Fanny Ardant

Fanny Marguerite Judith Ardant (born 22 March 1949) is a French actress. She has appeared in more than eighty motion pictures since 1976. Ardant won the César Award for Best Actress in 1997 for her performance in Pédale douce.

Personal life

Ardant was born in Saumur, Maine-et-Loire, France, to a military attaché father. She grew up in Monaco until age 17, when she moved to Aix-en-Provence to study at the Institut d'études politiques d'Aix-en-Provence. In her early twenties, her interest turned to acting and in 1974 she made her first appearance on stage.

Ardant has three daughters: Lumir, from a relationship with French actor Dominique Leverd, was born in 1975; Ardant and partner François Truffaut, together from 1981 until his death in 1984, had daughter Joséphine in 1983; her third daughter Baladine, from a relationship with Italian film producer and cinematographer Fabio Conversi, was born in 1990.

Career

By the early 1980s, Ardant was a major film star, gaining international recognition for her role opposite Gérard Depardieu in La Femme d'à côté (The Woman Next Door). The film, directed by François Truffaut, brought Ardant her first César Award nomination for best actress in 1982 and in 1984 she was nominated again for Vivement dimanche!. Eventually, she became Truffaut's partner, giving birth to their daughter, Joséphine Truffaut, on 28 September 1983. Initially, her youthful beauty brought popularity but over time her sophistication and acting skills made her one of France's most admired actresses. She proved her versatility, playing a comedic role in Pédale douce for which she won the 1997 César Award for Best Actress.

Fluent in English and Italian, Ardant has starred in several Hollywood and British films. Her most recent English-language film was the 2002 Franco Zeffirelli production Callas Forever, in which she portrayed opera diva Maria Callas. It opened the 14th Annual Palm Springs International Film Festival on 9 January 2003. In 2003, Ardant received the Stanislavsky Award at the 25th Moscow International Film Festival (for the outstanding achievement in the career of acting and devotion to the principles of Stanislavsky's school).

In 2009, she became a director and screenwriter, with Cendres et sang (Ashes and Blood). She also took part in a rare performance of Sardou's La Haine on 19 July 2009 at the Festival de Radio France et Montpellier Languedoc Roussillon, with Gérard Depardieu, the concert broadcast on France Musique.

In 2010, she directed a short feature, Absent Chimeras (Chimères absentes in French), in which she also stars. She made this short film in order to raise public awareness to the plight of Romani people in Europe, a cause she personally defends. In 2011, she starred in the music video for Elle me dit, the first French single by Lebanese singer Mika, and appeared in the play based on Joan Didion's 2005 novel The Year of Magical Thinking in the Théâtre de l'Atelier, Paris. In 2013, she made a cameo appearance as herself in The Great Beauty.

In 2018, Ardant starred in the Swiss drama film Shock Waves – Diary of My Mind by Ursula Meier. It was screened in the Panorama section at the 68th Berlin International Film Festival. In 2019, Ardant directed the opera Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk at the Greek National Opera.

Controversy

Ardant once expressed admiration for Renato Curcio, ex-leader of the militant Red Brigades (Brigate Rosse), saying that it was good of him to adhere to his principles. She later discovered that it would be difficult to attend a film festival in Venice, as her declaration had created much scandal in Italy. The Governor of Veneto said that he would prefer that Ardant not visit his region. She then pleaded for forgiveness from victims of terrorism.

In September 2009, Ardant signed a petition in support of director Roman Polanski, calling for his release after he was arrested in Switzerland in relation to his 1977 charge for drugging and raping a 13-year-old girl.

Selected filmography

Awards

César Awards

Molière Awards

Others