Born into a family of artists, Emmanuelle Seigner is a French actress from Paris. Her magnetic beauty was already noticeable at the age of fourteen, when she became a model and was featured in the pages of several international fashion magazines. In 1984 she had a small part in L’année des Méduses, and chose to devote herself to cinema after crossing paths with Jean-Luc Godard, who offered her her first big role in Détective (1985). It was during Frantic (1988), where she plays a nice young Parisian woman, that she met Roman Polanski. They were married the following year. After being nominated for the César for Best Supporting Actress for Place Vendôme (1998), she returned, for the third time, to being directed by her husband in La Neuvième Porte, where she played the incarnation of the Devil. Throughout the years, the versatility of the actress was evident in the ease with which she switched from dramatic to comedic roles. Most recently, Emmanuelle Seigner was the main attraction in Chicas, Yasmina Reza’s first film, before starring in Jerzy Skolimowski’s Essential Killing, a recipient of the Venice Festival’s Jury Award. In 2012 she joined Marc-André Grondin and Gérard Depardieu in Jean-Pierre Améris’ adaptation of the Victor Hugo novel L’Homme qui rit. In 2013, Seigner starred in La Vénus à la Fourrure, her fourth collaboration with Polanski, alongside Mathieu Amalric. In 2016, she is part of the cast of Fanny Ardant’s most recent film, Le divan de Staline.
Emmanuelle Seigner
Actress