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Sophie Marceau (born Sophie Maupu) began acting in films at fourteen. Up until that point, she grew up far away from studios spots. Back then, she was living in the Paris suburbs (Gentilly) and her father was a truck driver. At that time, she learned from one of her friends that Claude Pinoteau (a french movie director) was looking for new faces, for a teenagers movie called La Boum. This movie turned out to be a huge success. This led to the sequel La Boum 2 (1982) for which she received the 1983 César for Most Promising Actress.
At age 16, she starred with Gerard Depardieu and Catherine Deneuve in Fort Saganne and in that same year, 1984, she made the first of four films with Polish director Andrzej Zulawski, L'Amour Braque. She then bought back her contract with Gaumont (The studio she then worked for) for one million of french franks. "Of course I had to borrow the money", she said, "I didn't have such an amount. People did everything to keep me from doing L'Amour Braque with Zulawski. It was violent and almost racist. I belonged to Gaumont, I was their little pet and had to listen to them. But it was unbearable. I walked around the Champs-Elysées wandering what to do. I was afraid to go to prison for breach of contract". She has since become one of the most popular and respected actresses in her own country. Her French film credits includes Joyeuses Pâques (1984), Descente Aux Enfers (1986), Chouans (1987), L'étudiante (1988), Pacific Palisades (1989), Pour Sacha (1990), and the box office success Fanfan with Vincent Perez (1992). She also starred in D'Artagnan's Daughter (1993), in which she performed her own swordfighting and most of the riding stunts. Her role in Braveheart was her first English-speaking part. Asked why he chose Sophie for the character of Princess Isabelle, Mel Gibson replied: "Well, she's beautiful, she's French and she's a good actress. The character needed to be at least two of those things." Bettina Rheims, who has photographed her many times, calls her "the most beautiful and sensual of young actresses". Her stage debut in Jean Anouilh's Euridyce in 1991 brought her a Moliere Award for Female Revelation of the Year. She also starred as Eliza Dolittle in Pygmalion at the Theatre des Arts Hebertot in 1993. In spring 1995, she directed her first film, L'aube à l'envers, an eight-minute short based on a screenplay she wrote while filming Braveheart. It was well received at the 1995 Cannes Film Festival. In 1996, she was chosen to be the new "face" of Guerlain, one of France's most prestigious perfume houses. Marceau's international profile continued to grow throughout the decade thanks to her increasing appearances in both British and American films, particularly Firelight (1995) and the 19th James Bond outing, The World is Not Enough (1999). In 1999, she again stepped in front of the camera for Zulawski as the star of La Fidélité. She is critical of French cinema: "It's great that American cinema poses such a threat. In France we have all these pseudo-auteurs who don't have a new idea in their heads." She has a Hollywood agent, but is not tempted to move to Los Angeles and play the Hollywood system like Julie Delpy. On July 24th 1995 Sophie had her first child, a boy named Vincent. She is unmarried, and lives in Paris with Andrzej Zulawski, a Polish director who is 24 years her senior. Sophie is an outspoken opponent of blood sports, and has joined Brigitte Bardot in protests against dove-shooting in the Gironde and bullfighting in Provence. "I detest all forms of violence. For me, the toreador who tortures the bull loses his dignity as a man. One cannot respect life and approve of this game of death." She used to own an antique farmhouse in Seine-et-Marne, but left it for good after her cats were shot by hunters and one of her dogs, an eleven-year-old cocker spaniel named Lolita, was stolen. In addition to her work for animal welfare, Sophie is a patron of Arc-en-Ciel ("Rainbow"), an organization which helps sick children realize their dreams. |
