Fanny Ardant


Fanny Marguerite Judith Ardant is a French actress. She has appeared in more than eighty motion pictures since 1976. Ardant won the César Award for Best Actress in 1997 for her performance in Pédale douce.

Personal life

Ardant was born in Saumur, Maine-et-Loire, France, to a military attaché father. She grew up in Monaco until age 17, when she moved to Aix-en-Provence to study at the Institut d'études politiques d'Aix-en-Provence. In her early twenties, her interest turned to acting and in 1974 she made her first appearance on stage.
Ardant has three daughters: Lumir, from a relationship with French actor Dominique Leverd, was born in 1975; Ardant and partner François Truffaut, together from 1981 until his death in 1984, had daughter Joséphine in 1983; her third daughter Baladine, from a relationship with Italian film producer and cinematographer Fabio Conversi, was born in 1990.

Career

By the early 1980s, Ardant was a major film star, gaining international recognition for her role opposite Gérard Depardieu in La Femme d'à côté. The film, directed by François Truffaut, brought Ardant her first César Award nomination for best actress in 1982 and in 1984 she was nominated again for Vivement dimanche!. Eventually, she became Truffaut's partner, giving birth to their daughter, Joséphine Truffaut, on 28 September 1983. Initially, her youthful beauty brought popularity but over time her sophistication and acting skills made her one of France's most admired actresses. She proved her versatility, playing a comedic role in Pédale douce for which she won the 1997 César Award for Best Actress.
Fluent in English and Italian, Ardant has starred in several Hollywood and British films. Her most recent English-language film was the 2002 Franco Zeffirelli production Callas Forever, in which she portrayed opera diva Maria Callas. It opened the 14th Annual Palm Springs International Film Festival on 9 January 2003. In 2003, Ardant received the Stanislavsky Award at the 25th Moscow International Film Festival.
In 2009, she became a director and screenwriter, with Cendres et sang. She also took part in a rare performance of Sardou's La Haine on 19 July 2009 at the Festival de Radio France et Montpellier Languedoc Roussillon, with Gérard Depardieu, the concert broadcast on France Musique.
In 2010, she directed a short feature, Absent Chimeras, in which she also stars. She made this short film in order to raise public awareness to the plight of Romani people in Europe, a cause she personally defends. In 2011, she starred in the music video for Elle me dit, the first French single by Lebanese singer Mika, and appeared in the play based on Joan Didion's 2005 novel The Year of Magical Thinking in the Théâtre de l'Atelier, Paris. She also starred in Interno Giorno that same year by Tommaso Rossellini, acting in both French and Italian. In 2013, she made a cameo appearance as herself in The Great Beauty.
In 2018, Ardant starred in the Swiss drama film Shock Waves – Diary of My Mind by Ursula Meier. It was screened in the Panorama section at the 68th Berlin International Film Festival. In 2019, Ardant directed the opera Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk at the Greek National Opera.

Controversy

Ardant once expressed admiration for Renato Curcio, ex-leader of the militant Red Brigades, saying that it was good of him to adhere to his principles. She later discovered that it would be difficult to attend a film festival in Venice, as her declaration had created much scandal in Italy. The Governor of Veneto said that he would prefer that Ardant not visit his region. She then pleaded for forgiveness from victims of terrorism.
In September 2009, Ardant signed a petition in support of director Roman Polanski, calling for his release after he was arrested in Switzerland in relation to his 1977 charge for drugging and raping a 13-year-old girl.

Selected filmography

YearTitleRole
1979The Dogs
1980Les Uns et les AutresVéronique
1981The Woman Next DoorMathilde Bauchard
1982Life Is a Bed of RosesLivia Ceraskier
1982Confidentially YoursBarbara Becker
1983Un amour de SwannDuchesse de Guermantes
1983BenvenutaBenvenuta
1984L'Amour à mortJudith Martignac
1986MéloChristiane Levesque
1987The FamilyAdriana
1988Love and FearVelia
1989AustraliaJeanne Gauthier
1992Afraid of the DarkMiriam
1994Colonel ChabertCountess Ferraud
1994A Hundred and One Nightsthe star who works at night
1995Beyond the CloudsPatricia
1995SabrinaIrene
1996DésiréOdette
1996Pédale douceEvelyne, called Eva
1996RidiculeMadame de Blayac
1998ElizabethMary of Guise
1998Le DînerFlora
1999Augustin, King of Kung-Fuas herself
1999Le fils du FrançaisAnne
2000Le LibertinMadame Therbouche
20018 WomenPierrette
2001Callas ForeverMaria Callas
2001Don't Tempt MeMarina D'Angelo
2003Nathalie...Catherine
2006Paris, je t'aimeFanny
2007Roman de GareJudith Ralitzer
2007Il Divothe wife of the French ambassador
2008Hello GoodbyeGisèle
2008The SecretsAnouk
2009Ashes and Blood
2009Facethe producer/ Queen Hérodias
2011Interno GiornoMaria Toricello
2011Raspoutineempress Alexandra Feodorovna
2013Bright Days AheadCaroline
2013The Great Beautycameo appearance as herself
2013Cadences obstinées
2014Casanova VariationsLucrecia
2015Chic!Alicia Ricosi
2017Lola PaterLola
2018Shock Waves – Diary of My Mind
2019La Belle Époque
-2013 Fanny ardant in tbilisi documentary film by shota kalandadze'

Awards

César Awards

YearGroupAwardFilmResult
1982César AwardBest ActressThe Woman Next Door Nominated
1984César AwardBest ActressConfidentially Yours Nominated
2002César AwardBest Actress8 Women Nominated

Molière Awards

YearGroupAwardFilmResult
1993Molière AwardBest ActressNominated
1997Molière AwardBest ActressMaster ClassNominated

Others

YearAwardResult
2003Stanislavsky AwardHonored