Jean-Baptiste Maunier (born December 22, 1990), nicknamed JB or Jean-Bapt is a French actor and singer.
Maunier was born to Thierry Maunier, a cameraman, and Muriel Maunier, and has a younger brother Benjamin. His father used to sing in a well-known church choir, "Petits Chanteurs de Saint-Raphael", which may have partly inspired Maunier in his own singing career. Maunier attended a private Catholic school in Lyon, France, and now lives with his family in Sainte-Foy-lès-Lyon, a suburb of Lyon. He is 1.73m.
Maunier is not married.
Maunier gained fame for his starring role in the 2004 French film Les Choristes, in which Maunier 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, Maunier left the choir in order to devote more time to his acting career and, more importantly, his studies. He was tutored during the film process, and he has stated that if his career as an actor ever interfered with his studies, school would come first.
In April and August 2005, he took part in a four-episode television series for France 2 directed by Hervé Baslé, Le Cri. In the series, Maunier plays the part of a young worker in a steelworks. The series was released in 2006.
Maunier appears in Le Grand Meaulnes, a film directed by Jean-Daniel Verhaeghe, based on a novel of the same name by Alain Fournier. Maunier plays Francois Seurel in this film, which was first released in October 2006.
In Piccolo, Saxo et compagnie, released in December 2006, an animated film about musical instruments and notes on an adventure, Maunier lent his voice to the character Saxo.
In the summer of 2006, Maunier acted in Hellphone, a full-length film directed by James Huth. In this film, Maunier plays the role of Sid, a fan of the rock group AC/DC who finds he has a mobile phone with surprising powers. The film was released in March 2007.
His most recent film is L'Auberge rouge, directed by Gérard Krawczyk, an adaptation of the 1951 version. Maunier stars as Octave. It opened in theaters in France on December 5th, 2007.
Upon entering collège, Maunier was asked to make a choice between various activities. He chose singing and became a member of Les Petits Chanteurs de Saint-Marc (full name is "La Chorale des Petits Enfants De Saint-Marc"). In the choir, he was tutored by the choirmaster, Nicolas Porte, and learned to develop his singing voice.
In Les Choristes, the film that made him widely famous for his exceptional singing skills, both Maunier's solo and the chorus of "Les Petits Chanteurs de Saint-Marc" are featured on the original soundtrack.
In 2005, to keep a souvenir of his voice before it broke, Maunier decided to sing with Clémence Saint-Preux in her single Concerto pour deux Voix, which was in turn an adaptation of Concerto pour une voix.
While Maunier's vocal career is on hold for now, since 2005 he has participated in Les Enfoirés, a choir of notable singers and performers in France that periodically performs charity concerts.
