Related to famous Québécois strongman, Louis Cyr, Geneviève Bujold was raised by strict Roman Catholic French-Canadian parents who sent her to a convent school for her full twelve years of education. She disliked her school and its strict discipline and escaped the bleak world she was raised in to pursue a career in acting.

Dramatically trained at Montreal's Conservatory of Dramatic Art, she got her big break while on tour with a theatrical company in Paris, France when prominent French director Alain Resnais selected her for a role opposite Yves Montand in La guerre est finie (1966). This led to her staying in France for a time where she made more films with noted French directors such as Louis Malle.

Bujold appeared in a variety of film roles for Canadian and U.S. television earning a 1967 Emmy Award nomination for her performance as Joan of Arc in an NBC "Hallmark Hall of Fame" presentation. That year, she married director Paul Almond with whom she had a son. In 1968, she was awarded the Prix Suzanne Bianchetti as the most promising young actress in French film and starred in Isabel, directed by her husband.

In 1969, she starred opposite Richard Burton in the film, Anne of the Thousand Days. For her powerful performance, she won the Golden Globe Award for Best Actress in a motion-picture drama as well as a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Actress.

Her considerable acting skills had the media touting her to become one of the brightest stars but Bujold's temperament led to run-ins with her employer Universal Studios and she walked away from her contract, resulting in a lawsuit (which was settled by her appearing in the 1974 film "Earthquake"). In the ensuing years she gave many sterling performances but never reached the heights to which many believed were possible.

In 1995, she signed to play the lead character Nicole Janeway in the American television series Star Trek: Voyager. However, she dropped out after filming just a few scenes of "Caretaker", the series' first episode, stating that the work schedule was too demanding. Kate Mulgrew replaced her and the character's name was changed to Kathryn Janeway.

Geneviève Bujold continues to work in film, primarily with independent production companies.