Leaving a National School of Theater (ENSATT) in 1993 Erik Zonca trusted him by giving him the main role of his medium length film Eternelles (Grand Prix Clermont-Ferrand 1993); For this role, he will receive the Best Actor Award at the European Short Film Festival in Brest.

That same year, he was hired by Cirque du Soleil, to replace Saltimbanco's main clown-mime noise maker in Japan. With this show he will open the European, Asian, Oceanic and South American market for the circus, providing more than 30 minutes of solo performance in about 1500 performances.

In 2002 Julien Cottereau joined the association Clowns-Without-Borders and created shows around the world (Palestine, Afghanistan, Sudan, Congo, Moldova, West Banks) in refugee camps, for children victims of war, misery and exclusion.

In 2003, he wrote as well the libretto of Opera Circus Give the fish an idea of what the water is for the company Off and participates in the staging of the show. He will be laureate of the Beaumarchais Prize "Write for the street".

Besides for the cinema he plays Haut les coeurs! (High Hearts!) by Solveig Anspach. He is rewarded with an interpretation prize at the Ghent 99 Film Festival playing Karin Viard's brother. He will again be directed by Solveig in Iceland in his film Back Soon in 2007.

In 2005, in Paris, producers saw his work at Cirque du Soleil and gave him the credits for a solo: the creation of Imagine-Toi allowed him to obtain the Molière of the male theatrical revelation in 2007, the SACD prize of the revelation young talent 2008 and a nomination at the Crystal Globes in 2009. His show is still running in France and abroad: Europe, Switzerland, Great Britain, Australia, USA, China, Brazil, New Caledonia, Czech Republic, Colombia, Chile, Canada, Flanders, South Korea, Singapore, Hong-Kong, Norway; this show did three seasons in renowned Parisian Theaters, 5 Avignon’s editions and 2 Edinburgh Fests with Assembly.

In 2011, he plays Tennessee Williams' Paradise on Earth at the Edward VII Theater (Paris) with Johnny Hallyday and Audrey Dana.

In the same year, he produced and directed his wife, Fane Desrues, in Simone de Beauvoir's Le monologue de la femme rompue, which he will rehearse the following year at the Essaion Theater in Paris and again in Avignon in 2012.

As main mime-clown he did a season at Winter Circus Bouglione in Paris in 2011, at Roncalli Apollo Theater in Düsseldorf, Theater Cinneselli (Winter Circus of St Petersburg) in a production of Cinderellaby Slava Polunin in 2015, then Circus Knie’s Salto Natale in 2016 and 2022 in the shows Luna andUtopia.

In 2013, he enriched his repertoire by creating with Fane Desrues his second solo Lune Air plus The Little Prince of Saint-Exupéry in 2014 with the Jàtékok Piano Duetists Naïri Badal and Adélaïde Panaget; this original creation between theater, mime, sound and classical music has been played at Marigny’ Studio on the Champs-Elysées from the 10th to 31rst of December 2018.

In the meantime, Julien assembled two of his show to produce White Card to Julien Cottereau, that is still touring through the world.

In 2018, he also collaborated with Catherine Germain (clown Arletty) and the violin’s Master, Gidon Kremer to write and perform Con Amore, which toured several European classical music festivals.

Afterwards in 2019, he produced, co-wrote and performed aaAhh Bibi, presented at the Avignon festival, plus in Paris in Lucernaire and Tristan Bernard Theaters.

And later in the year created and performed several times with Anna Mihalcea Cinecitta (directed by Serge Nicolaï) dedicated to Fellini and Nino Rota, Cinecitta for the National Orchestra of Ile-de-France.

His latest creation with Fane Desrues is A Fleur de Mots, a show which they performed together for the Avignon Festival 2022 then again at the Théâtre La Luna for Avignon 2023.

Actually on tour with his shows, he was at the Théâtre National La Criée last January in the latest creation by François Cervantès (Cie L'Entreprise) Le repas des gens with which he will repeat the 2024 edition of the Avignon Festival at the Théâtre des halles this saison.

He has been chosen to represent France and the Mime tradition at The International Day of Theater’s Gala, organised by Unesco in Fhang-Zhang (China) in march 25.

He will be playing next The 20th Aniversary of his first solo IMAGINE-TOI at Avignon Festival 2026.