122 Facts About Marion Cotillard

Marion Cotillard is the recipient of various accolades, including an Academy Award, a British Academy Film Award, two Cesar Awards, and a Golden Globe Award.

Marion Cotillard became a Knight of the Order of Arts and Letters in France in 2010 and was promoted to Officer in 2016, the same year she was named a Knight of the Legion of Honour.

Marion Cotillard had her first English-language role in the action series Highlander at the age of seventeen, and made her feature film debut in The Story of a Boy Who Wanted to Be Kissed.

Marion Cotillard's breakthrough came in the French film Taxi, and she won the Cesar Award for Best Supporting Actress for A Very Long Engagement.

Marion Cotillard acted in English-language films such as Public Enemies, Nine, Inception, Contagion, The Dark Knight Rises and The Immigrant, and French-language films such as Rust and Bone, Two Days, One Night, and Little Girl Blue.

On stage, Cotillard has portrayed Joan of Arc in numerous productions of Joan of Arc at the Stake.

Marion Cotillard has served as a spokeswoman for Greenpeace since 2001 and was the face of the Lady Dior handbag from 2008 to 2017, and Chanel No 5 from 2020 to 2024.

Marion Cotillard was born on 30 September 1975 in Paris, and grew up in Alfortville, in the southern suburbs of Paris, where she lived with her family in a flat on the 18th floor of a tower block until she was 11 years old, when her family moved to the small commune of Aulnay-la-Riviere in the Loiret department in north-central France.

Marion Cotillard's mother, Niseema Theillaud, is an actress and drama teacher.

Marion Cotillard's father, Jean-Claude Cotillard, is an actor, teacher, former mime, and theatre director, of Breton descent.

Marion Cotillard has two younger twin brothers, Quentin and Guillaume, a writer and a sculptor.

Marion Cotillard's father introduced her to cinema, and as a child she would mimic Louise Brooks and Greta Garbo in her own bedroom.

Marion Cotillard began acting during her childhood, appearing in one of her father's plays.

At the age of 15, Marion Cotillard entered the Conservatoire d'art dramatique in Orleans.

Marion Cotillard graduated in 1994 and then moved to Paris to pursue an acting career.

Marion Cotillard started learning Spanish at school but then abandoned it.

Marion Cotillard started learning Danish because she wanted to work with director Thomas Vinterberg after watching his 1998 film The Celebration, but that did not work out.

In 1982, at the age of 7, Marion Cotillard made her on-screen debut in the short film Le monde des tout-petits, directed by Claude Cailloux and broadcast by the French TV channel TF1.

Also in 1996, she had her first leading role in the television film Chloe, directed by Dennis Berry and opposite Anna Karina, with Marion Cotillard starring as a teenage runaway who is forced into prostitution.

The film was a box office hit in France with over 6 millions tickets sold, and Marion Cotillard was nominated for a Cesar Award for Most Promising Actress.

Marion Cotillard reprised the role in Taxi 2 and Taxi 3.

In 1999, Marion Cotillard ventured into science fiction with Alexandre Aja's post-apocalyptic romantic drama Furia.

Marion Cotillard starred in Gilles Paquet-Brenner's drama film Pretty Things, adapted from the work of feminist writer Virginie Despentes, portraying twins of completely opposite characters, Lucie and Marie, for which she earned a second Cesar Award nomination for Most Promising Actress.

In 2002, Marion Cotillard starred in Guillaume Nicloux's thriller A Private Affair, in which she portrayed the mysterious Clarisse.

Marion Cotillard started the transition into Hollywood when she obtained a supporting role in Tim Burton's 2003 fantasy comedy-drama film Big Fish, in which she played Josephine, the French wife of Billy Crudup's character, William Bloom.

Big Fish was a critical and commercial success, and marked a turn for Marion Cotillard, who was unhappy with her career in France at the time for not getting good roles, and considered taking some time off until she got the role in Big Fish.

Marion Cotillard next starred in Yann Samuell's 2003 French romantic comedy film Love Me If You Dare, as Sophie Kowalsky, the daughter of Polish immigrants who lives in France and begins playing a game of dares with her childhood friend, portrayed by Guillaume Canet.

In 2005, Marion Cotillard starred in six films: Steve Suissa's Cavalcade, Abel Ferrara's Mary, Richard Berry's The Black Box ; Remi Bezancon's Love Is in the Air, Fabienne Godet's Burnt Out, and Stephan Guerin-Tillie's Edy.

In May 2005, Marion Cotillard portrayed Joan of Arc for the first time in the Orleans Symphonic Orchestra's production of Arthur Honegger's oratorio Joan of Arc at the Stake at the Palais des Sports d'Orleans, in Orleans, France.

Marion Cotillard reprised the role several times when performing the oratorio in different countries in the following years.

Marion Cotillard played Nadine in the Belgian comedy Dikkenek, alongside Melanie Laurent, and the role of Nicole in Fair Play.

Marion Cotillard played Lena in the satirical coming-of-age film Toi et moi, directed by Julie Lopes-Curval, for which she learned how to play the cello for her role.

Marion Cotillard became the first actress to win a Golden Globe for a non-English language performance since 1972, and the first person to win a Golden Globe for a non-English language performance.

On 10 February 2008, Marion Cotillard became the first French actress since Stephane Audran in 1973 to be awarded the BAFTA Award for Best Actress in a Leading Role.

Marion Cotillard is the second French actress to win this award, and the third overall to win an Oscar, after Simone Signoret in 1960 and Juliette Binoche in 1997.

Marion Cotillard is the first Best Actress Oscar winner for a non-English language performance since Sophia Loren in 1961.

Marion Cotillard is the first and only winner of an Academy Award for a French-language performance.

On 23 June 2008, Marion Cotillard was one of 105 individuals invited to join the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.

Marion Cotillard appeared on the cover of the November 2009 issue of Vogue with her Nine co-stars, and on the magazine's July 2010 cover by herself.

Marion Cotillard was the Honorary President of the 35th Cesar Awards ceremony, held on 27 February 2010.

In 2011, Marion Cotillard co-starred in Woody Allen's Midnight in Paris as Pablo Picasso's fictionalised mistress, Adriana, with whom Owen Wilson's character, Gil, falls in love.

Marion Cotillard tied with Kate Winslet as the highest-paid foreign actress in Hollywood.

In 2012, Marion Cotillard was ranked ninth on the list of the highest-paid French actresses in 2011, and portrayed Talia al Ghul in Christopher Nolan's Batman feature The Dark Knight Rises.

Marion Cotillard next portrayed an orca trainer who loses her legs after a work accident in Jacques Audiard's romantic drama Rust and Bone, costarring Matthias Schoenaerts.

Marion Cotillard's performance is as unexpected and as unsentimental and raw as the film itself.

James Kaelan of MovieMaker magazine wrote that it was a travesty that Marion Cotillard was not nominated for an Academy Award for Rust and Bone.

Marion Cotillard received several other honours and career tributes in 2012, at the Telluride Film Festival, Hollywood Film Festival, AFI Fest, Gotham Awards, and Harper's Bazaar Awards.

In 2013, Marion Cotillard was named Woman of the Year by Harvard's student society Hasty Pudding Theatricals, and Le Figaro ranked her the second highest-paid actress in France in 2012 and the seventh highest-paid actor overall.

Marion Cotillard had her first leading role in an American movie in James Gray's The Immigrant as Polish-born Ewa Cybulska, who emigrates hoping to experience the American dream in 1920s New York.

James Gray wrote the script especially for Marion Cotillard after meeting her at a French restaurant with her boyfriend.

Marion Cotillard had to learn 20 pages of Polish dialogue for her role, and Gray stated that she is the best actor he's ever worked with.

Marion Cotillard's performance was widely acclaimed, and she was awarded the New York Film Critics Circle Award, the National Society of Film Critics Award, the Toronto Film Critics Association Award and was nominated for an Independent Spirit Award for Best Actress in 2015.

Marion Cotillard starred in Guillaume Canet's Blood Ties in 2013 with Clive Owen, Billy Crudup and her Rust and Bone co-star Matthias Schoenaerts; and had a cameo in Adam McKay's comedy film Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues, acting opposite Jim Carrey in the battle scene between rival news teams.

In December 2013, Marion Cotillard was a member of the 13th Marrakech Film Festival jury presided by Martin Scorsese.

The film premiered in the main competition at the 2014 Cannes Film Festival and earned a 15-minute standing ovation, with Marion Cotillard's performance praised as "a career-high performance", and favored to win the festival's Best Actress prize, which ended up going to Julianne Moore for Maps to the Stars.

In November 2014, Marion Cotillard participated on Comedy Central's All-Star Non-Denominational Christmas Special, in a duet with Nathan Fielder on the Elvis Presley song "Can't Help Falling in Love".

In 2015, Marion Cotillard took on the role of Lady Macbeth in a film adaptation of William Shakespeare's play, directed by Justin Kurzel and starring Michael Fassbender in the title role.

The film premiered at the Cannes Film Festival and Marion Cotillard's performance earned her a nomination for the British Independent Film Award for Best Actress, and high praise from critics, particularly for her "Out, Damned Spot" monologue.

In 2016, Marion Cotillard played Gabrielle, a free-spirited woman in a convenience marriage in Nicole Garcia's romantic drama From the Land of the Moon, an adaptation of the bestselling Italian novel Mal di Pietre by Milena Agus, which marked her return to French cinema after 2012's Rust and Bone, and earned her a seventh Cesar Award nomination.

Marion Cotillard played the role of Catherine, the sister-in-law of a gay playwright, who returns home to tell his family that he is dying in Xavier Dolan's Canadian-French co-production It's Only the End of the World.

Also in 2016, Marion Cotillard starred opposite Brad Pitt in Robert Zemeckis's Allied, a spy film set in World War II in which she played Marianne Beausejour, a French Resistance fighter.

That same year, Marion Cotillard reteamed with Macbeth director Justin Kurzel and co-star Michael Fassbender in the film adaptation of the video game Assassin's Creed.

On 30 January 2017, Marion Cotillard was honoured with a special award for her career at the 22nd Lumieres Awards in France.

The Hollywood Reporter, in its review for the former film, asserted that "Marion Cotillard offers up such a sincere performance that you can't help but laugh".

In 2019, Marion Cotillard was a member of the jury of the Chopard Trophy at the 2019 Cannes Film Festival.

In 2020, Marion Cotillard voiced the fox Tutu in the comedy film Dolittle, directed by Stephen Gaghan.

Marion Cotillard produced the documentary Bigger Than Us, directed by Flore Vasseur, which explores the social movement of young people fighting for change in the 21st century.

Marion Cotillard voiced German artist Charlotte Salomon in the French version of the animated biographical film Charlotte, directed by Eric Warin and Tahir Rana, which follows the last 10 years of Salomon's life, a Jewish woman who struggled with depression amid World War II and the Holocaust while exiled in the South of France.

Marion Cotillard was an executive producer on the film that made its world premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival in September 2021.

In October 2021, Marion Cotillard played the stylist Kim Randall in La Vengeance au Triple Galop, a comedy TV film for France's Canal+, directed by Alex Lutz and Arthur Sanigou.

Marion Cotillard made her third collaboration with director Arnaud Desplechin in the film Brother and Sister, which follows two siblings, Alice and Louis, played by Marion Cotillard and Melvil Poupaud, who are forced to reunite after the death of their parents following two decades of shared silence.

In June 2022, Marion Cotillard played Joan of Arc in the oratorio Joan of Arc at the Stake directed by Juanjo Mena at the Teatro Real in Madrid, Spain.

Marion Cotillard voiced Coco Chanel in Rencontre, a 15-minute immersive virtual reality project directed by Mathias Chelebourg, which premiered at the 79th Venice Film Festival in September 2022.

Marion Cotillard voiced Louise de Savoy in The Inventor, a stop-motion animated film about the life of Leonardo da Vinci, written and directed by Jim Capobianco, and portrayed Solange d'Ayen, the fashion editor of French Vogue magazine in the World War II biographical drama Lee, directed by Ellen Kuras and starring Kate Winslet as photographer Lee Miller.

Marion Cotillard portrayed French writer and photographer Carole Achache in the docudrama Little Girl Blue, directed by Carole's daughter, Mona Achache, which had its world premiere at the 2023 Cannes Film Festival in the Special Screenings section.

In December 2023, Marion Cotillard was a member of the jury of the Prix Andre Bazin by French film magazine Cahiers du Cinema.

In June 2024, Marion Cotillard reprised her role as Joan of Arc in the oratorio Joan of Arc at the Stake in Berlin with the Berlin Philharmonic, and in December 2024, she reprised the role in Paris at the Paris Philharmonic Hall.

In June 2024, it was reported that Marion Cotillard will join season 4 of the Apple TV+ series The Morning Show, and that she will play the role of Celine Dumont, who is described as "a savvy operator from a storied European family".

In February 2025, Marion Cotillard began shooting Guillaume Canet's psychological thriller film Karma.

Marion Cotillard has won a New York Film Critics Circle Award, a National Society of Film Critics Award, and a Los Angeles Film Critics Association Award for Best Actress, the critics' awards trifecta.

Marion Cotillard earned several critics' awards for The Immigrant and Two Days, One Night, three more Golden Globe nominations for Nine, Rust and Bone, and Annette, and received a second Academy Award nomination for Best Actress for Two Days, One Night in 2015, her second nomination for a French-language film, becoming one of only seven actors to receive multiple Academy Award nominations for non-English language performances.

In March 2010, Marion Cotillard was made a Chevalier of the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres by the French government for her "contribution to the enrichment of French culture".

Marion Cotillard was promoted to Officier on 10 February 2016.

Marion Cotillard was among 650 names from the worlds of politics, culture, sport and public life published in the government's official journal for Bastille Day.

Marion Cotillard co-wrote and performed the song "La Fille De Joie" for her 2001 film Pretty Things, in which she played a singer and performed the song "La Conne" for the film.

Marion Cotillard went on tour with the band in different cities in France and Belgium, under the pseudonym "Simone", which is her maternal grandmother's name.

Marion Cotillard recorded the song "The Eyes of Mars" with the band Franz Ferdinand especially for Dior.

In 2012, she wrote and performed the song "Lily's Body" for the fourth episode of the Lady Dior Web Documentary with the same title, and in 2014, Marion Cotillard wrote and performed the song "Snapshot in LA" alongside John Cameron Mitchell, Metronomy's Joseph Mount and Villaine.

Marion Cotillard is Greenpeace's Ocean Ambassador; the patron of Maud Fontenoy Foundation, a non-governmental organization which is dedicated to teaching children about preserving the oceans; and the ambassador of Association Wayanga, a French association that supports indigenous peoples for their rights and the preservation of their cultures and the Amazon Forest they inhabit.

Marion Cotillard supports The Heart Fund, an international public charity that is a pioneer in technological innovation to combat cardiovascular diseases in children, and is a member of World Wide Fund for Nature, and the Nicolas Hulot Foundation, which supports environmental initiatives in France and abroad to engage the ecological transition of our societies.

In 2009, Marion Cotillard was one of many celebrities to record a cover version of the song Beds are Burning by Midnight Oil, in support of TckTckTck and climate justice.

In 2012, Marion Cotillard was featured on Kate Winslet's book "The Golden Hat: Talking Back To Autism", with celebrity self-portraits to raise awareness and support for autism launched by Winslet's Golden Hat Foundation.

Marion Cotillard entered the cage and held a banner proclaiming "I am a climate defender".

At the 2015 Cannes Film Festival, director Mark Osborne revealed that Marion Cotillard used to visit Children's Hospitals and play The Rose for the kids, years before she voiced the character in the 2015 film The Little Prince, directed by Osborne.

Marion Cotillard was the ambassador of "1 Heart 1 Tree", an art project that fights climate change through its Plant for the Planet reforestation program.

Marion Cotillard donated her shoes to be displayed among an installation of over 10,000 shoes at the Place de la Republique in Paris.

On 10 December 2015, Marion Cotillard voiced the French version of the short film Home, made by Conservation International.

On 12 May 2018, Marion Cotillard was one of the 82 women who marched up the stairs to the Cannes Film Festival to protest gender inequality in the film industry.

In March 2020, Marion Cotillard participated on a PSA from the Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health to help educate people on COVID-19 and encouraged them to listen to the health experts to avoid spreading the virus.

In December 2022, Marion Cotillard signed an open letter demanding the release of Iranian actress Taraneh Alidoosti, who had been arrested for standing in solidarity with imprisoned Iranian filmmakers who protested against the Iranian regime.

In 2012, Marion Cotillard starred in the web-series Lady Dior Web Documentary and wrote and performed the song "Lily's body" for one episode.

Marion Cotillard appeared on the cover of the first issue of Dior Magazine in September 2012.

In May 2013, Marion Cotillard became the first actress to walk the red carpet of the Cannes Film Festival wearing the initial models from the Chopard Green Carpet Collection.

In 2020, Marion Cotillard designed her own sustainable jewelry collection for Chopard entitled "Ice Cube Capsule".

Marion Cotillard designed seven items curated from Fairmined-certified ethical gold and diamonds.

On 17 February 2020, Marion Cotillard was announced as House ambassador and the new face of the Chanel No 5 fragrance, a position she held until 2024.

Marion Cotillard was a vegetarian for twelve years during her youth.

Marion Cotillard had a long-term relationship with French actor Stephan Guerin-Tillie from 2000 to 2005, with whom she co-starred in the short films Quelques jours de trop and Heureuse, in the 2001 TV series Les redoutables, and in the 2005 feature films Cavalcade and Edy.

Marion Cotillard dated French singer Sinclair from 2005 to 2007.

Since October 2007, Marion Cotillard has been in a relationship with French actor and director Guillaume Canet.

In 2014, Marion Cotillard denied being married to Canet, referring to him as "my boyfriend" in interviews.

In January 2018, Marion Cotillard told The Hollywood Reporter that with her then 6-year-old son entering school and a newborn daughter, she would be slowing down her filming schedule for the time being.

Marion Cotillard was the first actress on a Vogue Paris September cover in five years with her September 2010 cover, and was named "Woman of the Decade" by Vogue Paris on their list of the "40 Women of The Decade" in 2010.

Marion Cotillard was featured on the cover of the first issue of Dior Magazine in September 2012.

Marion Cotillard was named "The Most Beautiful Face of 2013" by The Independent Critics List of the 100 Most Beautiful Famous Faces From Around the World, and ranked as one of the most "Beautiful Famous Faces" for 16 consecutive years.

Marion Cotillard was ranked No 47 in 2017, No 36 in 2016, No 18 in 2015, No 14 in 2014, No 1 in 2013, No 2 in 2012, No 7 in 2011, No 12 in 2010, No 15 in 2009, No 4 in 2008, No 3 in 2007, No 8 in 2006, No 17 in 2005, No 35 in 2004, No 20 in 2003, and No 31 in 2002.

Marion Cotillard ranked No 18 on British GQ magazine's list of "The World's 20 Coolest Women" in 2014, and was chosen as one of the 'Best Film Femme Fatales' by Harper's Bazaar in 2014, for her performance as Mal in Inception.

Marion Cotillard ranked second on Google's "Most Searched Actresses of 2016".

The ivory Jean Paul Gaultier gown Marion Cotillard wore at the 80th Academy Awards on 24 February 2008 is regarded as one of the greatest Oscar dresses of all time.

In 2023, she was featured on the official poster of the 48th Cesar Awards in a still from the 2021 film Annette, and in an animated poster featuring Marion Cotillard singing in the film.

Marion Cotillard was mentioned in "Trivia", an episode of The Office that aired in January 2012.

Marion Cotillard has had a look-alike puppet in the French television show Les Guignols de l'info since 2013.