Fanny Ardant

Fanny Ardant
Ardant at the 45th César Awards in 2020
Born	Fanny Marguerite Judith Ardant (1949-03-22) 22 March 1949 Saumur, Maine-et-Loire, France
Occupation	Actress
Years active	1974–present
Partner	François Truffaut (1981–1984; his death)
Children	3

Fanny Marguerite Judith Ardant (born 22 March 1949) is a French actress and film director. She is the recipient of numerous accolades, including two César Awards and a Lumières Award.

Early 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.

Career

Fanny Ardant at the press conference of Shock Waves – Diary of My Mind at Berlinale 2018

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 Woman Next Door). 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 (for the outstanding achievement in the career of acting and devotion to the principles of Stanislavsky's school).

In 2009, she became a director and screenwriter, with Cendres et sang (Ashes and Blood). 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 (Chimères absentes in French), 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.

Personal life

Fanny Ardant was the youngest of five children born to a cavalry officer and his wife. She was raised in Monte Carlo where she was educated at a convent school. A voracious reader, she discovered Proust at age 15 and felt as though his writings were for her.

When she was 27, her father died and the shock of his loss never left her. Ardant had started acting on stage shortly before his death. However after his death, she followed his advice and went to university in Aix-en-Provence, where she read Political Science. Upon graduation, she took a job working for the French embassy in London, from which she was sacked for poor time keeping and for being dishevelled. The latter was attributed to the social whirl she enjoyed in London.

Ardant continued working odd jobs in London before deciding, almost on a whim, to go to drama school. She returned to France for her studies and before long began acting on stage and then on television. At the age of 31 she was contacted by François Truffaut, who had spotted her in a television drama and wanted to cast her in The Woman Next Door. While working together, Ardant and Truffaut fell in love, and in 1983 she gave birth to their daughter Josephine. Truffaut died a year later from a brain tumour.

In August 2007, Ardant expressed her "admiration" for the Red Brigades leader as a "hero", adding she "considered the Red Brigades phenomenon to be very moving and passionate". For her comments, the actress was sued in the Italian courts by Piero Mazzola, the son of an Italian policeman killed by the Red Brigades.

In 2009, Ardant signed a petition in support of director Roman Polanski. While traveling to a film festival, Polanski had been detained in relation to his 1977 sexual abuse charges. The petition argued that detaining Polaski would undermine the tradition of film festivals as a place for works to be shown "freely and safely", and that arresting filmmakers traveling to neutral countries could open the door "for actions of which no-one can know the effects."

Selected filmography

Ardant at the 2005 Cannes Film Festival

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1976	Marie-poupée	Marie-Paule
1979	The Dogs	Missing Girl
1981	Les Uns et les Autres	Véronique
	The Woman Next Door	Mathilde Bauchard	Nominated—César Award for Best Actress
1982	Life Is a Bed of Roses	Livia Ceraskier
	Confidentially Yours	Barbara Becker	Nominated—César Award for Best Actress
1983	Swann in Love	Duchesse de Guermantes
	Benvenuta	Benvenuta
1984	L'Amour à mort	Judith Martignac
1986	Mélo	Christiane Levesque
1987	The Family	Adriana
1988	Love and Fear	Velia
1989	Australia	Jeanne Gauthier
1992	Afraid of the Dark	Miriam
1994	Colonel Chabert	Countess Ferraud
	A Hundred and One Nights	The star who works at night
1995	Beyond the Clouds	Patricia
	Sabrina	Irene
1996	Désiré	Odette
	Pédale douce	Evelyne, called Eva	César Award for Best Actress
	Ridicule	Madame de Blayac
1998	Elizabeth	Mary of Guise
	Le Dîner	Flora
1999	Augustin, King of Kung-Fu	Herself
	Le fils du Français	Anne
2000	Le Libertin	Madame Therbouche
2001	Don't Tempt Me	Marina D'Angelo
2002	8 Women	Pierrette	Nominated—César Award for Best Actress
	Callas Forever	Maria Callas
2003	Nathalie...	Catherine
2004	El año del diluvio	Sor Consuelo
2006	Paris, je t'aime	Fanny
2007	Roman de Gare	Judith Ralitzer
	Il Divo	The wife of the French ambassador
2008	Hello Goodbye	Gisèle
	The Secrets	Anouk
2009	Ashes and Blood	(Director)
	Face	The producer/Queen Hérodias
2011	Interno Giorno	Maria Toricello
	Raspoutine	Empress Alexandra Feodorovna
2013	Bright Days Ahead	Caroline	Nominated—César Award for Best Actress
	The Great Beauty	Cameo appearance as herself
	Cadences obstinées	(Director)
2014	Casanova Variations	Lucrecia
2015	Chic!	Alicia Ricosi
2016	For This Is My Body	The Woman
2017	Waiting for You	Madeleine Brown
	O Turno da Noite		Short film
	Lola Pater	Lola Chekib
2018	Ma mère est folle	Nina Renner
2019	Perdrix	Thérèse Perdrix
	La Belle Époque	Marianne Drumond	César Award for Best Supporting Actress
2020	DNA	Caroline	Nominated—César Award for Best Supporting Actress
2021	The Young Lovers	Shauna Loszinsky	Nominated—César Award for Best Actress
2022	The Green Shutters	Jeanne Swann
	The Colors of Fire	Solange Gallinato
2023	The Palace	Constance Rose Marie de La Valle
	Mr. Blake At Your Service!	Nathalie
2024	American Star	Anne

Awards and nominations

Institution	Category	Year	Work	Result
Berlin International Film Festival	Silver Bear for Outstanding Artistic Achievement (shared with the cast)	2002	8 Women	Won
Cannes Film Festival	Caméra d'Or	2009	Ashes and Blood	Nominated
CinEuphoria Awards	Best Film – National Competition	2018	Le divan de Staline	Nominated
	Best Director – National Competition			Nominated
	Best Actress in a Short Film – National Competition		O Turno da Noite	Nominated
	Top Ten of the Year – National Competition		Le divan de Staline	Won
César Awards	Best Actress	1982	The Woman Next Door	Nominated
		1984	Confidentially Yours	Nominated
		1997	Pédale douce	Won
		2003	8 Women	Nominated
		2014	Bright Days Ahead	Nominated
	Best Supporting Actress	2020	La Belle Époque	Won
		2021	DNA	Nominated
	Best Actress	2023	The Young Lovers	Nominated
European Film Awards	Best Actress (shared with the cast)	2002	8 Women	Won
	People's Choice Award for Best European Actress	2004	Nathalie...	Nominated
Globe de Cristal Awards	Best Actress	2020	La Belle Époque	Nominated
Yerevan International Film Festival	Lifetime Achievement Award	2011	—	Won
Golden Goblets Awards	Career Goblet	1995	—	Won
Hellenic Film Academy Awards	Honorary Award	2015	—	Won
Nastro d'Argento	Best Foreign Actress	1997	The Family	Nominated
	European Silver Ribbon	2004	—	Won
Lumières Award	Best Actress	1997	Ridicule	Won
		2020	La Belle Époque	Nominated
Molière Award	Best Actress	1993	L'Aide-mémoire	Nominated
		1997	Master Class	Nominated
Moscow International Film Festival	Stanislavsky Award	2003	—	Won

External links

• Fanny Ardant at IMDb