Virginie Ledoyen Profile and Images

Virginie Ledoyen Profile

Birth Name:Virginie Fernandez
Birth Date:November 15, 1976
Birth Place:Aubervilliers, France
Height:5' 5¼
Sex: Female
Nationality:French
Profession:actress
Education:l'Ecole du Spectacle
Father:A salesman
Mother:A restaurant manager
Brother:Michael (production assistant)
Daughter:Lilas (born on September 29, 2001)
Claim to fame:as Françoise in The Beach (2000)

Possessing a unique blend of innocence and sexuality, the alarmingly pretty, almond-eyed Virginie Ledoyen has delivered performances every bit as striking as her good looks and has arguably become the preeminent French actress of her generation. Along the way she has drawn comparisons to the likes of Jeanne Moreau, Brigitte Bardot, Isabelle Adjani and Sophie Marceau and seems poised to make her mark in English-language films as well. A model at the age of two, she began acting in commercials soon after and landed her first movie bit at age nine in "Les Exploits d'un jeune Don Juan/The Exploits of a Young Don Juan" (1987). She later starred as "Mima", the sweet child who sees the men who take her grandfather away to kill him in Philomene Esposito's attractive first feature, and played a teenager adopted by a bizarre Argentine expatriate (Marcello Mastroianni) in "Le Voleur d'enfants/The Children Thief" (both 1991).
No less a personage than the esteemed director Marcel Carne recognized her talent early, casting her in the title role of his comeback feature "Mouche". Ledoyen appeared on his arm at Cannes in 1992 as the octogenarian raised money for the project, put on hold after a few days of fall shooting due to bad weather and insurance problems surrounding Carne's age and failing health. Her first real notice came as a rebellious teen committed to an institute after a shoplifting spree in Olivier Assayas' "L'Eau froide/Cold Water" (1993), and she has credited Assayas as an inspiration, but it would remain for director Benoit Jacquot to make her star. They first teamed for the costume epic "La Vie de Marianne" (1994), a TV miniseries which drew one of the highest-ever ratings for the French channel Arte, followed by "La Fille seule/A Single Girl" (1995), a surprise hit in the USA, establishing her in the words of NEW YORK TIMES critic Stephen Holden as "a luminous natural screen presence."