Sophie Marceau (nee Sophie Maupu) was born November 17, 1966, in Paris, France. Sophie Marceau began acting in films at 14. Up until that point, she grew up far away from studios spots. Back then, she was living in the Paris suburbs and her father was a truck driver. At that time, she learned from one of her friends that Claude Pinoteau (French director) was looking for new faces, for a teenagers movie call La Boum. This movie turned out to be a huge success. This led to the sequel La Boum 2 (1982) for which she received the 1983 Cesar for Most Promising Actress. She then bought back her contract with Gaumont when she was sixteen for one million French franks.
Sophie was honored with the Cesar (French Oscar) for Most Promising Actress, in 1983. Legally tied to her contract with Gaumont, the movie studio she had worked with, Sophie paid one million French francs to buy back her contract when she was 16 years old of course, she had to borrow the money to pay the large sum, but it was worth it for a newly independent Sophie. Sophie then broke away from the mold of a teenage star and moved onto more dramatic parts, in films such as 1984's Fort Saganne and Joyeuse Paques (Happy Easter); 1985's L'Amour Braque (directed by her long-time boyfriend, Andrzej Zulawski) and Police; 1986's Descente aux Enfers (Descent Into Hell); 1988's L'Etudiante (The Student) and Chouans!; and 1989's Mes Nuits Sont Plus Belles Que Vos Jours (My Nights Are More Beautiful Than Your Days), also directed by Andrzej Zulawski.
She was named Best Romantic Actress at the 1988 International Festival of Romantic Movies, for her role in Chouans! After a role in Pacific Palisades in 1990 and La Note Bleue, her third film by her companion, Sophie opted for lighter, fluffier roles, such as the comedy Fanfan in 1993 and La Fille de D'Artagnan a year later. She even ventured into theater with her role in Eurydice in 1991, which garnered her a Marceau a Moliere Award for Most Promising Newcomer. She took to the stage again in 1994, as Eliza Dolittle in Pygmalion. But it was her role as Princess Isabelle in the Oscar-winning epic, Braveheart, that made international audiences take notice of the French beauty.
The same year that Braveheart madness was in the air, Sophie went behind the camera for a 9-minute film, L'Aube a L'envers, which opened for a film at the Cannes Film Festival. While Sophie tries to stay away from the Hollywood scene and not get caught up in the circuit, she has an impressive resume of American films such as her co-starring role in the David Spade comedy, Lost & Found and William Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream, along with Michelle Pfeiffer and Calista Flockhart. In 1999, she jumped to Bond Girl status as Elektra King, starring opposite Pierce Brosnan in the 19th Bond outing, The World Is Not Enough. Since her Bond fame, Sophie has starred in the French films La Fidelite, again under the direction of Zulawski and Belphegor Le Fantome Du Louvre.
On July 24th, 1995, Sophie gave birth to her first child, a boy named Vincent. She is unmarried, and lives in Paris with Andrzej Zulawski, a Polish director who is 24 years her senior. Sophie is an outspoken opponent of blood sports, and has joined Brigitte Bardot in protests against dove shooting in the Gironde and bullfighting in Provence. In addition to her work for animal welfare, Sophie is a patron of Arc-en-Ciel ("Rainbow"), an organization which helps sick children realize their dreams.
