Laetitia Casta

Laetitia Marie Laure Casta (; born 11 May 1978) is a French model and actress.

Casta became a "GUESS? Girl" in 1993 and gained further recognition as a Victoria's Secret Angel from 1998 to 2000 and as a spokesperson for cosmetics company L'Oréal. She has appeared on over 250 covers of such popular magazines as Cosmopolitan, Vogue, Rolling Stone, Elle and Glamour, and has walked runways for designers such as Yves Saint Laurent, Jean-Paul Gaultier, Chanel, Dior, Dolce & Gabbana, Paco Rabanne, Kenzo, Louis Vuitton, Christian Lacroix, Roberto Cavalli, Jacquemus, Ralph Lauren and Vivienne Westwood.

As an actress, Casta appeared in such films as Asterix and Obelix vs. Caesar (1999), Born in 68 (2008), Face (2009), Gainsbourg: A Heroic Life (2010), which earned her a nomination for the César Award for Best Supporting Actress, Arbitrage (2012), A Faithful Man (2018) and The Crusade (2021).

Early life Laetitia Casta was born in Pont-Audemer, Normandy. Her mother, Line Blin, is from Normandy. Her father, Dominique Casta, is from Corsica. Casta has an older brother, Jean-Baptiste, and a younger sister, Marie-Ange. She spent her childhood in Normandy and Corsica.

Laetitia has one quarter Italian ancestry from her father.

Career Modeling Casta's modeling career reportedly began when she was discovered at age 15 by the photographer Frédéric Cresseaux, after winning a village beauty pageant during a family holiday in her father's native Corsica She had been unknowingly signed up for the pageant by her brother Jean-Baptiste.

Casta has been the L'Oréal Paris brand ambassador since 1998. She has been featured in Pantene, Guess?, Tommy Hilfiger, Valentino, Givenchy, Ralph Lauren, Cacharel, Lolita Lempicka, Chanel, Dolce and Gabbana, Nina Ricci, Swarovski, Yves Saint Laurent, Louis Vuitton, Roberto Cavalli, Jacquemus, J. Crew, Tiffany & Co., Loewe, Bulgari, Giorgio Armani, H&M, Miu Miu, Pepe Jeans, Escada, Alberta Ferretti and XOXO ad campaigns. She has appeared on more than 250 magazine covers including Harper's Bazaar, Elle, Marie Claire, Glamour, Cosmopolitan, Vanity Fair, i-D, Rolling Stone and Vogue (Paris, España, Germany, Russia and Turkey). Casta was the last muse of fashion designer Yves Saint Laurent, serving as the bride in his fashion shows She also appeared in Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue three consecutive times, as well at the Pirelli Calendar 1999 by Herb Ritts, 2000 by Annie Leibovitz and 2019 by Albert Watson.

She is the face of fragrances Chanel's Allure, Givenchy's Forbidden flower, Lolita Lempicka's Lolita, Cacharel's Promise, Bulgari's BLV II, Ralph Lauren's Notorious, Yves Saint Laurent's Baby doll and Paris, Nina Ricci's L'Extase and D&G's Pour Femme. The Parisians could follow her Adventures in the Galeries Lafayette by Jean-Paul Goude. For Christmas 2011, Peter Lindbergh shot True Love, the very thought of Casta at the summit of Manhattan and between the snowy lions of marble of the New York Public Library for Tiffany & Co. On 10 March 2010, in Paris, she opened the Louis Vuitton fall/winter 2010 fashion show. On 27 September 2010, she closed the Roberto Cavalli spring/summer 2011 fashion show in Milan. On 18 January 2020, in Paris, she opened Jacquemus fall/winter 2020 fashion show. In September 2020, Casta appeared in the fall/winter ad campaign for Yves Saint Laurent and for Valentino.

She was ranked as an "Industry Icon" by models.com, and was ranked as a "New Super" .

Acting Her first role was as Falbala in Asterix & Obelix Take On Caesar directed by Claude Zidi, a live-action adaptation of the comic book Asterix, in which Obelix, portrayed by Gérard Depardieu, plays Casta's love interest. Casta appeared in Les Ames Fortes, directed by Raul Ruiz. Her performance as Brigitte Bardot in the movie Gainsbourg (Vie heroique) earned her a Cesar Award nomination. Casta served as a jury member at the 69th Venice International Film Festival in 2012.

Marianne controversy In 1999, Casta was ranked first in a national survey ordered by the French Mayors' Association to decide who should be the new model for the bust of Marianne, an allegorical symbol of the French Republic, which stands inside every French town hall. Casta became the focus of a controversy when, after being selected to be Marianne, newspapers in Britain and France reported that she had relocated to London where taxes on high earners are lower. Casta's father said she went to London for professional reasons; on a TV show, she also said that she rented a flat in London to be near her boyfriend. The French minister of the interior spoke about Casta on the radio; comparing the advantages of living in France with regard to the drawbacks of London after political opponents used Casta's relocation to London as an opportunity to criticise the government.

Political involvement On 6 April 2008, Casta demonstrated in a White March of nonviolent protest to ask for the immediate release of Ingrid Betancourt, presidential candidate kidnapped since 2002 by the FARC. On 30 April 2002, she attended the demonstration Vive la République after the first round election of the 2002 presidential election.

She was appointed as a UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador on 9 December 2016.

Personal life On 19 October 2001, Casta gave birth to a daughter, whose father was her boyfriend, the photographer Stephane Sednaoui. Casta was engaged to Italian actor Stefano Accorsi, with whom she has a son born in 2006 and a daughter born in 2009. In June 2017, Casta married her boyfriend of two years, French actor Louis Garrel; in 2021, she gave birth to a son. After divorcing in the summer of 2025, Casta began dating and was seen with the French labor lawyer Geoffrey Barthélémy Cennamo.

Filmography Year Title Role Director Notes 1999 Asterix et Obelix contre Cesar(Asterix & Obelix Take On Caesar) Falbala Claude Zidi 2000 La Bicyclette Bleue(The Blue Bicycle) Lea Delmas Thierry Binisti TV film for France2 Gitano Lucia Junco Manuel Palacios 2001 Les ames fortes(Savage Souls) Therese Raoul Ruiz 2002 Rue des plaisirs(Love Street) Marion Patrice Leconte Performs on the soundtrack 2003 Errance(Wandering) Lou Damien Odoul 2004 Luisa Sanfelice Luisa Sanfelice Paolo TavianiVittorio Taviani TV film for France2, RAI Uno 2006 Le grand appartement(The Big Apartment) Francesca Cigalone Pascal Thomas La Deraison du Louvre(The Irrationality of the Louvre) The young woman Ange Leccia Short film without dialog shot in the Louvre museum for which Casta was for the first time in cover of Les Cahiers du Cinéma. Nymphea(Nymphaea) The naiad Ange Leccia Short film 2007 Le Petit Monde de Charlotte(Charlotte's Web) Charlotte A. Cavatica Gary Winick Voice in the French-language dub. 2008 Nes en 68(Born in 68) Catherine Olivier DucastelJacques Martineau Cabourg: Golden Swann for Best Actress La jeune fille et les loups(The Maiden and the Wolves) Angele Amblard Gilles Legrand 2009 Visage(Face) ? Salome Tsai Ming-Liang Fleurs dans le miroir, lune dans l'eau(Flowers in the mirror, moon in the water) herself, Salome Francois Lunel 2010 Gainsbourg: A Heroic Life Brigitte Bardot Joann Sfar Nominated — César Award for Best Supporting Actress 2011 La nouvelle guerre des boutons(The War of the Buttons) Simone Christophe Barratier Derriere les murs(Behind the Walls) Suzanne Julien LacombePascal Sid Островът (Ostrovat)(The Island) Sophie Kamen Kalev Rio Perla (Jewel) Carlos Saldanha 2012 Arbitrage Julie Cote Nicholas Jarecki Do Not Disturb Anna Yvan Attal 2013 Une histoire d'amour 2018 A Faithful Man Marianne Louis Garrel The Ideal Palace Philomene Nils Tavernier 2019Le Milieu de l'horizon Nicole Delphine Lehericey 2021 The Crusade Marianne Louis Garrel 2022 Coma Sharon (voice) Bertrand Bonello 2023 Consent Vanessa's mother Vanessa Filho 2024 Una storia nera Clara Leonardo D'Agostini 2026 Le crime du 3e étage Colette Courreau / Rebacca Daumas-Gassac Rémi Bezançon

Music videos Year Singer Song Director 2010 Rihanna "Te Amo" Anthony Mandler 1999 Chris Isaak "Baby Did a Bad Bad Thing" Herb Ritts 1998 I MuvriniSting "Terre d'Oru" Stefano Salvati

Theatre Year Play Role Playwright Stage director Theatre City Review 2017 Scenes from a Marriage Marianne Ingmar Bergman Safy Nebbou Théâtre de l'Œuvre Paris 9th L'Express 2008 Elle t'attend(She is waiting for you) Anna Florian Zeller Florian Zeller Théâtre de la Madeleine Paris 8th Madame Figaro 20052004 Ondine Ondine Paris 10th L'Humanité

Humanitarian action Year Association Comment 2010 Porteurs d'Eau Water-carrier is an initiative of France Libertes - Danielle-Mitterrand foundation 2006 Rose Marie Claire Casta among Claire Chazal, Isabelle Adjani, Axelle Red, Monica Bellucci and Tina Kieffer with the Rose Marie Claire are shot by Jeff Manzetti for the association Toutes a l'ecole 2005 Action Innocence She belongs to the Committee of support of Action Innocence to protect children from online sexual predators. 2004 Action Contre la Faim Casta drew a winged blue heart on a plate for the bidding of 19 November 2004 to help Action against Hunger 2002 Occi, paese rinascitu In the headquarters of the association Occi recovered village at the Caffe di a Mossa of Lumio in Corsica, Casta helped to reconstruct the old chapel of Annunziata in the abandoned village of Occi.

Awards and recognition Year Award By Result 2021 Excellence Award Davide Campari 74th Locarno Film Festival 2012 Chevalier dans l'Ordre des Arts et des Lettres(Knight in Order of Arts and of Letters) France Minister of Culture and of Communication 2011 Nominated for the Cesar Award of the Best Supporting Actressas Brigitte Bardot in Gainsbourg (Vie heroique) Cesar Awards 2008 Golden Swann of the Best Actressas Catherine in Born in 68 Cabourg Film Festival 2001 Ranked No. 1 Top 50 Most Beautiful Women Askmen.com 1999 Marianne for the 21st century 82nd congress of AMF, the French Mayors Association

Books