Early life

Seydoux was born in 1985, the daughter of businessman Henri Seydoux and philanthropist Valérie Schlumberger. She was born in Passy, in the 16th arrondissement of Paris, but grew up in Saint-Germain-des-Prés in the 6th arrondissement. She has five younger siblings and an older sister, Camille, who works as her stylist. She had a strict Protestant upbringing, but she is not religious.

Seydoux's parents are both partly of Alsatian descent. Her father is a great-grandson of businessman and inventor Marcel Schlumberger, while her mother is a granddaughter of Marcel's brother, Maurice Schlumberger. Seydoux's parents divorced when she was three years old and they were often away, her mother in Africa and her father on business, which, combined with her large family, meant that she "felt lost in the crowd... I was very lonely as a kid. Really I always had the feeling I was an orphan." Through her family involvement in media and entertainment, Seydoux grew up acquainted with prominent artists such as photographer Nan Goldin, musicians Lou Reed and Mick Jagger and footwear designer Christian Louboutin.

For six years, Seydoux went to summer camp in America, at the behest of her father, who wanted her to learn to speak English.

My grandfather Jérôme has never felt the slightest interest in my career. have never lifted a finger to help me. Nor have I asked for anything, ever.

- Seydoux dismissing suggestions that her family connections have helped her career.

The Seydoux family is widely known in France. Her grandfather, Jérôme Seydoux, is the chairman of Pathé; her granduncle, Nicolas Seydoux, is the chairman of Gaumont Film Company; her other granduncle, Michel Seydoux, also a cinema producer, is currently the chairman of the Lille-based football club Lille OSC; and her father is CEO of the French wireless company Parrot. Despite Seydoux's connections, her family initially took no interest in her film career and did not help her. As a child, she had no desire to act. She instead wanted to be an opera singer, studying music at the Conservatoire de Paris.

Her mother Valérie Schlumberger is a former actress-turned-philanthropist and the founder of the boutique CSAO (Compagnie d'Afrique du Sénégal et de l'Afrique de l'ouest), which promotes the work of African artists. Seydoux once worked as a model for their jewellery line Jokko. Schlumberger, who lived in Senegal as a teenager, is also the founder of the charitable organisations ASAO (Association pour le Sénégal et l'Afrique de l'Ouest) and Empire des enfants, a centre for homeless children in Dakar, of which Seydoux is the "godmother."

Seydoux describes her youthful self as short-haired, slightly disheveled, and widely viewed as a bit strange: "People liked me, but I always felt like a misfit." Still concerned for her shyness in adulthood, Seydoux has admitted to having had an anxiety crisis during the 2009 Cannes Film Festival.

Career

2005-2007

Seydoux says that as a child she wanted to become an opera singer, studying music at the Conservatoire de Paris, but eventually her shyness compelled her to drop the idea. It wasn't until the age of eighteen that she decided to become an actress. One of her friends was an actor, and Seydoux has said: "I found his life wonderful, I thought, 'Oh my god, you can travel, you're free, you can do what you want, you're the boss.'" She then fell in love with an actor and decided to become an actress to impress him. She took acting classes at French drama school Les Enfants Terribles, and in 2007 she took further training at New York's Actors Studio with Corinne Blue.

In 2005, Seydoux appeared in the music video for Raphaël's single "Ne partons pas fâchés". The following year, Seydoux played her first major screen role as one of the main characters in Sylvie Ayme's Girlfriends (Mes copines). She starred in Nicolas Klotz's short film La Consolation, which was exhibited at the 2007 Cannes Film Festival. In these years, she also did her first work as a model for American Apparel, posing for their Pantytime campaign, and had a role in the films 13 French Street and The Last Mistress.

2008-2012

Seydoux first came to widespread attention in 2008, when she appeared in Christophe Honoré's The Beautiful Person, a role that earned her the 2009 Chopard Award at the Cannes Film Festival for "Best Upcoming Actress" and a César Award nomination for Most Promising Actress. In 2009 she had a major part in Jessica Hausner's Lourdes, and a small role in her first Hollywood film, Quentin Tarantino's Inglourious Basterds. In 2010 she starred alongside Russell Crowe in Ridley Scott's Robin Hood, playing Isabella of Angoulême; other 2010 work includes Louis Garrel's Petit Tailleur, and Rebecca Zlotowski's Belle Épine, which earned her a second César nomination of Most Promising Actress.

Seydoux auditioned to play Lisbeth Salander in The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo, but the part ultimately went to actress Rooney Mara. Seydoux recalled in an interview: "I got upset, but I don't think I'd be able to do anything to get that part. It was totally against my nature. I worked hard, but Lisbeth was almost anorexic. I wasn't like that". Seydoux was chosen, however, to play Gabrielle in Midnight in Paris, by Woody Allen, whom she calls one of her favorite directors of all time. There was no casting - Allen was shown pictures of three French actresses and from all he chose Seydoux. In 2011 she participated in another Hollywood production, Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol, in which she played the assassin Sabine Moreau alongside stars Tom Cruise and Jeremy Renner.

After Mission: Impossible, Seydoux returned to French cinema, starring in My Wife's Romance (Le Roman de ma femme) and Roses à crédit in 2011, and the critically acclaimed Farewell, My Queen and Sister in 2012. Also in that year, Seydoux played roles in Blue Is the Warmest Colour by Abdellatif Kechiche, and Grand Central by Rebecca Zlotowski, both exhibited at the 66th Cannes Film Festival.

2013-present

In 2013, Seydoux was nominated for Best Actress at the 38th César Awards for her role as Sidonie Laborde in Benoît Jacquot's Farewell, My Queen. Later that year at Cannes, Blue Is the Warmest Colour won the Palme d'Or and the jury, headed by Steven Spielberg, took the unusual move of awarding the prize not just to the director Abdellatif Kechiche, but also to the film's two stars, Seydoux and Adèle Exarchopoulos.

In 2014, Seydoux won the Best Actress award at the 19th Lumières Awards for her role in Blue Is the Warmest Colour and Grand Central. She was also nominated for the BAFTA Rising Star Award and the César Award for Best Actress in the same year.

Seydoux co-starred with Vincent Cassel in Beauty and the Beast, a Franco-German romantic fantasy film directed by Christophe Gans. Her other 2014 films were The Grand Budapest Hotel, a Wes Anderson film in which she cameoed as a maid; and Bertrand Bonello's Saint Laurent, in which she played the role of the titular designer's muse Loulou de la Falaise.

In 2015, Seydoux starred with Vincent Lindon in Diary of a Chambermaid, a period piece based on Octave Mirbeau's novel Le Journal d'une femme de chambre. The film, which the script was written specifically for Seydoux, marked her second collaboration with Benoît Jacquot, following the 2012 film Farewell, My Queen. Although the film was screened in competition at the 65th Berlin International Film Festival to mixed reviews, critics were generally receptive to Seydoux's performance. Peter Bradshaw of The Guardian said that it was "a fine central performance from Seydoux", while critic Jordan Mintzer wrote that her performance is "robust and engaging throughout ".

Seydoux appears alongside Colin Farrell and Rachel Weisz in Yorgos Lanthimos's English-language debut The Lobster (2015), in which she played the ruthless leader of a group of rebels, the loners, who live in the woods. The film had its premiere at the 2015 Cannes Film Festival where it won the Jury Prize. She also appears as Madeleine Swann, the Bond girl in the 2015 Spectre, the 24th James Bond film.

Seydoux is set to appear in Xavier Dolan's It's Only the End of the World, based on Jean-Luc Lagarce's play Juste la fin du monde, and also in 2017's superhero film Gambit as Bella Donna Boudreaux.

Modeling

Seydoux has modeled for numerous magazines and brands, but sees herself "always as an actress", not as a model. She participated in the Levi's television advert "Dangerous Liaison", and has been seen in several photo editorials, including for Vogue Paris, American Vogue, Numéro, L'Officiel, CRASH, Another Magazine and W magazine. She fronted the 2013 campaign for French jewellery line Didier Dubot and appeared in rag & bone's Fall 2013 campaign with Michael Pitt. She also appeared in a nude pictorial for French men's magazine Lui. In addition, Seydoux and her Blue Is the Warmest Colour co-star Adèle Exarchopoulos were featured in Miu Miu's 2014 resort ad campaign. Seydoux advertised for Prada's 2012 Resort line; and is the face of its 2013 campaign for the fragrances Prada Candy (shot by Jean-Paul Goude) and Prada Candy L'Eau (directed by Wes Anderson and Roman Coppola), and the 2014 campaign for Prada Candy Florale perfume.

Personal life

Seydoux has said that the filming of Blue Is the Warmest Colour made her question her sexuality: "Of course I did . Me as a person, as a human being... It's not nothing, making those scenes. Of course I question myself. But, I did not have any revelations." Of her boyfriend, she said he is "not an actor, he's not famous at all."

Filmography

Film and television roles

Year	Title	Role	Notes
2006	Girlfriends	Aurore
2007	La Consolation	Camille	Short film
2007	The Last Mistress	Olivia
2007	13 French Street	Jenny
2008	On War	Marie
2008	Les Vacances de Clémence	Jackie	Telefilm
2008	Des poupées et des anges	Gisèle
2008	The Beautiful Person	Junie	Won - Trophée Chopard Award for Female Revelation of the Year Bayard d'Or for Best Actress Nominated - César Award for Most Promising Actress Étoiles d'or du cinéma français for Female Revelation Lumières Award for Most Promising Actress
2009	Lourdes	Maria
2009	Des illusions	The subway girl
2009	Inglourious Basterds	Charlotte LaPadite	Broadcast Film Critics Association Award for Best Cast Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture San Diego Film Critics Society Award for Best Cast
2009	Going South	Léa
2010	Robin Hood	Isabella of Angoulême
2010	Petit tailleur	Marie-Julie	Short film
2010	Sans laisser de traces	Fleur
2010	Belle Épine	Prudence Friedmann	Nominated - César Award for Most Promising Actress
2010	Roses à crédit	Marjoline
2010	Mysteries of Lisbon	Blanche de Montfort
2011	Midnight in Paris	Gabrielle	Nominated - San Diego Film Critics Society Award for Best Performance by an Ensemble Alliance of Women Film Journalists for Most Egregious Age Difference Between The Leading Man and The Love Interest Award
2011	Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol	Sabine Moreau
2011	Time Doesn't Stand Still	Elle	Short film
2011	My Wife's Romance	Eve	Nominated - Prix Romy Schneider
2012	Farewell, My Queen	Agathe-Sidonie Laborde	Won - Cabourg Film Festival for Best Actress Nominated - César Award for Best Actress
2012	Sister	Louise	Cabourg Film Festival - Best Actress
2013	Blue Is the Warmest Colour	Emma	Won - Palme d'Or Hamptons International Film Festival Awards for Breakthrough Performer International Cinephile Society Award for Best Supporting Actress Portuguese Online Film Critics Circle Award for Best Supporting Actress Lumières Award for Best Actress Nominated - BAFTA Rising Star Award César Award for Best Actress Alliance of Women Film Journalists for Best Depiction Chicago Film Critics Association Award for Best Supporting Actress Glamour Awards for Next Breakthrough National Society of Film Critics Award for Best Supporting Actress Online Film Critics Society Award for Best Supporting Actress Prix Romy Schneider San Francisco Film Critics Circle Award for Best Supporting Actress St. Louis Gateway Film Critics Association Award for Best Supporting Actress Satellite Award for Best Supporting Actress - Motion Picture Village Voice Film Poll for Best Supporting Actress
2013	Grand Central	Karole	Lumières Award for Best Actress
2013	Prada: Candy	Candy	Short film
2014	Beauty and the Beast	Belle
2014	The Grand Budapest Hotel	Clotilde	Won - Detroit Film Critics Society for Best Acting Ensemble Florida Film Critics Circle Award for Best Cast Nominated - Critics' Choice Movie Award for Best Acting Ensemble San Diego Film Critics Society Award for Best Performance by an Ensemble Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture Washington D.C. Area Film Critics Association Award for Best Ensemble
2014	Saint Laurent	Loulou de la Falaise
2015	Diary of a Chambermaid	Célestine
2015	The Lobster	Loner Leader
2015	Spectre	Dr. Madeleine Swann
2016	It's Only the End of the World	Suzanne

Decorations

• Chevalier of the Order of Arts and Letters (2016)

[ Source: Wikipedia ]