Most famous French film actresses – Part One

• Emmanuelle Béart (born on 14th August, 1965 in Saint Tropez):

She started acting in 1976 but achieved fame 10 years later in the very famous film “Manon des Sources“, in which she played with famous French actor Yves Montand. For her performance, she won the 1987 César Award for “Best Supporting Actress”. She also won a “Best Actress” award at the Moscow International Film Festival for her starring role in the 1995 film, “A French Woman”.

In addition to her award for Best Supporting Actress, she has also been nominated for 6 César Awards for Best Actress in the following performances:
1985 — A Strange Passion
1986 — Love on the Quiet
1990 — Children of Chaos
1992 — The Beautiful Troublemaker
1993 — A Heart in Winter
1996 — Nelly and Mr. Arnaud
2001 — Les Destinées

Filmography:
- Tomorrow’s Children (1976)
- First Desires (1983)
- A Strange Passion (1984)
- Love on the Quiet (1985)
- Manon des Sources (1986)
- Date with an Angel (1987)
- Door on the Left as You Leave the Elevator (1988)
- Children of Chaos (1989)
- The Voyage of Captain Fracassa (1990)
- La Belle Noiseuse (1991)
- Le bateau de Lu (1991)
- A Heart in Winter (1992)
- La Belle Noiseuse: Divertimento (1992)
- Rupture(s) (1993)
- L’Enfer (1994)
- Nelly and Mr. Arnaud (1995)
- A French Woman (1995)
- Le dernier chaperon rouge (1996)
- Mission Impossible (1996)
- Stolen Life (1998)
- Don Juan (1998)
- In Search of Lost Time (1999)
- Elephant juice (1999)
- Season’s Beatings (1999)
- Les Destinées (2000)
- Fortune Tellers and Misfortune (2001)
- Replay (2001)
- 8 Women (2002)
- Searching for Debra Winger (2002)
- The Story of Marie and Julien (2003)
- Nathalie… (2003)
- Strayed (2003)
- A boire (2004)
- Un fil à la patte (2005)
- Hell (2005)
- A Crime (2005)
- The Witnesses (2007)

A few extracts from the famous movie “Manon des sources” on Youtube:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gFxRMXRyeUk

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VPfNigUBzEI

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lt2PTiIs5Tw
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9o6i8cozZsg
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eOG8NQOLCIU
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zS_8ROtKTU0&feature=related

• Sophie Marceau (born on 17th November, 1966 in Paris)

She has worked in international films such as Braveheart and The World Is Not Enough.
In February 1980, Marceau and her mother came across a model agency looking for teenagers. Marceau had photos taken at the agency but did not think anything would come out of it. At the same time, Françoise Menidrey, casting director for Claude Pinoteau’s La Boum, asked modeling agencies for a new teenager. A month after her photo session, Marceau was invited to audition to finally won the casting.
La Boum was a hit not only in France, where 4.5 million tickets were sold, but in Italy, Japan and elsewhere. Marceau, 14, posed for magazine covers, gave interviews and made commercials for the soap Lux Beauté, which made her a star in Japan.

In 1981, Marceau made her singing debut with French singer François Valéry on “Dream in Blue,” written by Delanoë. In 1985, she recorded her only album Certitude, which contained nine songs written by Étienne Roda-Gil and composer Franck Langolff.
In 1983, Marceau received the César Award (equivalent of the French Oscar) for “”.
After starring in the sequel film La Boum 2 in 1982, Marceau focused on more dramatic roles, including Fort Saganne (co-starring Gérard Depardieu and Catherine Deneuve) and Joyeuse Pâques (Happy Easter) in 1984, L’Amour Braque and Police in 1985, and Descente aux Enfers (Descent Into Hell) in 1986. In 1988, she starred in L’Etudiante (The Student) and Chouans!. That year, Marceau was named “” at the International Festival of Romantic Movies for her role in Chouans.

In 1995, Marceau achieved international recognition as Princess Isabelle in Mel Gibson’s Braveheart. That year, she was part of an ensemble of international actors in the French film directed by Michelangelo Antonioni and Wim Wenders, Beyond the Clouds.
In 1999, two films defined her as an international star. For A Midsummer Night’s Dream, she played Hippolyta. That same year, she became a Bond girl by playing Elektra King in The World Is Not Enough.
In 2002, Marceau made her directorial debut in the feature film Speak to Me of Love for which she was named Best Director at the Montreal World Film Festival. The film starred Judith Godrèche.
Filmography:
- La Boum (The Party) (1980)
- La Boum 2 (1982)
- Fort Saganne (1984)
- Joyeuses Pâques (Happy Easter) (1984)
- L’Amour braque (Mad Love) (1985)
- Police (1985)
- Descente aux enfers (Descent Into Hell) (1986)
- L’Étudiante (The Student) (1988)
- Chouans ! (1988)
- Mes nuits sont plus belles que vos jours (My Nights are more Beautiful than your Days) (1989)
- Pacific Palisades (1990)
- Pour Sacha (For Sacha) (1991)
- La Note bleue (The Blue Note) (1991)
- Fanfan (Fanfan & Alexandre) (1993)
- La Fille de d’Artagnan (The Daughter of D’Artagnan) (1994)
- Braveheart (1995)
- Beyond the Clouds (Al di là delle nuvole) (1995)
- Anna Karenina (1997)
- Marquise (1997, by Véra Belmont)
- Firelight (1997, by William Nicholson)
- Lost & Found (1999)
- A Midsummer Night’s Dream (1999)
- The World Is Not Enough (1999)
- La Fidélité (Fidelity) (2000)
- Belphégor – Le fantôme du Louvre (Belphegor, Phantom of the Louvre) (2001)
- Alex and Emma (2003)
- Je reste! (2003)
- Les clefs de bagnole (The Car Keys) (2003)
- A ce soir (2004)
- Anthony Zimmer (2005)
- La Disparue de Deauville (2007)
- Les Femmes de l’Ombre (2008)

Writer and Director:
- L’Aube à l’envers (short film) (1995)
- Speak to Me of Love (2002)

• Josiane Balasko (born on 15th April, 1951 in Paris)

She is a very famous French actress, writer and director.
One of Balasko’s most recognized roles among English speakers is as a lesbian in 1995′s Gazon maudit (French Twist). She won the 1996 César Award (shared with Telsche Boorman) for best writing for this film, for which she was also nominated as best director. The movie itself was nominated for best film.

Balasko’s other César nominations for “Best actress” were for Trop belle pour toi (1989), Tout le monde n’a pas eu la chance d’avoir des parents communistes (1993), Cette femme-là (2003).
She is married to George Aguilar, who is also an actor.
Filmography: (it speaks more than everything!)
- Ruby Blue (2007)
- Les Bronzés 3: amis pour la vie (2006)
- La Vie est à nous! (2005)
- J’ai vu tuer Ben Barka (2005)
- L’Ex-femme de ma vie (2004)
- Madame Edouard (2004)
- Cette femme-là (2003)
- Le Raid (2002)
- Absolument fabuleux (2001)
- Un crime au paradis (2001)
- Les Acteurs (2000)
- Le Libertin (2000)
- Le Fils du Français (1999)
- Un grand cri d’amour (1998)
- Arlette (1997)
- Didier (1997)
- Gazon maudit (1995)
- Grosse fatigue (1994)
- Tout le monde n’a pas eu la chance d’avoir des parents communistes (1993)
- L’Ombre du doute (1993)
- Ma vie est un enfer (1991)
- Les Secrets professionnels du Dr Apfelglück (1991)
- Trop belle pour toi (Beautiful for You) (1989)
- Sans peur et sans reproche (1988)
- Une nuit à l’Assemblée Nationale (1988)
- Les Keufs (1987)
- Les Frères Pétard (1986)
- Nuit d’ivresse (1986)
- Sac de noeuds (1985)
- Tranches de vie (1985)
- La Vengeance du serpent à plumes (1984)
- La Smala (1984)
- P’tit con (1984)
- Signes extérieurs de richesse (1983)
- Papy fait de la résistance (1983)
- Jacques Dutronc, la nuit d’un rêveur (1982) (TV)
- Père Noël est une ordure, Le (1982)
- Hôtel des Amériques (1981)
- Maître d’école, Le (1981)
- Les Hommes préfèrent les grosses (1981)
- Clara et les Chics Types (1981)
- Les Bronzés font du ski (1979)
- Les Héros n’ont pas froid aux oreilles (1979)
- Les Bronzés (French Fried Vacation) (1978)
- La Tortue sur le dos (1978)
- Si vous n’aimez pas ça, n’en dégoûtez pas les autres (1978)
- Pauline et l’ordinateur (1978)
- Les Petits câlins (1978)
- Nous irons tous au paradis (We Will All Meet in Paradise) (1977)- L’Animal (1977)
- Dites-lui que je l’aime (1977)
- Monsieur Papa (1977)
- Herbie Goes to Monte Carlo (1977)
- Solveig et le violon turc (1977)
- Le Locataire (The Tenant) (1976)
- Une fille unique (1976)
- L’An 01 (1973)
- L’Agression (1973)
A few extracts from the movie “Les bronzés font du ski”:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Eq2wtFWbJLc
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ujgyGlT18AE
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O-a52UqZAwk&NR=1

• Marie-Anne Chazel (born on 19th September, 1952 in Gap, Hautes-Alpes)

She is a very famous French actress, movie director and occasional screenwriter, who has been active in both film and television since 1974.
From 1967 Chazel studied in the Pasteur high school in Neuilly-sur-Seine, alongside Michel Blanc, Gerard Jugnot, Thierry Lhermitte and Christian Clavier. After the achievement of her high school diploma (baccalaureat) and two years of studies in political sciences, the comrades decided to form a theatrical troop in 1974. All of them became very famous in France through the movie Les Bronzés (1978) directed by Patrice Leconte in which Chazel is playing the character of Gigi.
She also achieved great success for her role as Ginette in Les Visiteurs (1993).
Chazel was married to actor Christian Clavier, but divorced recently.
Filmography:
1975 : Le Bol d’air de Charles Nemes
1976 : L’Aile ou la Cuisse de Claude Zidi
1976 : Cours après moi que je t’attrape de Robert Pouret
1976 : On aura tout vu de Georges Lautner
1977 : Vous n’aurez pas l’Alsace et la Lorraine de Coluche et Marc Monnet
1977 : Le Point de mire de Jean-Claude Tramont
1978 : Le Coup de sirocco d’Alexandre Arcady
1978 : La Tortue sur le dos de Luc Béraud
1978 : Les Bronzés de Patrice Lecomte
1978 : Les héros n’ont pas froid aux oreilles de Charles Nemes
1979 : Les Bronzés font du ski de Patrice Lecomte
1980 : Viens chez moi, j’habite chez une copine
1981 : Fais gaffe à la gaffe! de Paul Boujenah
1981 : L’Année prochaine… si tout va bien
1981 : Les Babas cool
1981 : On n’est pas des anges… elles non plus
1982 : Le Père Noël est une ordure de Jean-Marie Poiré
1984 : Tranches de vie de François Leterrier
1984 : L’Amour en douce d’Edouard Molinaro
1986 : La Gitane de Philippe de Broca
1986 : La Vie dissolue de Gérard Floque de Georges Lautner
1988 : Mes meilleurs copains de Jean-Marie Poiré
1989 : Fantômes sur l’oreiller (TV)
1992 : Vacances au purgatoire (TV)
1993 : Les Visiteurs
1994 : Grosse Fatigue de Michel Blanc
1994 : La Vengeance d’une blonde de Jeannot Szwarc
1996 : Les Sœurs Soleil de Jeannot Szwarc
1998 : Les Couloirs du temps : Les visiteurs 2 de Jean-Marie Poiré
2004 : Au secours, j’ai 30 ans !
2006 : Les bronzés 3, amis pour la vie de Patrice Leconte
A few extracts from the movie “Les bronzés font du ski”:

http://fr.youtube.com/watch?v=LflIhLoYyRU
http://fr.youtube.com/watch?v=0-BrALG2lfU
http://fr.youtube.com/watch?v=2ysRXC-D8Kg
http://fr.youtube.com/watch?v=ujgyGlT18AE
http://fr.youtube.com/watch?v=4c3W0yZ3_E0

• Isabelle Adjani (born on 27th June, 1955 in Paris)

She is a four-time César Award-winning and two-time Academy Award-nominated French film actress and singer. She has Algerian-German parentage and performs in her native French, English, and German. Adjani has a record of four César Awards for “Best Actress”.

In 1981, Adjani received the Cannes Film Festival’s best actress award for the Merchant Ivory film Quartet based on the novel by Jean Rhys, and for the horror film Possession. The following year, she received her first César Award for Possession, in which she portrays a frustrated woman going mad. In 1983, she won the César, for her depiction of a vengeful woman in the French blockbuster One Deadly Summer.

Filmography:
- 1970 Le Petit bougnat
- 1972 Faustine et le bel été
- 1974 La Gifle
- 1975 The Story of Adele H. (Best Actress Oscar nomination)
- 1976 The Tenant
Barocco
- 1977 Violette & François
- 1978 The Driver
- 1979 Nosferatu the Vampyre
The Bronte Sisters
- 1981 Clara et les Chics Types
Possession
Quartet
L’ Année prochaine… si tout va bien
- 1982 Tout feu, tout flamme
Antonieta
-1983 Mortelle randonnée
L’ Été meurtrier
- 1985 Subway
- 1986 T’as de beaux escaliers tu sais
- 1987 Ishtar
- 1988 Camille Claudel (Best Actress Oscar nomination)
- 1993 Toxic Affair
- 1994 La Reine Margot
- 1996 Diabolique
- 2002 La Repentie
Adolphe
- 2003 Bon voyage
Monsieur Ibrahim et les fleurs du Coran

• Valérie Lemercier (born on 9th March, 1964 in Dieppe)

She is a famous French actress, film director and singer. She won twice the César Award for “Best Supporting Actress”; in 1994 for her role in “Les Visiteurs” and in 2005 for “Fauteuils d’orchestre”.

Lemercier started her career in the serial “Palace”. People love her sense of humor, which is very sarcastic and bold!

Filmography:
-1988 Palace by Jean-Michel Ribes (TV serial)
-1990 Milou en mai by Louis Malle
-1990 Après après-demain by Gérard Frot-Coutaz
-1991 L’Opération Corned-Beef by Jean-Marie Poiré
-1992 Le Bal des casse-pieds by Yves Robert
-1992 Sexes faibles! by Serge Meynard
-1993 Les Visiteurs by Jean-Marie Poiré
-1994 La Cité de la peur by Alain Berbérian
-1994 Casque bleu by Gérard Jugnot
-1995 Sabrina by Sydney Pollack
-1997 Quadrille (realized by Lemercier herself)
-1999 Le Derrière (realized by Lemercier herself)
-1999 Tarzan
-2002 Vendredi soir by Claire Denis
-2004 RRRrrrr!!! by Alain Chabat
-2004 Narco by Tristan Aurouet and Gilles Lellouche
-2005 Palais Royal ! (realized by Lemercier herself)
-2005 Fauteuils d’orchestre by Danièle Thompson
-2006 Le Héros de la famille by Thierry Klifa
-2007 L’Invité by Laurent Bouhnik
-2008 Musée haut, musée bas by Jean-Michel Ribes
-2008 Agathe Cléry by Etienne Chatiliez
Director:
- 1997 Quadrille
- 1999 Le Derrière
- 2005 Palais Royal !
Discography:
- 1996 Valérie Lemercier sings (Tricatel)
- 2006 J’ai un mari (with Pascale Borel) (Pschent)
- 2007 Pourquoi tu t’en vas ? (with Christophe Willem) (Vogue)
- 2007 Pierre et le Loup
- 2007 Le Coup de soleil (with Vincent Delerm)
A few extracts from the movie “Les visiteurs”:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=12GGZiScVVM&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WBgcCSgePu0&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bJZ9JC-d1Us&NR=1
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9HrS3OAU4_k
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RtX9E233Cmc&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b4Em1JNzRME&feature=related

• Marion Cotillard (born on 30th September, 1975 in Paris)

She is a French actress who has appeared in over fifty films in France. Cotillard won her second César Award, the BAFTA, the Golden Globe, Czech Lion, and the Academy Award for “Best Actress” for her role as French singer Édith Piaf in “La Vie En Rose”.
After a few roles on television, her career as a film actress began in the mid-1990s with small but noticeable roles. She rose to prominence in the late 1990s when she was cast in the Luc Besson production Taxi (1998) as Lili Bertineau, a minor role that she reprised in three sequels.

She was chosen by director Olivier Dahan to portray the iconic French singer Édith Piaf in the biopic La Môme (English title: La Vie En Rose) before he had even met her, saying that in the eyes of Édith Piaf he noticed a similarity with Marion’s own. Producer Alain Goldman accepted and defended the choice even though distributors TFM reduced the money they gave to finance the film thinking Cotillard wasn’t good enough. Her portrayal was widely praised, including by the eminent theatre director Sir Trevor Nunn, who described it as “one of the greatest performances on film ever.” It was dubbed “the most awaited film of 2007” in France, where some critics said that she had reincarnated Édith Piaf to sing one last time on stage.

On February 10th, 2008, Cotillard became the first French actress to be awarded the BAFTA Award for “Best Actress” in a leading role since the BAFTAs in 1969 combined the Best British and Best Foreign actress award into one Best Actress category. She is also the first actress to be nominated for an Academy Award for a French language performance since Catherine Deneuve for Indochine in 1992. She is the first actress to win a Golden Globe for a foreign language performance since 1972, when Liv Ullmann won for The Emigrants. She is also the very first person to win a (Comedy or Musical) Golden Globe for a foreign language performance. As La Vie En Rose was also a Czech production (as she mentioned in her César acceptance speech), Marion Cotillard was nominated for the Czech Lion for “Best Actress in a Leading Role” on February 21st.
On February 22nd, 2008 she was awarded the César Award for “Best Actress”, and two days later she received the Academy Award for “Best Actress”. After Simone Signoret in 1959, Marion Cotillard is the second French cinema actress to win an Academy Award for “Best Actress”, though French expatriate Claudette Colbert was given an Oscar in 1934. She is the first Best Actress winner in a non-English language performance since Sophia Loren’s win in 1961. She is also the first and so far only winner of an Academy Award for a performance in the French language. In her Oscar acceptance speech, Cotillard proclaimed “thank you life, thank you love” (allegedly a reference to one of Piaf’s songs) and, speaking about Los Angeles, said “it is true, there are some angels in this city!”

Filmography:
- 1994 L’Histoire du garçon qui voulait qu’on l’embrasse (The Story of a Boy Who Wanted to Be Kissed)
- 1996 Comment je me suis disputé (ma vie sexuelle) (My Sex Life… or How I Got Into an Argument)
- 1996 La Belle Verte
- 1998 Taxi
- 1998 La Guerre dans le Haut Pays (War in the Highlands)
- 1999 Furia
- 1999 Du Bleu jusqu’en Amérique (Blue Away to America)
- 2000 Taxi 2
- 2001 Lisa
- 2001 Les Jolies choses (Pretty Things)
- 2002 Une affaire privée (A Private Affair)
- 2003 Taxi 3
- 2003 Love Me If You Dare
- 2003 Big Fish
- 2004 Innocence
- 2004 A Very Long Engagement (French title: Un long dimanche de fiançailles)
- 2005 Cavalcade
- 2005 Edy
- 2005 Ma vie en l’air (Love is in the air)
- 2005 Mary
- 2005 Sauf le respect que je vous dois (Burnt Out)
- 2005 La Boîte noire (The Black Box)
- 2006 Toi et Moi (You And Me)
- 2006 Dikkenek
- 2006 Fair Play
- 2006 A Good Year
- 2007 La môme (La Vie en rose, Édith Piaf, Life in Pink, The Little Girl, The Passionate Life of Édith Piaf)
- 2009 Public Enemies
- 2009 Nine
A few extracts from Taxi 1:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3b_a6PazdaA&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SGpNWeSST-A&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GItYzPGTVW8&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2BFX0MkiFCw&NR=1

• Alexandra Lamy (born on 14th October, 1971 in Alès, Gard)

Alexandra Lamy with husband and actor Jean Dujardin.

Alexandra Lamy is a famous French actress. She achieved fame in the TV serial “Un gars, une fille“(A guy, a girl) in which she plays the role of “Alex” alias “Chouchou“. In that serial, she can’t stop fighting with her boyfriend “Jean” alias “Loulou”. 486 episodes were released from October 1999 to June 2003. After a rocky start, it went on to become a success and garnered around 5 million viewers each day, that is to say a third of the people watching television at that timeslot in France.