Carole Bouquet

Biography: life and films

Carole Bouquet is an actress who brought glamour and mystique aplenty to her screen roles in the 1990s and remains one of French cinema's most engaging and enigmatic performers. Born in Neuilly-sur-Seine, France, on 18th August 1957, she was raised with her sister by a severe father after her parents' separation. She studied philosophy at the Sorbonne before deciding on an acting career. Luis Buñuel noticed her whilst she was at the Paris Conservatoire and gave her her first film role, as Conchita in his late surreal masterpiece Cet obscur objet du désir (1977). She then appeared in Bertrand Blier's dark comedy Buffet froid (1979), curiously at ease as a mysterious young woman symbolising death.

Bouquet achieved international stardom in 1981 when she was cast as the Bond girl opposite Roger Moore's 007 in For Your Eyes Only. However, blockbuster stardom never seemed to be Bouquet's goal in life and she subsequently lent her talents to a series of comparatively low-key films including Philippe Labro's thriller Rive droite, rive gauche, which earned her a nomination at the 1985 Césars in the Best Supporting Actress category. Five years later, she received the Best Actress César for her role in Bertrand Blier's provocative satire Trop belle pour toi (1989), in which she plays the perfect wife who is rejected by Gérard Depardieu in favour of a frump. Refusing to be pigeon-holed, the actress lent her considerable talents to a wide range of films over the next decade, including Enki Bilal's sci-fi oddity Bunker Palace Hôtel (1989) and Patrice Leconte's comedy Tango (1993). One of her most memorable performances was as an indomitable resistance leader in Claude Berri's WWII drama Lucie Aubrac (1997).

Over the next few decades, Carole Bouquet tended to eschew mainstream commercial cinema to work on more modest films by established auteurs and promising debutant filmmakers. In doing so, she has greatly extended her repertoire and has matured into a sensitive and sophisticated actress who frequently takes her audience by surprise, through her work on such contrasting films as Cédric Kahn's thriller Feux rouges (2004), Anne-Marie Etienne's Si c'était lui... (2007) and Amanda Sthers's Je vais te manquer (2009). The ever-fragrant Bouquet has also made a number of notable television appearances, in made-for-TV movies and series such as Le Rouge et Le Noir (1997) and Spin (2014-6). In addition, she has starred in several theatrical productions including Racine's Phèdre (2002), Loleh Bellon's L'Éloignement (2009) and Harold Pinter's Ashes to Ashes (2014/6).

Filmography