Tautou, Audrey

▪ 2007

      In 2006 French actress Audrey Tautou made her Hollywood debut, costarring in one of the year's most highly anticipated movies. Already an international star—she rose to fame with a series of art-house films that showcased her gamine beauty and elfin charm—Tautou appeared opposite Tom Hanks in the screen adaptation of Dan Brown's best-selling novel The Da Vinci Code (2003), which had created a furor with its controversial theories on Christianity. Directed by Ron Howard, the film version featured Tautou as Sophie Neveu, a French cryptologist who helps Robert Langdon (Hanks), a professor of symbology, solve a murder mystery and uncover the truth about Jesus and the Holy Grail. Despite backlash—several countries banned the movie, and the Roman Catholic Church denounced it—and mixed reviews, The Da Vinci Code grossed more than $750 million worldwide.

      Tautou was born on Aug. 9, 1978, in Beaumont, France. Although she initially wanted to be a primatologist, her interests eventually turned to acting. She made several television movies and in 1999 won a talent-search contest sponsored by the French media company Canal Plus. Later that year she appeared in her first major film role, portraying a naive salon worker in Vénus beauté (institut) (Venus Beauty Institute). Tautou received a French César award as most-promising female newcomer for her performance. In 2000 she was a fixture in movie theatres, appearing in Épouse-moi (Marry Me), Voyous voyelles (Pretty Devils), Le Libertin (The Libertine), and Le Battement d'ailes du papillon (Happenstance).

      Tautou's breakthrough, however, came in 2001 with the quirky Le Fabuleux Destin d'Amélie Poulain (Amélie), in which she starred as a lonely waitress who concocts elaborate schemes to make others happy and in the process falls in love. The romantic fable, directed by Jean-Pierre Jeunet, was an international hit, became the top-grossing French-language movie in the U.S., and scored an Oscar nomination for best foreign-language film. It also earned Tautou a BAFTA nomination for best actress. In 2002 she made her English-language debut in Dirty Pretty Things. This dark thriller, which centred on illegal immigrants who exchange their body organs for forged passports, was a departure from the lighthearted whimsy that marked many of her earlier films. After appearing in the musical Pas sur la bouche (2003; Not on the Lips) and Nowhere to Go but Up (2003), Tautou reteamed with Jeunet for the award-winning Un Long Dimanche de fiançailles (2004; A Very Long Engagement), in which she played a woman searching for her lost fiancé after World War I. By the end of 2006, the versatile Tautou had two more films completed, a romantic comedy, Hors de prix, and Ensemble, c'est tout, based on the best-selling novel by Anna Gavalda.

Amy Tikkanen

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▪ French actress

born Aug. 9, 1976/78, Beaumont, Auvergne, France

      French actress known for her gamine beauty and elfin charm.

      Tautou began her acting career with several television movies in the late 1990s and won a talent-search contest sponsored by a French media company in 1999. Later that year she appeared in her first major film role, portraying a naive salon worker in Vénus beauté (institut), which was released in the United States as Venus Beauty Institute. Tautou received a French César award as most-promising female newcomer for her performance. In 2000 she was a fixture in movie theatres, appearing in Épouse-moi (Marry Me), Voyous voyelles (Pretty Devils), Le Libertin (The Libertine), and Le Battement d'ailes du papillon (Happenstance).

      Tautou's breakthrough, however, came in 2001 with the quirky Le Fabuleux Destin d'Amélie Poulain (Amélie), in which she starred as a lonely waitress who concocts elaborate schemes to make others happy and in the process falls in love. The romantic fable, directed by Jean-Pierre Jeunet, was an international hit, became the top-grossing French-language movie of all time in the United States, and scored an Oscar (Academy Award) nomination for best foreign-language film. It also earned Tautou a BAFTA (British Academy of Film and Television Arts) nomination for best actress. In 2002 she made her English-language debut in Dirty Pretty Things. After appearing in the musical Pas sur la bouche (2003; Not on the Lips) and in Nowhere to Go but Up (2003), Tautou reteamed with Jeunet for the César award-winning Un Long Dimanche de fiançailles (2004; A Very Long Engagement), in which she played a woman searching for her lost fiancé after World War I. In 2006 Tautou starred in her first big-budget Hollywood film, The Da Vinci Code, but soon thereafter she returned to the more intimate French films that made her famous. Her subsequent films include Hors de prix (2006; Priceless) and Ensemble, c'est tout (2007; Hunting and Gathering).

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