Audrey Tautou

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Audrey Justine Tautou (French pronunciation: [odÊ�É› totu]; born 9 August, either in 1976¹²³⁴⁵ or 1978)⁶⁷⁸⁹ is a French film actress, known to worldwide audiences for playing the title character in the award-winning 2001 film Amélie, Sophie Neveu in the 2006 thriller The Da Vinci Code, and more recently Irène in Priceless (2006). She won the César Award for Most Promising Actress in Venus Beauty Institute (1999).

Early life

Tautou was born in the Puy-de-Dôme département of Auvergne, and was raised in Montluçon in nearby Allier, Auvergne. Her father is a dental surgeon and her mother is a teacher. After the premiere of the film Amélie (for which she received phenomenal amounts of paparazzi and press coverage) she travelled to the jungles of Indonesia to help with the preservation of a monkey sanctuary. Tautou showed an interest in comedy at an early age and started her acting lessons at the Cours Florent. This theatrical institution is highly prestigious and she is one of several famous actors to have passed through its doors (others including Muriel Robin, Daniel Auteuil and Guillaume Canet). After graduating she went on to star in some of French cinema's biggest and most famous films.

Career

In 1998, Tautou participated in a Star Search-like competition sponsored by Canal+ called "Jeunes Premiers" (The Young Debut) and won Best Young Actress at the 9th Béziers Festival of Young Actors. Then, she came to the attention of Tonie Marshall, who gave her a role in the César-winning Venus Beauty Institute (1999, aka Vénus beauté (institut)). In 2000, she won the Prix Suzanne Bianchetti as her country's most promising young film actress.

Already well-known in France for her work in Venus Beauty Institute, in 2001 Tautou rose to international fame for her performance as the eccentric lead in the romantic comedy Le Fabuleux Destin d'Amélie Poulain (Amélie). In June 2004 she was invited to join the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS).¹⁰ She accepted the invitation and is still a member as of 1 September, 2006.

In 2005, Tautou worked in her first full Hollywood production, opposite Tom Hanks, in the film version of Dan Brown's best-selling novel The Da Vinci Code, directed by Ron Howard and released in May 2006. She acted alongside Gad Elmaleh in Pierre Salvadori's Hors de prix, released 13 December, 2006. Tautou says she still considers France her base, and plans to pursue a career predominantly there rather than crossing over to the United States. As she told Stevie Wong of The Straits Times, "I am, at the end of the day, a French actress. I am not saying I will never shoot an English-language movie again, but my home, my community, my career is rooted in France. I would never move to Los Angeles".¹¹

Tautou starred with Guillaume Canet (best known for his role in the film adaptation of The Beach) in Claude Berri's Ensemble, c'est tout in 2007, an adaptation of the eponymous novel by Anna Gavalda.

Tautou is next to star in the upcoming biopic of fashion designer Coco Chanel. Filming is set to start in Paris on 15 September, 2008, and will released in France April 22, 2009. The project is titled Coco avant Chanel, and is directed by Anne Fontaine.¹²¹³¹⁴ The script of the new movie¹⁵ is partially based on Edmonde Charles-Roux’s book “L’Irrégulièreâ€� (â€�The Non-Conformistâ€�). As part of promoting the new Coco Chanel bio film in May 2008, Tautou was named as the next spokesmodel for Chanel No. 5, replacing Nicole Kidman. She will be directed in the advertisement by Jean-Pierre Jeunet, with whom she worked on Amélie and A Very Long Engagement. The advertisement will be released in 2009 to coincide with the film's release.¹⁶¹⁷¹⁸

Personal life

Her favourite authors are Victor Hugo, Oscar Wilde, Paul Auster, and Timothy Zahn; and her favourite poets are Charles Baudelaire and Tristan Tzara.

Tautou takes pictures of each reporter who interviews her and keeps them in a scrapbook. In France, many consider her as the "typical Occitan Auvergnate".¹⁹ She was brought up attending church, though she has now stated that she is "not officially" a Catholic.²⁰

The Brand New song "Tautou", from the album Déjà Entendu is named after her.

Following the making of Coco avant Chanel she started dating Benoît Poelvoorde whom she met on set.

Filmography

• Coco avant Chanel - Coco Chanel (2009)
• Ensemble, c'est tout - Camille (2007) : (English title: Hunting And Gathering)
• Hors de prix - Irène (2006) : (English title: Priceless)
• The Da Vinci Code - Sophie Neveu (2006)
• Les Poupées russes - Martine (2005) : (English title: The Russian Dolls)
• Un long dimanche de fiançailles - Mathilde (2004) : (English title: A Very Long Engagement)
• Nowhere to Go But Up - Val Chipzik (2003) : (aka Happy End (Movie))
• Pas sur la bouche - Huguette Verberie (2003) : (English title: Not on the Lips)
• Les Marins perdus - Lalla (2003) : (English title: Lost Seamen)
• Dirty Pretty Things - Senay (2002)
• L'Auberge espagnole - Martine (2002) :( aka Pot Luck - UK) : (aka Euro Pudding - International: English title) : (aka The Spanish Apartment - USA)
• À la folie... pas du tout - Angélique (2002) : (English title: He Loves Me... He Loves Me Not)
• Dieu est grand, je suis toute petite - Michèle (2001) : (English title: God Is Great and I'm Not)
• Le Fabuleux destin d'Amélie Poulain - Amélie Poulain (2001) : (aka Amélie - International: English title - USA) : (aka Amelie from Montmartre - International: English title) : (aka The Fabulous Destiny of Amelie Poulain - USA: literal English title)
• Le Battement d'ailes du papillon - Irène (2000) : (aka Happenstance - UK and USA) : (aka Amelie 2 - Hong Kong: English title) : (aka The Beating of the Butterfly's Wings - International: English title)
• Le Libertin - Julie d'Holbach (2000) (English title: The Libertine)
• Voyous voyelles - Anne-Sophie (2000) : (aka Bad Girls - Australia: TV title) : (aka The Little Grifters - USA: cable TV title) : (aka Pretty Devils - USA: new title)
• Épouse-moi - Marie-Ange (2000) (English title: Marry Me)
• Triste à mourir - Caro (1999)
• Vénus beauté (institut) - Marie (1999) : (aka Venus Beauty Institute - USA: literal English title) : (aka Venus Beauty Salon - UK)
• Le Boiteux: Baby blues - Blandine Piancet (1999) (TV)
• La Vieille barrière - La jeune fille du quartier (1998)
• Casting: Archi-dégueulasse - Comédienne 1 (1998)
• Chaos technique - Lisa (1998) (TV)
• Bébés boum - Elsa (1998) (TV)
• La Vérité est un vilain défaut - La standardiste (1997) (TV)
• Coeur de cible (1996) (TV)

Awards and nominations

• 1999: Won the Best New Actress on Cabourg Romantic Film Festival for Vénus beauté (institut)
• 2000: Won the César Award for Most Promising Actress for Vénus beauté (institut)
• 2000: Won the Lumiere Award Most Promising Young Actress for Vénus beauté (institut)
• 2001: Nomination for the European Film Awards Audience Award (Best Actress) for Le Fabuleux Destin d'Amélie Poulain
• 2001: Nomination for the European Film Award (Best Actress) for Le Fabuleux Destin d'Amélie Poulain
• 2002: Nomination for the Empire Award (Best Actress) for Le Fabuleux Destin d'Amélie Poulain
• 2002: Won the CFCA Award for Most Promising Performer
• 2002: Nomination for the BAFTA Film Award for Le Fabuleux Destin d'Amélie Poulain
• 2002: Nomination for the César Award for Best Actress for Le Fabuleux Destin d'Amélie Poulain
• 2002: Nomination for the European Film Awards Audience Award for Best Actress Dirty Pretty Things
• 2002: Won the Lumiere Award Best Actress for Le Fabuleux Destin d'Amélie Poulain
• 2002: Nomination for the PFCS Award Best Newcomer for Le Fabuleux Destin d'Amélie Poulain
• 2002: Nomination for the PFCS Award Best Actress in a Leading Role for Le Fabuleux Destin d'Amélie Poulain
• 2002: Nomination for the OFCS Award Best Breakthrough Performance for Le Fabuleux Destin d'Amélie Poulain
• 2002: Won the Sant Jordi Best Foreign Actress for Le Fabuleux Destin d'Amélie Poulain
• 2002: Nomination for the Golden Satellite Award Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture, Comedy or Musical for Le Fabuleux Destin d'Amélie Poulain
• 2005: Nomination for the César Award for Best Actress for Un long dimanche de fiançailles
• 2005: Nomination for the European Film Awards Audience Award for Best Actress Un long dimanche de fiançailles
• 2005: Nomination for the European Film Award for Best Actress Un long dimanche de fiançailles
• 2007: Won the NRJ Ciné Award best kiss (Shared with Gad Elmaleh) for Hors de prix

References

External links

• Audrey Tautou at the Internet Movie Database
• Audrey Tautou at Allmovie
• Audrey Tautou at Yahoo! Movies
• Audrey Tautou at TV.com
• NY Daily News Interview 21 November 2004
• MSNBC Interview 23 November 2004
• UK Story & Interview 16 January 2005
• Interview: This is London 19 January 2005
• Interview: From Amelie to Sophie 17 May 2006
• Jon Henley, "It doesn't take much to catch a man" The Guardian, June 13, 2008, interview about Priceless (film)
• MOViEmaven List an article about Audrey Tautou from an online resource for foreign and American independent film.

From Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia