The actress who made a name for herself with the movie "Amélie": Who is Audrey Tautou?

Her full name is Audrey Tautou Justine, she was born on August 9, 1976 in Beaumont, France. She was born to her father, a dental surgeon Bernard Tautou, and her mother, Eveline, a teacher. Growing up in Montluçon, Tautou became interested in acting at an early age. Tautou, who started her education at Cours Florent, learned English and Italian as well as acting lessons there. Later, Tautou studied at a private university called Institut Catholique de Paris.

In 1998, Tautou participated in "Jeunes Premiers" (The Young Debuts), a TV show-like competition sponsored by Canal+ called Star Search. Here she won the Best Young Actress Award at the 9th Béziers Young Actors Festival. The following year, she appeared as Marie in the romantic comedy "Venus Beauty Institute" directed by Tonie Marshall. The critically acclaimed film was also a moderate success at the box office.

In 2000, Tautou was honored with the Prix Suzanne Bianchetti Award as the most promising young film actress in her country. In the same year, she appeared in the comedy film "The Libertine" directed by Gabriel Aghion and adapted from a play. Later that year, she starred with Faudel in the French film "Happenstance" directed by Laurent Firode.

The following year, Tautou took on the eccentric lead role in the romantic comedy film "Amélie" (original French title: Le Fabuleux Destin d'Amélie Poulain and English title: The Fabulous Destiny of Amélie Poulain) directed by Jean-Pierre. The movie, which was released on August 16, 2001, received great acclaim with great praise. Tautou achieved an international reputation for her performance. The film, which also achieved great success at the box office, received many awards and nominations in various categories. In addition, the film won the Best Film award at the European Film Awards. In addition, she was nominated for four César Awards, two BAFTA Awards, and five Academy Awards. Additionally, it was declared one of the biggest international successes for a French film and is the highest-grossing French film released.

Later that year, she appeared with Edouard Baer in the romantic comedy film "God Is Great and I'm Not" directed by Pascale Bailly. The following year, she co-starred with Samuel Le Bihan in the psychological drama film "He Loves Me... He Loves Me Not" directed by Lætitia Colombani. The movie received generally very positive reviews. Later that year, she appeared with Roma Duris and Judith Godreche in the film "L'Auberge Espagnole" directed and written by Cédric Klapisch. The movie was positive at both the box office and critically.

Tautou then got the lead role in the British social thriller Dirty Pretty Thing, directed by Stephen Frears and written by Steven Knight, a drama about two illegal immigrants in London. The film was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay and won the 2003 British Independent Film Award for Best Independent British Feature. In addition to this, it achieved moderate success at the box office as well as receiving positive reviews.

In 2003, she appeared in the French movie "Les Marins perdus", written and directed by Claire Devers and based on the novel of the same name. In the same year, she appeared as one of the leading roles in the musical film "Not on the Lips" directed by Alain Resnais. The film ended in mixed reviews and a commercial failure. Later, she starred in the French film "Happy End", written and directed by Amos Kollek, with Justin Theroux, Jennifer Tilly and Jim Parsons.

The following year, Tautou starred as Mathilde Donnay in "A Very Long Engagement," a romantic war movie co-written and directed by Jean-Pierre Jeunet and based on the novel of the same name. The film tells of a fictional story about a young woman's desperate search for her fiancé, who may have died in the Battle of the Somme during the First World War. The film received generally positive reviews from critics and achieved moderate financial gains at the box office. In addition, she has won several awards and nominations in various categories and was nominated for Best Actress at the 30th César Awards for her performance in Tautou. In June of the same year, Tautou was invited to join the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS).

In the following year, Tautou appeared in the same portrayal of the sequel comedy drama "Russian Dolls". The film was generally well received by critics and grossed twice the production budget at the box office. In 2005, she appeared in her first full Hollywood production with Tom Hanks in the mystery thriller "The Da Vinci Code" (2006), based on Dan Brown's best-selling novel of the same name and directed by Ron Howard. The film was a huge commercial success at the box office, despite receiving mixed or average reviews. In addition, it became the second highest-grossing film of 2006.

She co-starred with Gad Elmaleh in the romantic comedy "Hors de prix"(Priceless), written and directed by Pierre Salvadori and adapted from another film, released on 13 December 2006. The film, which received generally positive reviews, was a success at the box office, grossing more than double its production budget.

The following year, she appeared in the romantic movie "Hunting and Gathering" (French title: Ensemble, c'est tout), adapted from the novel of the same name and directed by Claude Berri, with Guillaume Canet, Laurent Stocker, Françoise Bertin and Alain Sachs. The movie, which was released on March 21, 2007, was met with a successful result at the box office. In addition, she crowned her success by winning many awards and nominations at various award ceremonies.

Tautou starred as fashion designer Coco Chanel in the biographical drama movie "Coco avant Chanel" (Coco Before Chanel), directed by Anne Fontaine. The film, which started shooting in September 2008 in Paris, was released on April 22, 2009 in France. It has also been successful with its worldwide revenue against its production budget. The film was nominated for four BAFTA Awards, three European Film Awards, six César Awards and an Academy Award for Best Costume Design.

The following year, she co-starred with Nathalie Baye and Sami Bouajila in the comedy-romantic film "De vrais mensonges" directed by Pierre Salvadori. In 2011, she co-starred with François Damiens in "Delicacy", a French romantic comedy-drama film directed by David and Stéphane Foenkinos and based on the novel of the same name. The film received mixed and average reviews, as well as various awards and nominations. In the same year, she starred as Sarah Anderen in the drama film "Headwinds" (French title: Des vents contraires) directed by Jalil Lespert.

In 2012, she co-starred with Gilles Lellouche in the drama film "Thérèse Desqueyroux", based on the novel of the same name and directed by Claude Miller. The following year, she starred in the surreal romantic science fiction film "Mood Indigo" (French title: L'écume des jours) co-written and directed by Michel Gondry. The film was met with mixed reviews as well as being a box office failure.

The following year, she appeared in the sequel comedy-drama "Chinese Puzzle" (French title: Casse-tête chinois)(2013), written and directed by Cédric Klapisch. At the box office, it earned equivalent to the production budget. In addition, it managed to receive generally positive reviews.

In 2015, she starred as Marie-Thérèse Guéret in the comedy film "Microbe & Gasoline" (French title: Microbe et Gasoil) written and directed by Michel Gondry. The film, which was received positively by the critics, did not do well at the box office. The following year, she appeared as Valentine in the romantic historical drama film "Eternity" (French title: Éternité), written and directed by Tran Anh Hung. That same year, she co-starred with Lambert Wilson and Pierre Niney in the biographical adventure film "Odyssey" (French title: L'Odyssée), based on a non-fiction book and directed by Jérôme Salle. Despite receiving average returns from both critics and the box office, the film received awards and nominations in various fields.

Later in the year, she appeared in the comedy-drama film "Open at Night" (Ouvert la nuit), written and directed by Édouard Baer, with Édouard Baer and Sabrina Ouazani. In 2018, she also appeared in her film "The Trouble With You" (French title: En liberté!) directed by Pierre Salvadori.

In 2020, she starred in "The Jesus Rolls," a crime comedy film written and directed by John Turturro. The film resulted in both mixed or average reviews and a box office bomb.

Private life

Tautou appeared in the music video for British singer-songwriter Charlie Winston's single "I Love Your Smile". She also hosted the opening and closing ceremonies of the 2013 Cannes Film Festival. Later, she sat on the jury at the 2015 Berlin Film Festival.

Tautou, who started modeling at a very young age, enjoyed attending modeling classes and other events. She has modeled for the covers of famous magazines such as Vogue, Elle, Harper's Bazaar, Marie Claire and many more editorials in many countries. She has also appeared as spokesperson and advertising campaigns for many brands, including the care and make-up company L'Oreal, luxury goods manufacturer brand Montblanc and perfume brand Chanel No.5. Tautou has been declared a fashionista and an icon by the press for her clothing and style over the years.