Audrey Tautou

Audrey Justine Tautou (born 9 August 1976 or 1978) is a French film,theatre and television actress and model. Signed by an agent at age 17, she made her acting debut at 18 on television and her feature film debut the following year in Venus Beauty Institute (1999), to critical acclaim she won the César Award for Most Promising Actress. Her subsequent roles in the 1990s and 2000s included Le Libertin and Happenstance (2000). Tautou achieved recognition for her lead role in the 2001 film Amélie (2001), the actress and the film met with critical acclaim and was a major box-office success. Amélie won Best Film at the European Film Awards; it won four César Awards (including Best Film and Best Director), two BAFTA Awards (including Best Original Screenplay), and was nominated for five Academy Awards. She has since built a successful career, appearing in films from a range of genres, including the thriller Dirty Pretty Things, The Da Vinci Code, and the romantic Priceless (2006). She has received critical acclaim for her many roles including the drama film A Very Long Engagement (2004) and the biographical drama Coco avant Chanel (2009). She has been nominated three times for the César Award and twice for the BAFTA for Best Actress in a leading role. She became one of the few French actors in history to have been invited to join the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) in June 2004. Tautou has modeled for companies such as Chanel, Montblanc, L'Oréal, and many others. She has donated both her time and money to charities. --- Tautou was born in Beaumont and was raised in Montluçon. Her father is a dental surgeon, and her mother a teacher. Tautou showed an interest in acting at an early age and started her acting lessons at the Cours Florent. 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. Tonie Marshall 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. In 2001, Tautou rose to international fame for her performance as the eccentric lead in the romantic comedy Amélie (Original French title: Le Fabuleux Destin d'Amélie Poulain), a film directed by Jean-Pierre Jeunet. Written by Jeunet with Guillaume Laurant, the film is a whimsical depiction of contemporary Parisian life, set in Montmartre. It tells the story of a shy waitress, who decides to change the lives of those around her for the better, while struggling with her own isolation. The film was an international co-production between companies in France and Germany. Grossing over $33 million in limited theatrical release, it is still the highest-grossing French-language film released in the United States. The film met with critical acclaim and was a major box-office success. Amélie won Best Film at the European Film Awards; it won four César Awards (including Best Film and Best Director), two BAFTA Awards (including Best Original Screenplay), and was nominated for five Academy Awards. Grossing over $33 million in limited theatrical release, it is still the highest-grossing French-language film released in the United States. --- She has studied at the Institut Catholique de Paris. A church-goer when young, she has stated that she is "not officially" Catholic. Tautou says she considers France her base, where she plans to focus her career, rather than in 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."