Léa Seydoux

Léa Hélène Seydoux-Fornier de Clausonne (; born 1 July 1985) is a French actress. Prolific in both French cinema and Hollywood, she has received five César Award nominations, two Lumière Awards, a Palme d'Or and a BAFTA Award nomination. In 2009, she won the Trophée Chopard Award for Female Revelation of the Year at the Cannes Film Festival. In 2016, Seydoux was honoured with appointment as a Dame of the Order of Arts and Letters. In 2022, the French government made her a Dame of the National Order of Merit.

She began her acting career with her film debut in Girlfriends (2006), with early roles in The Last Mistress (2007) and On War (2008). She won acclaim for her French roles in The Beautiful Person (2008), (2010), and Farewell, My Queen (2012). During this time, she expanded her career appearing in supporting roles in high-profile Hollywood films, including Quentin Tarantino's Inglourious Basterds (2009), Ridley Scott's Robin Hood (2010), Woody Allen's Midnight in Paris (2011) and the action film Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol (2011).

Her breakthrough role came with the controversial and acclaimed film Blue Is the Warmest Colour (2013) for which she received the Lumière Award for Best Actress, as well as the at the Cannes Film Festival along with her co-star Adèle Exarchopoulos and director Abdellatif Kechiche. She received her second Lumière Award within the same year for the film Grand Central. She gained international attention for her role as Bond girl Madeleine Swann in Spectre (2015), and No Time to Die (2021).

She has appeared in the Wes Anderson films The Grand Budapest Hotel (2014) and The French Dispatch (2021). Other notable roles include Beauty and the Beast (2014), Saint Laurent (2014), The Lobster (2015), Zoe (2018), France (2021), Crimes of the Future (2022), One Fine Morning (2022), The Beast (2023), Dune: Part Two (2024), and the video games Death Stranding (2019) and Death Stranding 2: On the Beach (2025).

Seydoux has also worked as a model. She has been showcased in Vogue Paris, American Vogue, L'Officiel, Another Magazine and W magazine, among others. Since 2016, she has been a brand ambassador for Louis Vuitton.

Early life Léa Seydoux was born on 1 July 1985, the daughter of businessman Henri Jérôme Seydoux-Fornier de Clausonne and philanthropist Valérie Schlumberger. She was born in Passy, in the 16th arrondissement of Paris, and grew up in Saint-Germain-des-Prés in the 6th arrondissement. She had a strict Protestant upbringing, but she is not religious. Seydoux is one of seven children; her siblings and half-siblings include stylist Camille Seydoux.

Seydoux's parents are both partly of Alsatian descent. The Seydoux family is widely known in France and influential in the movie industry. Her grandfather, Jérôme Seydoux, is the chairman of Pathé; her great-uncle, Nicolas Seydoux, is the chairman of Gaumont; As a child, she had no desire to act. She instead wanted to be an opera singer, studying music at the Conservatoire de Paris. Seydoux said: "I had a beautiful voice, but I lost it. I was too shy. I went to the Conservatoire de Paris, and I tried to learn how to properly sing. It was too difficult. You have to do all the breathing exercises. You have to have a very strict regimen".

Seydoux's parents divorced when she was three years old and they were often away, her mother in Africa and her father on business, which, combined with her large family, meant that she "felt lost in the crowd ... I was very lonely as a kid. Really, I always had the feeling I was an orphan". Through her family involvement in media and entertainment, Seydoux grew up acquainted with artists such as photographer Nan Goldin, musicians Lou Reed and Mick Jagger and footwear designer Christian Louboutin, who is her godfather.

Her mother Valérie Schlumberger is a former actress-turned-philanthropist and the founder of the boutique Compagnie d'Afrique du Sénégal et de l'Afrique de l'ouest (CSAO), which promotes the work of African artists. Seydoux once worked as a model for their jewellery line Jokko. Schlumberger, who lived in Senegal as a teenager, is also the founder of the charitable organisations Association pour le Sénégal et l'Afrique de l'Ouest (ASAO) and Empire des enfants, a centre for homeless children in Dakar, of which Seydoux is the "godmother". saying: 'I'll never be Sophie Marceau, I'm too weird'. Later, she stated: "In the middle of the Cannes hysteria, I felt fragile and vulnerable. I made this comparison because I'll never be France's "petite fiancée". Sophie Marceau represents anything, while I don't have a definite place. But it's not a problem, it's an observation".

Career 2005–2007: Career beginnings Seydoux has stated that as a child she wanted to become an opera singer, studying music at the Conservatoire de Paris, but eventually her shyness compelled her to drop the idea. It was not until the age of eighteen that she decided to become an actress. One of her close friends was an actor, and Seydoux has said: "I found his life wonderful, I thought, 'Oh my God, you can travel, you're free, you can do what you want, you're the boss. She took acting classes at French drama school Les Enfants Terribles, and in 2007 she took further training at New York's Actors Studio with Corinne Blue.

In 2005, Seydoux appeared in the music video for Raphaël's single, "Ne partons pas fâchés". The following year, Seydoux played her first major screen role as one of the main characters in Sylvie Ayme's Girlfriends (Mes copines). She starred in Nicolas Klotz's short film La Consolation, which was exhibited at the 2007 Cannes Film Festival.

In these years, she also did her first work as a model for American Apparel, posing for their Pantytime campaign, and had a role in the films 13 French Street and The Last Mistress. when she appeared in Christophe Honoré's The Beautiful Person, a role that earned her the 2009 Chopard Award at the Cannes Film Festival for Best Upcoming Actress and a César Award nomination for Most Promising Actress. Rebecca Zlotowski's , which earned her a second César Award nomination for Most Promising Actress, and Raúl Ruiz's Mysteries of Lisbon. Seydoux auditioned and was one of the four finalists, to play Lisbeth Salander in The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo, but the part ultimately went to actress Rooney Mara. Later, Seydoux participated in another Hollywood production, Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol, in which she played the assassin Sabine Moreau alongside stars Tom Cruise and Jeremy Renner. She also played Elle in the short-film Time Doesn't Stand Still by Benjamin Millepied and Asa Mader. After Mission: Impossible, Seydoux returned to French cinema, starring in My Wife's Romance (Le Roman de ma femme) and Roses à crédit.

More generally, Léa Seydoux's career accelerated from 2012 and allowed the actress to choose her projects from the offers she received, without necessarily having to go through screen tests. According to the specialist press, the young woman then appeared as one of the "essential French actresses in Hollywood", and even as "the most sought-after actress of her generation", who at only 26 years-old, "has always made the right choices and has tackled almost all genres". In the process, she became the image of the perfume Candy for the Italian luxury group Prada.

In 2012, she starred in Farewell, My Queen. The film opened the 62nd Berlin International Film Festival, where it was met with critical acclaim. Critics praised director Benoît Jacquot's decision to cast Seydoux in the key-role of Sidonie, stating "her luminous but watchful eyes suggest a soul wise beyond her years." Kenneth Turan of the Los Angeles Times wrote that Seydoux was an excellent choice for the part, calling her a remarkably versatile young actress and pointed to the stark difference in her characters from her previous roles in Midnight in Paris and Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol. That same year, she appeared in the Swiss drama film, Sister. The film competed in competition at the 62nd Berlin International Film Festival, where it won the Special Award, the Silver Bear, and was selected as the Swiss entry for the Best Foreign Language Oscar at the 85th Academy Awards. Critics again praised Seydoux for bringing a strong array of emotions to a highly unsympathetic part and called her performance intensely moving. That year, Seydoux was attached to star in Michael Gondry's Mood Indigo, but had to drop out before filming due to scheduling conflicts with Blue Is the Warmest Colour, being replaced by Charlotte Le Bon. By the end of 2012, she had filmed Blue Is the Warmest Colour by Abdellatif Kechiche, and Grand Central by Rebecca Zlotowski, and both exhibited at the 66th Cannes Film Festival.

Citation bloc|"It's true that I'm in high demand and I've learned to say no to higher-paying films so that I can work on projects that are close to my heart, like Sister. And then I had to give up Michel Gondry's Mood Indigo to finish Kechiche's film. In general, I try not to put too much pressure on myself. I know that I'm very lucky. And also that there will be times in my career when I'll have fewer offers."|Léa Seydoux on how she picks her film roles, in 2012| Seydoux stated: "Winning that honor was such a thing. It's engraved in me," also remarking that "attending the Cannes Film Festival will always remind me of that big moment of my life".

Seydoux co-starred with Vincent Cassel in Beauty and the Beast, a Franco-German romantic fantasy film directed by Christophe Gans. Her other 2014 films were The Grand Budapest Hotel, a Wes Anderson film in which she played Clotilde; and Bertrand Bonello's Saint Laurent, in which she played the role of the titular designer's muse, Loulou de la Falaise. Seydoux was supposed to star in Benoît Jacquot's Three Hearts, alongside Catherine Deneuve and Charlotte Gainsbourg, but ended up dropping out due to the worldwide press tour of Blue Is the Warmest Colour. She was replaced by Deneuve's daughter, Chiara Mastroianni.

In 2015, Seydoux starred with Vincent Lindon in Diary of a Chambermaid, a period piece based on Octave Mirbeau's novel Le Journal d'une femme de chambre. Originally, the film was announced with Marion Cotillard in the leading role, but the script was rewritten specifically for Seydoux, marking her second collaboration with Benoît Jacquot, after the 2012 film Farewell, My Queen. Although the film was screened in competition at the 65th Berlin International Film Festival to mixed reviews, critics were generally receptive to Seydoux's performance. Peter Bradshaw of The Guardian said that it was "a fine central performance from Seydoux", while critic Jordan Mintzer wrote that her performance is "robust and engaging throughout [the film]".

Seydoux appeared alongside Colin Farrell and Rachel Weisz in Yorgos Lanthimos's English-language debut The Lobster (2015), in which she played the ruthless leader of a group of rebels, the loners, who live in the woods. The film had its premiere at the 2015 Cannes Film Festival, where it won the Jury Prize. She also appears as Madeleine Swann, the Bond girl in the 2015 film Spectre, the 24th James Bond film. but dropped out before shooting, being replaced by Anaïs Demoustier. In 2022, Seydoux remembered the occasion, saying that she was against the fact that Donzelli seemed to approve the incestuous relationship between the two main roles, "she wanted to do a film where even you can fall in love with your biological brother. I was like, 'No.

In 2018, Seydoux co-starred alongside Ewan McGregor in Zoe, a sci-fi romance by Drake Doremus. The film had its world premiere at the Tribeca Film Festival on April. She also appeared in Thomas Vinterberg's Kursk, a drama film about the 2000 Kursk submarine disaster. In May 2018, she served as a member of the jury at the 71st Cannes Film Festival. Also in May 2018, it was announced that Seydoux would star in Ari Folman's Horse Boy with Joel Kinnaman. Folman said that it was "a passion project" and that "he felt compelled to explore this important story in a cinematic way", but the movie was never shot.

Seydoux was invited to join the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences within the same year.

2019–present: Work with auteurs and continued acclaim

Seydoux stars in Hideo Kojima's video game Death Stranding. She provided the voice, performance and her likeness to the character Fragile, the head of Fragile Express. Death Stranding released in November 2019 to positive reviews in which critics called her a "marvel", and described her performance as being among some of the "most nuanced performance capture ever seen in the medium". She also stars in the game's sequel, Death Stranding 2: On the Beach (2025). Death Stranding 2: On the Beach released in June 2025 to critical acclaim, with Seydoux being lauded again for her performance as Fragile, which critics called "a layered character that the French actress elevates even further". She also appeared in Oh Mercy!, a French crime drama by director Arnaud Desplechin. The film premiered at Cannes and was selected to compete for the Palme d'Or.

In 2020, Seydoux collaborated with Arnaud Desplechin for the second time on Deception (2021). In June 2020, Seydoux was cast as the lead role in Arnaud des Pallières' Party of Fools (2023), alongside Charlotte Rampling and Cécile de France, but all three actresses dropped out of the movie before filming, with Seydoux being replaced by Mélanie Thierry.

In September 2020, it was announced that Seydoux would be starring in Mia Hansen-Løve's film One Fine Morning. For her performance in One Fine Morning, Seydoux received critical acclaim, Justin Chang from Los Angeles Times praised her: "Walking down the street in a sweater and a short-cropped Jean Seberg haircut, Seydoux dissolves into Sandra's world beautifully. What holds you, as much as the actor's natural magnetism, is her ability to hold things back, her talent for emotional reserve". Hansen-Løve declared herself to be a huge admirer of Seydoux as an actor, as well as her choices throughout her vast filmography, saying: "A lot of [her] characters are very sophisticated, very glamorous. In the past, it felt she was seen by male directors as a bit of a fantasy. I wanted her to be more down-to-earth, closer to us, closer to me. And I had the feeling there was a rawness about her that my film could maybe emphasize". In addition, Seydoux stated that "it's the first time that I really played a normal woman, the girl next door".

In 2021, Seydoux reprised her role as Madeleine Swann in the James Bond film No Time to Die. The film's release was postponed worldwide due to the COVID-19 pandemic. She starred in Wes Anderson's ensemble comedy-drama The French Dispatch (2021). She played Lizzy in Ildikó Enyedi's The Story of My Wife (2021), and starred in the film France (2021) by Bruno Dumont.

In January 2021, it was announced that Seydoux would star in Bertrand Bonello's sci-fi melodrama The Beast (La Bête). Seydoux's performance in The Beast was called a "career-best" from critics, Yasmin Omar from Curzon wrote: "What keeps all of the film's sky-high concepts not only legible, but engrossing, is Seydoux; she is its grounding force, guiding us through the Dantean maze of mahogany-panelled ballrooms and neon-streaked dancefloors". In April 2021, Deadline reported that Seydoux would star alongside Kristen Stewart and Viggo Mortensen in David Cronenberg's sci-fi thriller Crimes of the Future. Seydoux said in the film, she plays a surgeon in a dystopian future "where people eat plastic".

In January 2022, Seydoux was nominated as Best Actress at the 47th César Awards for her role in Bruno Dumont's France (2021). It was her fifth nomination. In June 2022, it was announced that Seydoux was cast as Lady Margot in Denis Villeneuve's Dune: Part Two, which released in March 2024.

In 2023, Seydoux dropped out of two projects she was cast in 2022: David Cronenberg's The Shrouds, being replaced by Diane Kruger and Audrey Diwan's Emmanuelle, being replaced by Noémie Merlant. A year later, Seydoux said that the reason she dropped out of The Shrouds was because she wanted to have some time for herself, adding: "I loved working with David Cronenberg. I love him. I'm a huge fan, but then I thought, first of all, I was a bit tired. I wanted to have a break".

In January 2024, Seydoux revealed in an interview with Télérama that she had recently completed two weeks of filming for an unannounced new film by Quentin Dupieux, then titled À notre beau métier (To Our Beautiful Profession), which would also star Louis Garrel, Raphaël Quenard and Vincent Lindon. Seydoux read the script in one sitting and quickly accepted the role out of admiration for Dupieux, who she described as an "extraordinary filmmaker" whose style of humour "hides an increasingly social depth, through imperfect and clumsy characters". She described the film as a mise en abyme about "actors who play in a lousy film" and confront their characters and lines, and appraised it as "crazy" and "very, very funny". Production for the film was kept fully secret from beginning to end. The Second Act was selected to be the opening film at the 77th Cannes Film Festival, where it had its world premiere out-of-competition on 14 May 2024. It was released theatrically in France on the same day by Diaphana Distribution and became a box-office hit with nearly 500,000 spectators, making it Dupieux's biggest success to date.

In March 2024, it was announced that Seydoux would reunite for the second time with Ildiko Enyedi in Silent Friend. In the film, she will play a scientist named Alice, opposite Tony Leung. Filming took place in Marburg, from April to May. Also in March 2024, it was announced that Seydoux would reunite with Arnaud Desplechin for the third time, as she signed on to star in The Thing That Hurts, alongside Golshifteh Farahani, John Turturro and Jason Schwartzman.

In April 2024, it was announced that Seydoux will star opposite Josh O'Connor in Luca Guadagnino's Separate Rooms, an adaptation of the 1989 novel Camera separate by Pier Vittorio Tondelli. In May 2025, O'Connor revealed he is no longer attached to the project but that Guadagnino "may well do it". In May 2024, Seydoux signed on to star in The Unknown, the next film by Arthur Harari, after being attached to the project since September 2023. Filming began on March and wrapped in May 2025. Also in May 2024, the French magazine Le Monde revealed that Seydoux will star alongside Adam Driver in Leos Carax's next project, with shooting scheduled for 2026.

In October 2024, it was announced that Seydoux would be part of the ensemble cast for the film Alpha Gang by the Zellner brothers, joining Cate Blanchett, Steven Yeun, Zoe Kravitz, Riley Keough, Channing Tatum and Dave Bautista. Production began in June 2025 in Budapest.

In September 2025, Seydoux signed on to star in Marie Kreutzer's Gentle Monster, alongside Catherine Deneuve, Jella Haase and Laurence Rupp, with production scheduled to begin later that month.

In January 2026, Seydoux joined Mikey Madison in Charlie Polinger's The Masque Of The Red Death, a revisionist and darkly comedic take on the short story of the same name by Edgar Allan Poe.

Other endeavours Advertising campaigns and endorsements Seydoux has modelled for numerous magazines and brands, but sees herself "always as an actress", In 2007, she participated in the Levi's television advert "Dangerous Liaison" alongside Raphael Personaz, and has been seen in several photo editorials, including for Vogue Paris, American Vogue, Numéro, L'Officiel, CRASH, Another Magazine and W magazine. She fronted the 2013 campaign for South Korean-based but French-inspired jewellery line Didier Dubot and appeared in Rag & Bone'''s Fall 2013 campaign with Michael Pitt.

She also appeared in a nude pictorial for French men's magazine Lui. Seydoux advertised for Prada's 2012 Resort line; and is the face of its 2013 campaign for the fragrances Prada Candy (shot by Jean-Paul Goude), Prada Candy L'Eau (directed by Wes Anderson and Roman Coppola), and the 2014 campaign for Prada Candy Florale perfume (shot by Steven Meisel).

For most of the 2010s, the actress was dressed for her red carpet appearances by her own sister, fashion designer Camille Seydoux, whose career took off when she dressed Seydoux for the César Awards ceremony in 2011. The duo then appeared several times in the rankings of the best dressed actresses in France and abroad.

Since 2016, Seydoux has been a brand ambassador for Louis Vuitton. At the beginning of her career, the actress oscillated between two types of characters in particular, "inconsolable melancholic" or "poisonous solar". The precision of her diction, despite the "machine-gun flow" she can adopt is noted, as is her indifference to having to sometimes undress in front of the camera, which she attributes to the fact of having been raised by a mother "with a loving gaze". Her characters are regularly objects of desire, filmed from the point of view of a male fantasy;

According to her directors, the actress has a timeless physique that would allow her to project all kinds of narrative issues and social origins onto her characters, The variety in her choice of films and roles leads The New York Times to recognize that it is difficult to place her in a single register, even if she is always identified with her "presence at once seductive and discreet". and considers the actor as co-author of the film in the same way as the director. demanding additional takes to move from one mood to another, For the Swiss daily Le Temps, the actress, "at ease in blockbusters and art films, with her undeniably feline beauty, a little lunar, even stubborn, and the veil of melancholy tempering the disapproval of her gaze, is as beautiful as a prey as a predator, as common as an aristocrat". Physically, Libération detects in her "pale similarities to Anna Karina"; Her easily recognizable smile, with a space between the two central incisors, also reminded several newspapers of the appearance and presence of Brigitte Bardot. and Isabelle Huppert, for the same intelligence, culture and sensitivity. In return, Deneuve sent her congratulations in 2022 for her role in The Story of My Wife. such as her favourite film, A Place in the Sun by George Stevens. Télérama also unites them by acclaiming them in 2021 as the "two best [French] exports". when she herself was not a member of the jury; appearing in four films selected for the festival in 2021 would also constitute a record of 18.

Seydoux lives in Paris. She was in a long-term relationship with André Meyer beginning in 2013. They had two sons, one born in January 2017, and another born in December 2024. As of 2026, Seydoux is in a relationship with Italian film producer Tommaso Bertani.

In the wake of the Harvey Weinstein sexual abuse cases and the MeToo movement in 2017, she accused Harvey Weinstein of sexual assault.

In 2019, Reader's Digest named her in their list of "Amazing French actresses in film history". In 2020, Seydoux was included on Vogues list of "The most beautiful French actresses of all time". In 2022, she was made a Dame of the National Order of Merit by the French government.

In July 2021, Seydoux missed the 74th Cannes Film Festival, where she had four films at that year's selection, due to testing positive for COVID-19.

In September 2023, Seydoux was absent from the premiere of The Beast'' at the 80th Venice International Film Festival, in support of the 2023 SAG-AFTRA strike.

Politics In June 2024, Seydoux signed a petition addressed to French President Emmanuel Macron demanding that France officially recognize the State of Palestine. In May 2025, Seydoux signed an open letter criticizing the film industry's "passivity" during the ongoing Gaza genocide.

Filmography +Key Denotes projects that have not yet been released Film

Television Year Title Role Notes 2004 Père et Maire La Lycéenne Episode: "Responsabilité parentale" 2008 Les Vacances de Clémence Jackie Telefilm 2011 Mysteries of Lisbon Blanche de Monfort Episode: "Blanche de Monfort"

Video games Year Title Role Notes 2019 Death Stranding FragileVoice, 3D model, and motion capture 2025 Death Stranding 2: On the Beach

Accolades In 2016, Seydoux was honoured with the Dame of the Order of Arts and Letters.

Year Award Category Nominated work Result2009 César Award Most Promising Actress The Beautiful Person Female Revelation Festival International du Film Francophone de Namur Best Actress Lumière Awards Most Promising Actress Trophée Chopard Award Female Revelation of the Year 2010 César Award Most Promising Actress 2011 San Diego Film Critics Society Award Best Performance by an Ensemble Prix Romy Schneider Award Prix Romy Schneider 2013 Lumière Awards Best Actress César Award Best Actress Farewell, My Queen Cabourg Film Festival Awards Best Actress Chicago Film Critics Association Award Best Supporting Actress Blue Is the Warmest Colour Glamour Awards Next Breakthrough Hamptons International Film Festival Award Breakthrough Performer International Cinephile Society Awards Best Supporting Actress Lumière Awards Best Actress National Society of Film Critics Award Best Supporting Actress Online Film Critics Society Award Best Supporting Actress Cannes Film Festival Award Prix Romy Schneider Award Prix Romy Schneider Portuguese Online Film Critics Circle Award Best Supporting Actress San Francisco Film Critics Circle Award Best Supporting Actress St. Louis Gateway Film Critics Association Award Best Supporting Actress Village Voice Film Poll Award Best Supporting Actress 2014 BAFTA Award Rising Star Award César Award Best Actress Satellite Award Best Supporting Actress – Motion Picture Critics' Choice Movie Award Best Acting Ensemble The Grand Budapest Hotel Detroit Film Critics Society Awards Best Acting Ensemble Florida Film Critics Circle Award Best Cast San Diego Film Critics Society Award Best Performance by an Ensemble Screen Actors Guild Award Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture Washington D.C. Area Film Critics Association Award Best Ensemble 2016 Teen Choice Awards Choice Movie Actress: Action 2017 Riviera International Film Festival Best Actress 2020 British Academy Games Awards Performer in a Supporting Role 2022 César Award Best Actress 2023 Valladolid International Film Festival Best Actress 2024Seattle Film Critics SocietyBest Actress Chicago Film Critics AssociationBest Actress Florida Film Critics CircleBest Actress