Biography

Xavier's mother is Canadian, and is of three quarters French-Canadian and one quarter Irish descent (the surname "Dolan" is Irish). Xavier's father is Egyptian, from Cairo.

Used to write fan letters as a child to actors Leonardo DiCaprio, Kate Winslet, Susan Sarandon, Danny DeVito, Jennifer Aniston, singer Céline Dion, the cast from Buffy the Vampire Slayer (1997), the cast from Roswell (1999), and the casts from Charmed (1998) and Smallville (2001). None of them wrote back to him.

During his childhood he was a fan of Titanic (1997), had posters of the movie in his bedroom and even wrote a letter to Leonardo DiCaprio when he was 8 years old. He also stated that "Titanic" had an incredible impact on his life and career path and that Kate Winslet inspired him to become an actor, a director, and a costume designer after seeing her in the film. He also had a cat named Jack Dawson like DiCaprio's character in the film.

Often casts Anne Dorval and Suzanne Clément in his films. And often works with cinematographer André Turpin.

In an interview for Vanity Fair in 2015, Dolan said he has a "mega crush" on Marion Cotillard and a special connection with her. Dolan directed Cotillard in the film It's Only the End of the World (2016). In a 2017 interview for Konbini's "Fast & Curious", Cotillard said that Dolan is like her little brother.

[on directing oneself in a film] I don't want to be brash, but you just do it. It's not complicated. I love it. I sit down on the chair to do the scene, and then I get up, ask for the playback. And if it's bad it's bad. If it's good it's good. I won't hesitate a second if it's bad.

For me, hipsterism is for one to appropriate the codes of a social class or another milieu that wasn't theirs originally, in order to define their personality through something different and unique. Which is why a lot of hipsters live downtown and they're dressed as farmers. Then you have the Oscar Wilde hipster: the dandy. But pushed to the extreme. The edge. People are costumed. Its a disguise or something. For me, thats a sign of a loss of people believing in themselves, and of self-confidence.

Even the characters that seem so far away intellectually or socially, for me, when they speak, it will always be my words.

I was a very violent kid. I think movies and writing and art have been a way of channeling this.

I've been recording forever. I'm a watcher. I'm a stalker. I love everything about people. It's always been a passion for me to observe.