duo with Clemence Saint-Preux "Concerto for two voices", based on the "Concerto for a solo voice".

Jean-Baptiste remains very keen on the cinema!  So, in April and August 2005, he took part in a television series for France 2 directed by Herve BASLE. This film is made up of four episodes. Jean-Baptiste plays the part of Robert as a young man ( Francis Renaud takes over when Robert is older ) in a steelworks. He features in the first episode and appears in a flashback in the third episode. The film was shown on France 2 in February, and is now available as a DVD.

When the filming with Herve BASLE was over, Jean-Baptiste began filming alongside Nicolas DUVAUCHELLE and Clemence POESY in "Le Grand Meaulnes", directed by Jean-Daniel VERHAEGHE. In this film, based on the novel of the same name by Alain Fournier, Jean-Baptiste plays Francois SEUREL. The film is showing in French cinemas at the moment. Don't miss it!!

Jean-Baptiste has also done some doubling. His voice is that of Saxo in the cartoon "Piccolo, Saxo and Co." which was shown in cinemas from 20th December 2006.
Jean-Baptiste said that he enjoyed this experience, and that if another opportunity arose he would be happy to do it again.

In the summer of 2006, Jean-Baptiste acted in James HUTH's ( responsible for Brice de Nice ) new full-length film called "Hellphone", which roughly means "Le telephone maudit" in French. In this film Jean-Baptiste plays Sid, a fan of the rock group AC/DC who finds he has a mobile phone with surprising powers, and by means of which he can win over Angie (played by Jennifer DECKER). This is a completely different style for Jean-Baptiste because the film is a fantasy/comedy. Jean-Baptiste has stated that it is a "real film for the young". It's true that Hellphone is the first French film of this type. The reult is in cinemas from April 7th 2007.

At present Jean-Baptiste is engaged in the filming of  "L'Auberge Rouge" , where he is reunited with Gerard JUGNOT and joins Christian CLAVIER and Josiane BASLASKO; Gerard KRAWCZYK is the director. The release date for this film has not yet been announced.

Jean-Baptiste also takes part in charity work, such as "Les etoiles de l'Espoir". However, the best-known are "Les Enfoires". He has so far taken part in three of these - Paris in 2005, Lyon in 2006 and 2007 at Nantes. They are organised to help finance the "Restos du Coeur".

Jean-Baptiste says he likes Rock ( Linkin Park, Kyo, The Rasmus....) and dance music, but he does not really like Rap.
He is taking instruction in drumming and would like to make up a group with some of his friends later on..... As for sport, he has played tennis from the age of six, but he will have to stop because his timetable is too hectic. He attends theatre classes at his college. He also likes skateboarding, cycling and particularly football. He went to Portugal when Euro 2004 was on to take part in an after-match broadcast and also to take part in the " Etoiles de L'Espoir ".

We wish Jean-Baptiste all happiness, and success in his career as an actor.
In the hope that he won't change too much, but will stay as he is ...

Some Extras !

- Jean-Baptiste broke a toe while filming " Les Choristes".
- When " Les Choristes " was nominated for the Oscars, Jean-Baptiste was able to take part in the ceremony.
- Who hasn't dreamt of climbing the steps at the Cannes Festival? Jean-Baptiste has done it. He even attended the big preview of "Star Wars".
- Jean-Baptiste's family name is also the name of an aperitif based on the gentian plant.
- Jean-Baptiste sponsors a young boy in Bombay through a charitable association.
- Jean-Baptiste has now taken part in the "Enfoires" three times !