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Sophie Marceau (IPA: [sɔfi maʁso]) (born November 17, 1966) is a French actress. She has worked in international films such as Braveheart and The World Is Not Enough.

Biography

Early life

Sophie Marceau was born Sophie Danièle Sylvie Maupu, the second child of Benoît and Simone Maupu. Her father, Benoît, a veteran of the Algerian War, worked as a truck driver, painter, and bartender; her mother, Simone, was a demonstrator in department stores. Her brother Sylvain is three years older.^{citation needed}

Career

Marceau started her career at 14 when Claude Pinoteau cast her in the starring role of the teenager movie La Boum (1980).

The family lived a working class life that left Marceau with generally fond memories of childhood. During the week, she helped at the family restaurant. She spent weekends with her family in La Cabane, a small house in Vert-le-Petit in the Essonne.

Her parents divorced when she was nine.^[1] Marceau enjoyed school but not studying, although liked reading Molière.^{citation needed}

She collected stray and abandoned animals with her older brother. She had a dog named Scotch, a cat called Bidule and adopted a German shepherd at the Société de Protection des Animaux.^{citation needed}

Discovered

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 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.^{citation needed}

Marceau was called back to read for director Claude Pinoteau, who was won over by her "surprising simplicity". Filming began on July 17 and finished in time for her school's fall term. After viewing the rushes, Alain Poiré, the director of the Gaumont Film Company, signed Marceau to a long-term contract. Before the film opened, Marceau changed her name following her agency's advice. She chose "Marceau" to retain her initials.^{citation needed}

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.^{citation needed}

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.^{citation needed}

Early film career

In 1982, at the age of 16, Marceau bought back her contract with Gaumont for one million French francs. She borrowed most of the money. In 1983, Marceau received the César Award (France's equivalent of an Oscar) for Most Promising Actress.^{citation needed}

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 Best Romantic Actress at the International Festival of Romantic Movies for her role in Chouans.^[2]

In 1989, she starred in Mes nuits sont plus belles que vos jours (My Nights are more Beautiful than your Days), which was directed by her long-time boyfriend Andrzej Zulawski. In 1990, she starred in Pacific Palisades and La Note Bleue, her third film directed by her companion. In 1991, she ventured into the theater in Eurydice, which earned a Marceau a Moliere Award for Most Promising Newcomer.^[2]

Marceau began making less-dramatic films, such as the comedy Fanfan in 1993 and La Fille de D'Artagnan in 1994 — both popular in Europe and abroad. That year, she returned to the theatre as Eliza Dolittle in Pygmalion.^[2]

International success

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 1997, Marceau continued with William Nicholson's Firelight, filmed in England, Véra Belmont's Marquise, filmed in France, and Bernard Rose's Anna Karenina.

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 2000, Marceau teamed up again with her then-boyfriend Andrzej Zulawski to film La Fidélité.^[2]

Author and director

In 2001, Marceau wrote a semi-autobiographical novel, Telling Lies, in which the narrator is a beautiful actress who is confident in her beauty and talent and yet insecure. The unnamed narrator takes the reader into a world of memories, fantasies, and impressions, but never reveals herself completely. Marceau describes what the narrator is going through:

It's the day of separation, and from that second she realises she has gone, like an everyday lifetime with memories coming back. Because she's in the middle of something new that hasn't been yet, and something done already. How time can be elastic; how it can betray you, be capricious and play with you.^[3]

Marceau produced an exploration of female identity.^[1]

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. It was her second effort at directing (she made the nine-minute short film L'Aube à l'envers in 1995, which also starred Godrèche).^{citation needed} Entering an award ceremony (Cannes, 2005), the shoulder strap on Marceau's dress fell off, exposing what was still considered "the perfect bosom".^[4]

Personal life

Marceau married director Andrzej Żuławski, who is 26 years her senior. Their son Vincent was born in June 1995. In 2001, Marceau separated from Zulawski and became involved with producer Jim Lemley and later gave birth to her second child, Juliette, born in London in 2002. In 2007, French newspapers and magazines reported that Marceau was dating Christopher Lambert, with whom she acted in La Disparue de Deauville.^{citation needed}

Filmography

Actress

• La Boum (The Party) (1980) – Victoire Beretton
• La Boum 2 (1982)
• Fort Saganne (1984) – Madeleine de Saint-Ilette
• Joyeuses Pâques (Happy Easter) (1984) – Julie
• L'Amour braque (Mad Love) (1985) – Mary
• Police (Police) (1985) – Norya
• Descente aux enfers (Descent Into Hell) (1986) – Lola Kolber
• L'Étudiante (The Student) (1988) – Valentine Ezquerra
• Chouans ! (1988) – Céline
• Mes nuits sont plus belles que vos jours (My Nights are more Beautiful than your Days) (1989) – Blanche
• Pacific Palisades (1990) – Bernadette
• Pour Sacha (For Sacha) (1991) – Laura
• La Note bleue (The Blue Note) (1991) – Solange Sand
• Fanfan (Fanfan & Alexandre) (1993) – Fanfan
• La Fille de d'Artagnan (The Daughter of D'Artagnan) (1994) – Eloïse d'Artagnan
• Braveheart (1995) – Princess Isabelle
• Beyond the Clouds (Al di là delle nuvole) (1995)
• Anna Karenina (1997) – Anna Karenina
• Marquise (1997, by Véra Belmont) – Marquise du Parc
• Firelight (1997, by William Nicholson) – Élisabeth Laurier
• Lost & Found (1999) – Lila Dubois
• A Midsummer Night's Dream (1999) – Hippolyta
• The World Is Not Enough (1999) – Elektra King
• La Fidélité (Fidelity) (2000) – Clélia
• Belphégor – Le fantôme du Louvre (Belphegor, Phantom of the Louvre) (2001) – Lisa
• Alex and Emma (2003) – Polina Delacroix
• Je reste! (2003) – Marie-Dominique Delpire
• Les clefs de bagnole (The Car Keys) (2003)
• A ce soir (2004) – Nelly
• Anthony Zimmer (2005) – Chiara Manzoni
• La Disparue de Deauville (2007) – Lucie/Victoria
• Les Femmes de l'Ombre (2008)

Writer and Director

• L'Aube à l'envers (short film) (1995)
• Speak to Me of Love (2002)

References

External links

• Sophie Marceau at the Internet Movie Database