Childhood and youth
Marion Cotillard was born in Paris into a creative family. Jean-Claude Cotillard, the father of the future celebrity, was a mime actor and theater director who created the Cotillard family troupe. Later he taught acting at the Higher School of Dramatic Art and became the director of this institution.
Nizeema's mother Teyo is a film and theater actress, and together with her husband she taught and promoted aspiring artists. Marion is the eldest child in the family. 2 years after the birth of their daughter, Nizeema and Jean-Claude had twins Quentin and Guillaume. They also followed the path of creativity: Quentin became a sculptor, and Guillaume became a writer.
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Marion Cotillard in her youth
The girl felt confident among her family, but had difficulty finding understanding among her peers. The theater became an outlet where Marion spent a lot of time watching her mother and father rehearsing.
“I may be like this thanks to my dad and Modigliani. It was they who discovered for me the beauty created by man. I began to appreciate the abilities of the people around me. What seemed hostile suddenly became exciting. The whole world has changed for me."
The family soon moved to Orleans in central France. There Marion studied at the Victor Hugo Women's College, then at the Voltaire Lyceum, and additionally studied classical dance and vocals with private teachers. The girl graduated from high school at the Moliere School in Paris, where, in addition to the general education program, she studied acting.
After receiving her certificate, Cotillard entered the Orleans High School of Dramatic Art, which was headed by her father. On the theater stage, the actress achieved great success. She received the prestigious Tony Award for her play “Ceased Business.”
Film and theater actress, real Frenchwoman Marion Cotillard celebrates her birthday on September 30th. It was on this day that Marion was born on September 30, 1975 in the capital of France. Marion was brought up in a bohemian family: her father was the founder of the Cotillard troupe of actors, an actor and director, and her mother was a theater actress. Thus, from an early age, Marie saw the entire acting kitchen from the inside. In addition to Marion, two more younger brothers grew up in the family, who chose a creative path for themselves (writer and artist). Already at the age of six, Marion played on stage, helping her mother in performances, and also performed roles in plays that her father wrote especially for her. Marion Cotillard spent her teenage years in Orleans, where she studied at the conservatory and also attended vocal lessons. Marion Cotillard's film debut was a small role in an episode of the American television series Highlander, but this role did not bring the actress the desired fame. However, after this debut, Marion became a frequent guest on television programs; she was invited to appear in many programs and films. The lead to the big screen was Marion's participation in the film directed by Philippe Arelle. The film was called "The Boy Who Wanted to Be Kissed." Cotillard played Matilda in it.
A film breakthrough in the actress’s career can be called her performance in the action-comedy “Taxi,” directed by Girard Pires (produced by Besson). In this film, Marion got the most “delicious” female role - the bride of the main character. This action movie was a worldwide success and went down in history as the most successful French film. For this role, Cotillard was nominated for a Cesar, an honorary French film award. Although Marion Cotillard is a recognized French actress, she plays not only in French, but also in foreign films. Marion Cotillard confirmed her talent in 2008, when she played Edith Piaf herself in the famous film La Vie En Rose. A hundred actresses auditioned for the role of the great singer, but it was Cotillard who got it. It was for Piaf’s soulful performance that the actress received an Oscar as “Best Actress” and at the same time entered the history of the film awards as the second actress (the first was the Italian Sophia Loren) to receive an Oscar statuette for a role not in English.
In total, Marion managed to star in about forty films. In the near future, the fantastic film “The Dark Knight Rises” with her participation will be released. Marion Cotillard is already dating Guillaume Canet, a French actor. In 2011, the couple had a son, who was named Marcel.
Movies
The first in Marion Cotillard's filmography in 1982 was the short film "The World of Babies", followed by the popular series "Highlander" with Adrian Paul and the first leading role in the social drama "Chloe" about a restless teenager.
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Marion Cotillard and Sami Naseri in the film “Taxi”
The actress attracted the attention of movie lovers 2 years later, starring in the fantastic film comedy “The Beautiful Green” in the role of Masha. Cotillard gained fame in 1998, after the release of Luc Besson's action comedy Taxi. Marion played the girlfriend of the extravagant driver Daniel. Later, the girl starred in the sequels of the profitable franchise.
The French Academy of Arts and Film awarded the actress the title of most promising for her performance of two main roles in the film “Pretty Things.” Marion was reincarnated as twin sisters who, apart from their appearance, have nothing in common with each other. For filming, she used the vocal skills she acquired in childhood, since both characters sing according to the script.
And then the actress was overcome by apathy, tired of lightweight roles without depth. She told her agent that she was putting her career on hold, and in response received an invitation from Tim Burton to star in “Big Fish” in the company of Billy Crudup and Ewan McGregor. The fantastic tragicomedy was nominated for the BAFTA Award in 7 nominations, 4 for the Golden Globe, 2 for the Saturn, and one each for the Oscar and Grammy. But I got nothing from this entire list.
In The Long Engagement, Marion embodied the image of a prostitute obsessed with revenge for the death of the man she loved. The war film brought the actress a Cesar Award, but the lead actress Audrey Tautou only received a nomination. Time magazine recognized Cotillard's performance in the musical melodrama "Nine" as one of the 5 best female performances in 2009. The Frenchwoman's partners were Daniel Day-Lewis, Penelope Cruz, Kate Hudson, Judi Dench and Sophia Loren. For this work she was nominated for a Golden Globe.
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Marion Cotillard with a bob
Cotillard gained worldwide fame after her role as Edith Piaf in the musical drama La Vie En Rose, which is a cinematic biography of the legendary French singer. The title of the film comes from the song La Vie En Rose, which became the main composition in the performer’s repertoire. Marion dramatically and sensitively conveyed the stages of Edith Piaf's life, receiving rave reviews from film critics and an Oscar.
The 2014 Belgian film “Two Days, One Night” was able to repeat the success of this film. In this drama, Cotillard plays a stranded woman whose co-workers vote to fire her in order to receive her annual bonus. For her role as Sandra Marion, she was nominated for an Oscar and awarded the main prize of the European Film Academy.
According to the media, the actress created one of the best female images in crime cinema in the drama “Johnny D.” The girl played the mistress of Johnny Dillinger, a robber and murderer whom the FBI dubbed enemy No. 1. Her colleagues on the set were Johnny Depp, Channing Tatum, Christian Bale.
In Christopher Nolan's science-fiction thriller Inception, Marion Cotillard played the protagonist's deceased wife, who continues to haunt him in the world of dreams after her death. In the role of the spouse - Leonardo DiCaprio. The French actress also collaborated with Nolan in the superhero action film The Dark Knight Rises, which was released in 2012.
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Marion Cotillard and Leonardo DiCaprio in the film “Inception”
The comedy “Little Secrets” was shot by director and screenwriter Guillaume Canet. The heroine Marion is a mysterious and freedom-loving lady in her early 30s. With this picture, her husband competed for the European Film Awards.
In the melodrama Midnight in Paris, Cotillard starred as Pablo Picasso's muse, a charming intellectual and coquette, and in the project Rust and Bone - as a killer whale trainer who lost her legs during a performance. In the latter case, the performer deserved more than just nominations for BAFTA and Golden Globe, because “the material is frankly weak, and Marion pulled it out,” the press wrote.
In the drama "Fatal Passion" about America in the 1920s, the actress transforms into a Polish immigrant who arrived in the United States in search of a better life and faced open hostility towards foreigners.
In the tragedy "Macbeth", a film adaptation of William Shakespeare's play of the same name, Marion Cotillard played the role of Lady Macbeth, the wife of a treacherous Scottish lord who wanted to become king. The director of “Illusions of Love” Nicole Garcia is a friend of the actress.
“So we understood each other very well. Nicole knew exactly what every scene should be, down to the last detail, and I could completely rely on her opinion. I really enjoyed working with such a professional.”
Cotillard plays a psychologically complex role - a woman who is unhappy in her marriage and has invented love for herself.
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Marion Cotillard and Brad Pitt
In 2021, with the participation of the French woman, the films “Forever Young” and “The Ghosts of Ismael” are presented. The first, described by critics as a new level of the genre of satire on celebrities, was remembered by the audience, because Guillaume Canet again became the director. In this film, the spouses appear on screen in the image of themselves. In addition, the creator of the film managed to involve other actors from France, who also appeared in cameos.
In the melodrama “Angel's Face,” Marion played the mother of an 8-year-old girl, a woman of an easy disposition, constantly throwing parties and not knowing who the father of her child is. One day the heroine leaves her daughter for a man she met at another party.
“The movie is scary, visual and life-like,” this is how viewers rated the project.
The comedy drama “We Will End Together,” released in the spring of 2019, is the return of the characters from the film “Little Secrets.” The film was directed, like the first part, by Guillaume Canet, and the same acting ensemble: Marion Cotillard, Francois Cluzet and the actress’s best friend Gilles Lelouch.
The idea for the action-packed film “355” belongs to Jessica Chastain, a fan of Bond and the Jason Bourne franchise. Along with her and Marion, the main roles were played by Penelope Cruz, Fan Bingbing and Lupita Nyong'o. Their heroines are representatives of spy organizations from different countries, who have joined forces in the fight against global chaos. The numbers in the film's title are the code name of a female spy from the American Revolution, whose name is still unknown.
Actor career
The first film work for the young French beauty was the legendary French-Canadian series “Highlander” (episode “Nowhere to Run”) with Adrian Paul in the title role. In 1994, 19-year-old Marion made her feature film debut in the touching melodrama “The Story of a Boy Who Wanted to Kiss Someone” (the main female role is Matilda).
Marion Cotillard's first role in a feature film (1994)
A few months later, the actress began filming the series “The Extreme Limit,” aimed at a youth audience.
Sensual actress Marion Cotillard
In 1996, four bright films starring Marion Cotillard were released. In the drama "Chloe" she got the main role of a teenage girl who, due to a conflict with her mother, runs away to live in the slums. A, a nominee for the Palme d'Or at the 1996 Cannes Film Festival, added to Cotillard's filmography the role of a student at a Parisian university.
Marion Cotillard in his youth
The arthouse utopia “Beautiful Green,” about a girl who arrived from the distant future and knows how to “disconnect” people from the system that sucked them in, became Marion’s first serious project, which was widely heard outside of France. And finally, the last film released in 1996 with Marion’s participation was the tragicomedy “Love Must Be Invented,” a collection of film stories united by the theme of love in the era of AIDS.
Nude Marion Cotillard in the movie "Chloe"
Despite a promising start, the actress disappeared from the radar for some time. There were no new offers, with the exception of a couple of roles in short films, but success awaited Marion in the theatrical field. Thus, in 1997, her participation in the production of “Ceased Case” was awarded a number of prestigious awards.
In 1998, Marion made her triumphant return to the screens in Luc Besson's action-packed comedy Taxi. She played the role of Lily Bertino, the girlfriend of the main character - a desperate and reckless taxi driver who helps the police investigate the case of bank robbers in Mercedes.
"Taxi": Marion Cotillard as Lily Bertino
The film made a splash outside of France, grossing more than $210 million at the box office. The continuation was not long in coming - the second part of Taxi was released in 2000, and three years later the third.
In between filming Taxi, the actress appeared in the romantic comedy Love Me If You Dare and the Cesar Award-winning war drama The Long Engagement, which gave Marion the experience of working with the legendary Audrey Tautou. The success of each of these films strengthened Cotillard's popularity both in France and outside her homeland.
Marion Cotillard's height is 169 centimeters
In 2003, the Frenchwoman joined the cast of Tim Burton’s fairy-tale film “Big Fish,” which marked the beginning of the “American” stage of the actress’s career.
"Big Fish" - Marion Cotillard's Hollywood debut
In 2006, the actress starred in the film “A Good Year.” She played a Frenchwoman who won the heart of a London millionaire trader (Russell Crowe), who lays claim to a wine estate in Provence.
Still from the film “A Good Year”
In 2007, the film “La Vie En Rose” was released on screens in Europe and the United States, a biographical film about the life and work of Edith Piaf. Playing the role of an impressive compatriot, Marion Cotillard became a winner of the Golden Globe, Oscar, the main award of British cinema BAFTA, as well as the second golden Cesar in her life.
Marion Cotillard as Edith Piaf
Soon, the films “Johnny D”, “Nine”, “Inception”, “The Dark Knight Rises” appeared in Marion Cotillard’s filmography, which became real blockbusters. The famous Frenchwoman's filming partners were the first Hollywood stars - Johnny Depp, Christian Bale, Leonardo DiCaprio, Gary Oldman, Anne Hathaway.
Marion is one of the most beautiful French actresses
Marion is one of the few European actresses who managed to win an Oscar for a film in a language foreign to them: she is in the company of Anna Magnani, Penelope Cruz and Ingrid Bergman.
Marion Cotillard won an Oscar for her role as Edith Piaf
The proven actress does not waste her time on lucrative but “empty” roles. Marion prefers deep and unconventional films. This explains her participation in the films “Midnight in Paris”, “Two Days, One Night”, “Macbeth” and other extraordinary masterpieces of world cinema.
Allied premiered in November 2021. The spy thriller with elements of melodrama told the story of the love story of the English intelligence officer Max and his lover, French resistance activist Marianne.
Still from the film "Allies"
Another high-profile premiere of that year was the film adaptation of the game “Assasin's Creed”. Marion's partner this time was Michael Fassbender. She got the role of bookseller Sofia Sartor.
Assassin's Creed: Marion Cotillard and Michael Fassbender
Personal life
The personal life of the European star who conquered Hollywood is not inferior in brightness to her professional one. In the late 90s, Marion Cotillard dated French actor Julien Rassam. She later had romantic relationships with colleague Stéphane Guerin-Tilly and singer Mathieu Blanc-France (Sinclair).
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Marion Cotillard and Guillaume Canet
In 2003, on the set of the melodrama “Love Me If You Dare,” the woman met film director Guillaume Canet. After Cane managed to divorce German actress Diane Kruger, Marion began to live with him in a civil marriage. In 2008, the couple announced their engagement, but have not yet officially registered their relationship. Celebrities are raising two children – son Marcel and daughter Louise.
In September 2016, the Daily Mail reported that Marion Cotillard was dating Brad Pitt, his co-star in the thriller Allied. The reason for this was the news about the second pregnancy of a French woman. The media estimated that the child was allegedly conceived in the midst of filming. The actress herself stated that the information is not true:
“Oh, that's funny. I don't pay attention to these rumors. They have no basis. But yes, you have to make a “seam allowance,” as grandma used to say.”
The actress loves to collaborate with her favorite musicians. She starred in the video clips for The Next Day by David Bowie, The Eyes of Mars by Franz Ferdinand, More than meets the eye by the French singer Yodelice and No Reason To Cry Out Your Eyes by the Canadian rock musician Hawksley Workman.
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Marion Cotillard with his son
Marion Cotillard is an environmental activist who represents several organizations involved in the ecology of the planet, in particular Greenpeace and the World Wildlife Fund.
A movie star does not identify himself with a public image; “every fool can shine and “work his face.” That’s why on Marion’s Instagram page there are many photographs that have not been retouched or specially selected, surprising and incomprehensible, sometimes with political overtones.
The paparazzi managed to catch the actress in a swimsuit and topless, and followers who dream of seeing Cotillard naked have to be content with old photo shoots for glossy publications, however, quite chaste.
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Marion Cotillard with her daughter
Marion's figure (weight 55 kg, height 169 cm) allows her to wear clothes of any style. However, observers have noticed that for social events she prefers to wear a new look: dresses with a flared full skirt that emphasizes the waist, complemented by open shoes and laconic accessories. Therefore, the Christian Dior fashion house, which preaches femininity, chose the actress as its face. At the same time, Cotillard does not shy away from mini and futuristic designs and, like a true Frenchwoman, loves hats.
Necessary meeting
“I was afraid to be happy. When you are unhappy, you live in hope for the best. And when you feel good, you wait for something bad to happen, because happiness also cannot last forever. So by avoiding happiness, I was insuring myself against grief,” Cotillard said later. Something similar to the story with Rassam had already happened in her life: at the age of 15, Marion starred in a video for the popular group Les Wampas. This was her debut on screen. A year later, the band's guitarist Mark Pauley committed suicide, and this greatly traumatized the young girl.
After Julien's death, Marion left France for Goa. For three months. “I am familiar with the word depression. I was losing myself at that time, losing my zest for life, feeling completely empty,” said the actress. Returning home, Marion received an invitation to meet with the director of the film “Love Me If You Dare” Jan Samuel. Yang really wanted Cotillard to star in this project.
“Your partner's name is Guillaume Canet. He was once a jockey, but then he broke his back and became a director. In short, you will have something to talk about,” said Samuel Marion Cotillard.
Marion Cotillard now
In the summer of 2021, the film “Annette” became the first in the list of premieres at the Cannes Film Festival. In the project by Leos Carax, the central characters were played by Marion Cotillard and Adam Driver. The plot is tied to the difficult fate of a comedian who has lost his wife and is raising a young heiress alone.
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Marion Cotillard and Adam Driver
Initially, Rooney Mara was considered for the role of Anne, then Michelle Williams. Cotillard joined the cast in 2021. The filming, the actress shared, took place in an unusual format. This mainly affected the live performance of songs.
Usually compositions are recorded in advance. But in this musical film, Leos Carax wanted to achieve a different effect, so the actors actually sang themselves. And considering that the positions were difficult, even acrobatic, the result was quite interesting vocals.
Awards
- 2005 - Cesar Award - Best Supporting Actress, for the film "The Long Engagement"[4]
- 2008 - Oscar Award - Best Actress for the film "La Vie En Rose"
- 2008 - Golden Globe Award - Best Actress in a Comedy or Musical for the film "La Vie En Rose"
- 2008 - BAFTA Award - Best Actress for the film "La Vie En Rose"
- 2008 - Cesar Award - Best Actress, for the film La Vie En Rose[4]
- 2010 - Knight of the Order of Arts and Letters[5]
- 2014 - European Film Academy Award - Best Actress, for the film “Two Days, One Night”
- 2016 - Knight (Knight) of the Legion of Honor[6]
Nominations
- 1999 - Cesar Award - Most Promising Actress, for the film Taxi [4]
- 2002 - Cesar Award - Most Promising Actress, for the film "Pretty Things"[4]
- 2007 - European Film Academy Award - Best Actress, for the film "La Vie En Rose"
- 2008 - Screen Actors Guild Award - Best Actress for the film "La Vie En Rose"
- 2010 - Golden Globe Award - Best Actress in a Comedy or Musical for the film "Nine"
- 2013 - Golden Globe Award - Best Actress in a Drama for the film "Rust and Bone"
- 2013 - BAFTA Award - Best Actress for the film "Rust and Bone"
- 2013 - Screen Actors Guild Award - Best Actress for the film "Rust and Bone"
- 2013 - Cesar Award - Best Actress, for the film "Rust and Bone"[4]
- 2015 - Oscar Award - Best Actress for the film “Two Days, One Night”
- 2015 - Cesar Award - Best Actress, for the film “Two Days, One Night”[4]
