Elsa Zylberstein

Elsa Zylberstein (born Elsa Florence Zylbersztejn, 16 October 1968) is a French actress. After studying drama, she began her film career in 1989, and has appeared in more than 60 films. She won the César Award for Best Supporting Actress for I've Loved You So Long.

Early life and education Zylberstein was born Elsa Florence Zylbersztejn on 16 October 1968 in Boulogne-Billancourt, in Paris to a Polish-Jewish father, Albert Zylbersztejn (born 1938). Her mother was French Catholic, Liliane Chenard (born 1940). Her father is a former physicist and her mother is a beautician for Dior. She has a brother, Benjamin (born 1970). Zylberstein felt both Jewish and Christian; now she is "attracted to Buddhist rites".

She has practised classical dance since her childhood. After a Baccalauréat A3, she began university and studied English, but she was strongly attracted to artistic pursuits. She studied acting under Francis Huster at the Cours Florent on the advice of Charlotte Rampling, whom Elsa Zylberstein's father met by chance on a plane, and also works with a professor at the Actors Studio.

Career

In 1991, Elsa Zylberstein appeared in Van Gogh, a film directed by Maurice Pialat. In 1992, she won the Michel Simon Prize and the first of her three nominations for the César Award for Most Promising Actress. In 1993, she played a student in Beau fixe, and won the Prix Romy Schneider.

She inspired young directors such as Pascale Bailly, Diane Bertrand, and especially Martine Dugowson, who offered her the lead role alongside Romane Bohringer in Mina Tannenbaum (1994). She then appeared in Farinelli, Mr N., and Jefferson in Paris. She played Suzanne Valadon in Lautrec, and then Jeanne Hébuterne in Modigliani. Zylberstein played a Yiddish-language singer who falls in love with a gay clarinetist in Man Is a Woman, which also starred Antoine de Caunes. She also appeared in the films Time Regained, Love Torn in a Dream, and That Day, all three of which were directed by Raúl Ruiz.

In 2006 she played Mathilde, an Orthodox Jewish woman faced with marriage problems, in Little Jerusalem. She also appeared in J'invente rien, based on a novel by Christine Angot. In 2008, she was in two films which were each presented at the Berlin Festival: I've Loved You So Long, with Kristin Scott Thomas, directed by Philippe Claudel, and La Fabrique des sentiments.

Other activities She has been a member of several festival juries, including the 1999 Deauville American Film Festival, the 2010 British Film Festival in Dinard, the Beaune International Detective Film Festival (in both 2009 and 2015) and the Cannes Film Festival in 2021.

Recognition and awards Zylberstein received the Michel Simon Prize in 1992 for her performance in Van Gogh, as well as a César nomination for Best Female Newcomer.

In 2009, she won the César Award for Best Supporting Actress for her role in I've Loved You So Long.

Personal life Zylberstein dated Antoine de Caunes between 1997 and 2005. She then dated Nicolas Bedos from 2005 to 2008.

In 2009, Zylberstein signed a petition in support of film director Roman Polanski, calling for his release after Polanski was arrested in Switzerland in relation to his 1977 sexual abuse case.

Filmography

Theatre

Year Title Author Director Notes 1990 Joko's Anniversary Roland Topor Jean-Louis Jacopin Petit Odéon 1991 Eurydice Jean Anouilh Georges Wilson Théâtre de l'Œuvre 1993 Pygmalion George Bernard Shaw Bernard Murat Théâtre Hébertot 1997–98 Six Characters in Search of an Author Luigi Pirandello Jorge Lavelli Théâtre de l'Eldorado 2000 Le Malin Plaisir David Hare Jacques Lassalle Théâtre de l'Atelier 2003 Proof David Auburn Bernard Murat (2) Théâtre des Mathurins 2005 Laissez-moi Marcelle Sauvageot Laetitia Masson Théâtre des Bouffes du Nord 2007 Gamines Sylvie Testud Sylvie Testud Théâtre national de Nice 2009 Le Démon de Hannah Antoine Rault Michel Fagadau Théâtre des Champs-Élysées 2011 Le Temps qui passe Karine Silla-Pérez Vincent Pérez Théâtre des Mathurins 2012 Les Derniers Jours de Stefan Zweig Laurent Seksik Gérard Gélas Théâtre Antoine-Simone Berriau2014 Vita and Virginia Eileen Atkins Jean-Marie Besset Festival NAVA Splendour Géraldine Maillet Catherine Schaub Théâtre de ParisGlobes de Cristal Award - Best Actress