Léa Seydoux
Léa Hélène Seydoux-Fornier de Clausonne (French: [le.a sɛ.du] ⓘ; born 1 July 1985) is a French actor.[2] Prolific in both French cinema and Hollywood, she has received various accolades including five César Award nominations, two Lumières Awards, the Palme d'Or, a BAFTA Award nomination, and the Trophée Chopard Award. In 2016, Seydoux was honoured with the Chevalier of the Order of Arts and Letters.[3] In 2022, the French government made her a Knight of the Legion of Honour.
Léa Seydoux
She began her acting career with her film debut in Girlfriends (2006) with early roles in The Last Mistress (2007) and On War (2008). She won acclaim for her French roles in The Beautiful Person (2008), Belle Épine (2010), and Farewell, My Queen (2012). During this time she expanded her career appearing in supporting roles in high-profile Hollywood films, including Quentin Tarantino's Inglourious Basterds (2009), Ridley Scott's Robin Hood (2010), Woody Allen's Midnight in Paris (2011) and the action film Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol (2011).
Her breakthrough role came with the controversial and acclaimed film Blue Is the Warmest Colour (2013) for which she received the Lumières Award for Best Actress, as well as the Palme d'Or at the Cannes Film Festival along with her co-star Adèle Exarchopoulos.[4] She received her second Lumières Award within the same year for the film Grand Central. She gained international attention for her role as Bond girl Madeleine Swann in Spectre (2015), and No Time to Die (2021).[5][6][7]
She has appeared in the Wes Anderson films The Grand Budapest Hotel (2014) and The French Dispatch (2021). Other notable roles include Beauty and the Beast (2014), Saint Laurent (2014), The Lobster (2015), Zoe (2018), France (2021), Crimes of the Future (2022), One Fine Morning (2022), and Dune: Part Two (2024).
Seydoux is also known for her work as a model. She has been showcased in Vogue Paris, American Vogue, L'Officiel, Another Magazine and W magazine among others. Since 2016, she has been a brand ambassador for Louis Vuitton.[8][9]
Career[edit]
2005–2007: Career beginnings[edit]
Seydoux says that as a child she wanted to become an opera singer, studying music at the Conservatoire de Paris, but eventually her shyness compelled her to drop the idea.[33][34] It was not until the age of eighteen that she decided to become an actress.[35] One of her friends was an actor, and Seydoux has said: "I found his life wonderful, I thought, 'Oh my god, you can travel, you're free, you can do what you want, you're the boss.'"[29][36] She fell in love with an actor and decided to become an actress to impress him.[29] She took acting classes at French drama school Les Enfants Terribles,[23] and in 2007 she took further training at New York's Actors Studio with Corinne Blue.
In 2005, Seydoux appeared in the music video for Raphaël's single "Ne partons pas fâchés". The following year, Seydoux played her first major screen role as one of the main characters in Sylvie Ayme's Girlfriends (Mes copines). She starred in Nicolas Klotz's short film La Consolation, which was exhibited at the 2007 Cannes Film Festival.[37]
In these years, she also did her first work as a model for American Apparel, posing for their Pantytime campaign,[38] and had a role in the films 13 French Street and The Last Mistress.[33]
Other endeavours[edit]
Advertising campaigns and endorsements[edit]
Seydoux has modelled for numerous magazines and brands, but sees herself "always as an actress",[28] not as a model.[27][85] She participated in the Levi's television advert "Dangerous Liaison", and has been seen in several photo editorials, including for Vogue Paris, American Vogue, Numéro, L'Officiel, CRASH, Another Magazine and W magazine. She fronted the 2013 campaign for French jewellery line Didier Dubot and appeared in Rag & Bone's Fall 2013 campaign with Michael Pitt.[86][87]
She also appeared in a nude pictorial for French men's magazine Lui.[25] In addition, Seydoux and her Blue Is the Warmest Colour co-star Adèle Exarchopoulos were featured in Miu Miu's 2014 resort ad campaign.[88] Seydoux advertised for Prada's 2012 Resort line; and is the face of its 2013 campaign for the fragrances Prada Candy (shot by Jean-Paul Goude) and Prada Candy L'Eau (directed by Wes Anderson and Roman Coppola),[23][89][90] and the 2014 campaign for Prada Candy Florale perfume.[91]
Since 2016, she has been a brand ambassador for Louis Vuitton.[8][9]
Personal life and public image[edit]
Seydoux lives in Paris with her partner André Meyer.[92] In September 2016, Seydoux announced that she and Meyer were expecting their first child.[93][94] On 18 January 2017, she gave birth to a son, Georges.[95]
In the wake of the Harvey Weinstein scandal and #MeToo in 2017, she accused Harvey Weinstein of sexual assault.[96]
Seydoux has expressed a preference for defining herself by the term "actor" rather than "actress", saying: "I really don't feel like an actress, I feel like an actor."[2]
In 2019, Reader’s Digest named her among some of the most amazing French actresses in film history.[97] In 2020, Seydoux was included on Vogue’s list of "The most beautiful French actresses of all time."[98] In 2022, she was made a Chevalier (Knight) of the Legion of Honour by the French government.[99][100]