Fanny Ardant

Fanny Ardant, daughter of a cavalry officer, spent her childhood traveling in Europe. A student at Science-Po in the International Relations section , she decided quite late to become an actress in order to satisfy her passion for theater. She toured in 1974 where she played the great texts (Racine, Montherlant, Claudel). She also made her first film appearance in Joël Seria's Marie-doll, but it was not until 1979 that the public discovered her, thanks to the television series Les dames de la côte by Nina Companeez.

François Truffaut, fallen under the spell of this mysterious brunette, then offered her her first major roles in the cinema in the love drama of The Woman next door in 1981, then in Vivement dimanche !, where she played with fantasy a secretary who investigates the alleged crimes committed by his boss. Married to Truffaut from 1981 to 1984, she gave birth to a daughter, Joséphine, conceived a few months before the director's death.

She then chooses films by authors which lead her to become somewhat marginalized. She plays the role of a pianist for Andre Delvaux (Benvenuta) and becomes the Duchess of Guermantes in Un amour de Swann by Volker Schlöndorff. After having already requested her in 1983 for La Vie est un roman, Alain Resnais called upon her again for L 'Amour a mort (1985), then Melo (1987), in a particularly dramatic register. She also passes in front of the camera of Ettore Scola in La Famille (1988) and Costa-Gavras in Conseil de famille. She then bends her usual image of a passionate and determined woman by playing an indolent seductress in the masterful and confusing Paltoquet by Michel Deville.

The beginning of the 90s marked the renewal of a career confined to a somewhat confidential cinema. Twelve years after The Woman Next Door, she reunites with her playing partner Gérard Depardieu for Yves Angelo's Colonel Chabert. But it was not until 1995, with Soft Pedal, that she finally triumphed. In the skin of Eva, a funny and moving gay club owner , she finally won a Caesar after several nominations, and definitively proves the extent of her field of interpretation.

Building on this success, she alternates between historical films such as Ridicule by Patrice Leconte or Elizabeth with Cate Blanchett, and comedies in which she plays in turn a woman confronted with her husband's erection problems in La Debandade (1999) by Claude. Berri, a singer lost in the middle of the jungle in Le Fils du Francais (1999) by Gérard Lauzier, her own role in Augustin roi du kung-fu, and a rather shameless duchess in Le Libertin (2000) by Gabriel Aghion. In 2002, she was one of François Ozon's 8 wives, then she lent her deep and deep voice to the diva Maria Callas in Callas forever.


She changes her register again and joins forces with Emmanuelle Béart in the sulphurous Nathalie… by Anne Fontaine. Fanny Ardant then followed up projects abroad under the direction of Spanish directors (Agustín Díaz Yanes in 2003 alongside Victoria Abril and Penélope Cruz), Italian (The rush hour of Vincenzo Marra in 2007) or Israeli (Les secrets by Avi Nesher).

In 2007, the actress was again directed by Claude Lelouche in Roman de gare, more than twenty-five years after their collaboration for Les Uns et les autres. The following year, she formed a couple for the third time with Gérard Depardieu in Hello Goodbye and played a shrink in the comedy Trésor. The opportunity to find Claude Berri, who unfortunately died a week after the start of filming.

The year 2008 is the occasion for the actress to direct her first feature film Cendres et sang, screened during a special screening at the Cannes Film Festival. She also climbs the steps for Face of Malaysian Tsai Ming-liang.

After having made her play the role of Empress Alexandra of Russia in the biopic Rasputin, Josée Dayan allows her to make her return to television with Our Reunion. A year later, in 2013, the actress is on the bill of Clan des Lanzac, the new series of France 3. Fanny Ardant is also the heroine of Beaux Days, adaptation of the novel by Fanny Chesnel, "The young girl with white hair ".


In 2017, Fanny slips into the skin of a transgender character in Lola Pater. The film tells the story of Zino. When his mother dies, he decides to find his father, Farid. But, 25 years ago, Farid became Lola. A year later, the actress plays Nina in My mother is crazy. She has a son who is a little too wise, Baptiste. Angry for a long time, they meet for the adventure of their life. During an improbable, funny and moving journey, they will make up for lost time, get to know each other at last and love each other again.