Name: Mélanie Laurent
Date of Birth: February 21st, 1983
Place of Birth: Paris, France
Eye Color: Green
Hair Color: Dark Blonde
Height: 5 feet, 2 inches (1.60m)
Languages: French (native), English (learning)
Notable Accomplishments: 2007 César du meilleur espoir féminin for “Je vais bien, ne t’en fais pas”
Notable Roles: Elise ‘Lili’ Tellier, “Je vais bien, ne t’en fais pas”; Lucie Hennebelle, “La Chambre des morts”; Chloé, “Jusqu’à toi”; Shosanna Dreyfus, “Inglourious Basterds”; Anne-Marie Jacquet, “Le Concert”; Anna, “Beginners”

Mélanie Laurent was born in 1983 in Paris, France to a ballet teacher, Annick, and a voice actor, Pierre, whose notable dubbing credits included the French version of “The Simpsons”. Young Mélanie was also joined by a younger brother, Mathieu. Her formative years growing up in the 9th arrondissement of Paris were described by her as idyllic: “I had a perfect childhood. Quite simply, I was loved.”

Even though Mélanie was born into an artistic environment, it wasn’t until much later in her life that she began acting — and only by a chance encounter. In 1998, while visiting the set of “Astérix et Obélix contre César” with a friend whose father was a member of the crew, she caught the attention of Gerard Depardieu (“La Vie en rose”, “Paris, je t’aime”, “Last Holiday”). He was taken by her and offered her a role in his next film role “Un Pont entre deux rives”. Though she only played the small role of Lisbeth, it was enough to further Mélanie’s interest in acting. Depardieu also passed on key three pieces of acting advice to her, which she continued to adhere to throughout her career: don’t take acting classes, don’t learn your lines too far in advance, and never be afraid of being ridiculous.

Year 2000, at just 17 years old, Mélanie was cast as Clara in Rodolphe Marconi’s “Ceci est mon Corps”. Co-starring alongside Mélanie was Louis Garrel (“The Dreamers”) and international icon Jane Birkin. The film received much praise, after later being presented in May of 2001 at the Cannes Film Festival. The film earned a total of 10 César nominations. That very same year, Melanie obtained her baccalauréat (French secondary school diploma), option cinema. She also wrote and directed an untitled short film starrimg Louis Garrel.

Mélanie had a few other small roles, but thanks to Michel Blanc’s 2002 comedy “Embrassez qui vous voudrez”, she began to gain more recognition as an actress. She portrayed the young Carole, girlfriend to Gaspard Ulliel’s character Loïc; the pair would later work together again in Rodolphe Marconi’s 2004 drama “Le Dernier jour” in what would become both of their break out roles.

Mélanie went on to play several supporting roles in box office hits, such as Jacques Audiard’s father-son based relationship drama “De battre mon coeur s’est arrêté”. The film received much praise from audiences, earning several awards and nominations, including eight at the 2005 César Awards. Her role in the film was very small, but it was enough to open the most important door yet.

Director Phillipe Lioret, who had the opportunity to watch Mélanie in “De battre mon coeur s’est arrêté”, was so impressed by her brief performance he offered her the lead role of Elise ‘Lili’ Tellier in his upcoming film “Je vais bien, ne t’en fais pas” without an audition. Mélanie was awarded the prestigious Prix Romy Schneider in October 2006 for her compelling performance as heartbroken teenager Lili. She also received the César for ‘Most Promising Actress’ at the 2007 César Awards, which is the equivalent of the American Oscar. The film itself was also very well-received, outperforming expectations in the French box office.

2007 was Mélanie’s break-out year in the eyes of the French public, not only because of her César but because of a string of higher-profile castings. In Alfred Lot’s “La Chambre des morts”, Mélanie starred in her first thriller as Lucie Hennebelle, a rookie cop with a mysterious past. Unfortunately, reviews were mixed as audiences and critics could not find a common ground on whether or not they enjoyed the film. Despite the film’s shortcomings, Mélanie had made an impressive performance, and it earned her a nomination for Best Actress at the 2008 Lumière Awards.

Mélanie was also cast as the lead in “Jusqu’à toi”, a Franco-Canadian romantic comedy directed by Jennifer Delvodere. Mélanie played Chloé, a French business woman who falls in love with an American tourist’s luggage (played by Justin Bartha). After a variety of heavy, serious roles, Mélanie welcomed the break to play a comedic one.

2008 saw Mélanie perform as Laetitia, a seductive young student, in Cédric Klapisch’s anticipated ensemble piece “Paris”. She also graced the big screen as Stella, an escort and love interest to the main character in thriller “Le Tueur”, and filmed a role as world-class violinist Anne-Marie Jacquet for the film “Le Concert”.

Perhaps most importantly, 2008 also saw the emergence of Mélanie as a directing talent: her short film “De moins en moins” was selected as part of the official competition at the Cannes Film Festival. While she didn’t walk away with the prestigious Golden Palm, she did go on to direct pornographic short film “À ses pieds” later that year for cable television station Canal+ as part of the series “X Femmes”, an exploration of female sexuality.

While picking out lingerie for “À ses pieds”, September 2008, Mélanie received the life-changing news that Quentin Tarantino had selected her to be his female lead Shosanna Dreyfus in his upcoming WW2 epic “Inglourious Basterds.” In the whirlwind four months of shooting that followed, Mélanie learned how to operate an old-style projection booth at Quentin Tarantino’s home in Los Angeles, learned to speak moderately fluent English, and found inspiration in Quentin for her own directorial efforts.

After wrapping “Inglourious Basterds”, Mélanie finally had the chance to pursue yet another artistic ambition of hers, which was music. She recorded a cover of Barbara’s “Du bout des lèvres” for the album Madame Aime with 12 other actresses early in the year 2009, and went on that summer to record a debut album in Ireland with Damien Rice.

Mélanie was seen on the big screen in 2009 a total of four times, starting in the summer with “Jusqu’à toi” and “L’Amour caché”, both originally slated for a 2007 release, as well as — of course — “Inglourious Basterds,” which proved to be one of the biggest films of the year both in America and abroad. Finally, in November, the film “Le Concert” saw its French release met with good reviews, both for the film and for Mélanie’s performance.

While 2009 also saw Mélanie cast in another French-language production, the WW2 drama “La Rafle”, it also saw Mélanie break out as international star: she was cast in another American film, this time English-language, for Mike Mills’ (“Thumbsucker”) second feature film “Beginners”. The film will see her alongside international star Ewan McGregor speaking English for a role for the first time since 2004′s little-known “Rice Rhapsody.” “La Rafle” hit the big screen in March 2010, while “Beginners” was scheduled for release in American theaters June 2011.

Also in 2010, Mélanie expanded her acting sphere outside cinéma to include the theater in a piece called “Promenade de santé,” seen on Paris stages beginning February 2010. Her turn as depressive nymphomaniac Camille in the play earned her a nomination for the prestigious Molière Award for Best Female Newcomer. The film world was not neglected for long, however, as the year saw her filming an additional two new movies. The first is “Requiem pour une tueuse,” in which she played a female assassin named Lucrèce with a passion for the opera, and the second was “Et soudain, tout le monde me manque,” which reunited her with “Jusqu’à toi” director Jennifer Devoldère to play the daughter in a family drama.

Not content to branch out with only one new artistic endeavor, the coming year sees Mélanie’s debut as the director of a full-length film as well as a singer-songwriter. Her musical collaboration with Damien Rice finally hit shelves in spring 2011, and earlier the same year, she filmed a feature in which she is co-writer, director, as well as co-star. The film is titled “Les Adoptés” and sees her alongside Marie Denarnaud, whom she previously directed in short film “Mi-cuit coeur pistache.” It is scheduled for release in French cinemas in November 2011.

Well-known in her native France with her profile still steadily growing, the past two years have marked Mélanie Laurent as a force to be reckoned with on the international stage as well. Whether she achieves the same level of success abroad as actresses such as Marion Cotillard and Audrey Tautou remains to be seen, but it’s undeniable that Mélanie’s future looks brighter than ever, be it as an actress, singer, director, or writer. Still only in her twenties, her career climbs and and her career climbs: truly, the sky is the limit.