Sophie Marceau is a French actress who has appeared in films such as Braveheart and The World is Not Enough.
She was born on November 17, 1966 in Paris. At age 14, she was entered by her mother to a modeling agency, despite thinking that nothing will come out of it. However, casting director Françoise Menidrey chanced upon her and consequently cast her in the teenager movie La boum. The film was a success not only in France, but also notably in Italy and Japan. A year later, she made her singing debut with the song “Dream in Blue,” with François Valery, and released her only album, Certitude, in 1985.
Marceau won the César Award—France’s equivalent to the Oscars—for Most Promising Actress in 1983. After finishing La boum 2 in 1982, she focused on dramatic roles, in films such as 1984’s Joyeuse pâques, 1985’s L’amour braque, and 1986’s Descente aux enfers. Other French films she appeared in are L’etudiante in 1988; Chouans! in 1988; Mes nuits sont plus belles que vos jours in 1989; La note bleue in 1990; Fanfan in 1993; and La fille de d’Artagnan in 1994. She has also appeared on stage plays.
In 1995, Marceau was cast as Princess Isabelle in the Mel Gibson historical epic Braveheart. She became more popular with international audiences through two films in 1999: A Midsummer Night’s Dream, where she played Hippolyta, and the James Bond film The World is Not Enough, where she played Bond girl Elektra King.
Marceau wrote a semiautobiographical novel, Telling Lies, in 2001. The story’s narrator is an unidentified successful actress who is insecure despite her talents. The following year, she had her directorial debut with the film Speak to Me for Love, which was premiered at the Montreal World Film Festival. She was awarded Best Director for the film.
