Sophie Marceau

SOPHIE MARCEAU

Date of Birth: November 17, 1966

Sophie grew up in the Paris suburb of Gentilly with her working-class parents. When she was 14, she heard that Claude Pinoteau (a French movie director) was looking for new faces for a movie called La Boum, and she went to the audition and got a role in the film, which turned out to be a great success. The sequel, La Boum 2 (1982), won her the 1983 César for Most Promising Actress.

As she matured on-screen, her public image changed from the French cinema's little sweetheart to the lovely seductress. This was aided in part by an almost annual series of articles on her by the French magazine Paris Match , as well as the sultry sexiness early adulthood brought her.

She has since become one of the most popular and respected actresses in her own country -- though she is still not a global star. In the early 1990s, Marceau decided to take the international road, leaving the French film industry behind. Her role in Braveheart was her first English-speaking part. Asked why he chose Sophie for the character of Princess Isabelle, Mel Gibson replied: "Well, she's beautiful, she's French and she's a good actress. The character needed to be at least two of those things."

Sophie turns a critical eye towards the French Cinema: "It's great that American cinema poses such a threat. In France we have all these pseudo-auteurs who don't have a new idea in their heads." Although she has a Hollywood agent, she is not tempted to move to Los Angeles and play the Hollywood system.

In spring 1995 she directed her first film, L'aube à l'envers, an eight-minute short based on a screenplay she wrote while filming Braveheart. It was well received at the 1995 Cannes Film Festival.

On July 24th 1995, Sophie had her first child, a boy named Vincent with Andrzej Zulawski, a Polish director 24 years her senior. The relationship fell apart however, and in 2002, she had a daughter with producer Jim Lemley.

As an outspoken opponent of blood sports, Sophie protests against pastimes such as dove-shooting in the Gironde and bull-fighting in Provence. "I detest all forms of violence. For me, the toreador who tortures the bull loses his dignity as a man. One cannot respect life and approve of this game of death." She used to own an antique farmhouse in Seine-et-Marne, but left it for good after her cats were shot by hunters and one of her dogs was stolen.

Sophie is also a patron of Arc-en-Ciel ("Rainbow"), an organization which helps sick children realize their dreams.

Filmography

Je reste! (2003)
Alex & Emma (2003)
Belphégor - Le fantôme du Louvre (2001)
La Fidélité (2000)
The World Is Not Enough (1999)
Lost & Found (1999)
Fidélité, La (1999)
Franck Spadone (1999)
A Midsummer Night's Dream (1999)
Marquise (1997)
Anna Karenina (1997)
Firelight (1997)
Par-delà les nuages (1995)
Braveheart (1995)
Faire un film pour moi c'est vivre (1995)
Fille de d'Artagnan, La (1994)
Fanfan (1993)
Note bleue, La (1991)
Pour Sacha (1991)
Pacific Palisades (1990)
Mes nuits sont plus belles que vos jours (1989)
Étudiante, L' (1988)
Chouans! (1988)
Descente aux enfers (1986)
Police (1985)
Amour braque, L' (1985)
Joyeuses Pâques (1984)
Fort Saganne (1984)
Boum 2, La (1982)
Boum, La (1980)