Marceau has appeared on more than 300 magazine covers worldwide and been the face of numerous luxury brands. She was made Officer (Officier) in theOrdre des Arts et des Lettres by theMinister of Culture of France in 2003,[4] and in 2015 it was revealed that she had refused theLegion of Honour (Ordre national de la Légion d'honneur).[5]
She was born 17 November 1966 in Paris, the second child of Simone (née Morisset), who was a shop assistant, and Benoît Maupu, a truck driver.[6] Her parents divorced when she was nine years old.[7]
In February 1980, Marceau and her mother came across a model agency looking for teenagers. Marceau had photos taken at the agency, but did not think anything would come of it. At the same time, Françoise Menidrey, the casting director forClaude Pinoteau'sLa Boum (1980), asked modeling agencies to recommend a new teenager for the project. After viewing the rushes,Alain Poiré, the director of theGaumont, signed Marceau to a long-term contract.La Boum was a hit film, with 4,378,500 tickets sold in France.[8][better source needed] In 1981, Marceau made her singing debut with French singer François Valéry on record "Dream in Blue", written by Pierre Delanoë.[9] She rejected the main role in a soon-to-be controversial film,Beau-père, in which she would have played as a teenage girl who seduces her step-father for a sexual relationship.[10] The role was eventually played byAriel Besse. In 1982, at age 16, Marceau bought back her contract with Gaumont for one millionFrench francs.[11] She borrowed most of the money.
After starring in the sequel filmLa Boum 2 (1982), Marceau focused on more dramatic roles, including the historical dramaFort Saganne in 1984 withGérard Depardieu andCatherine Deneuve,Joyeuses Pâques (Happy Easter) in 1984,L'amour braque andPolice in 1985, andDescente aux enfers (Descent into Hell) in 1986. In 1988, she starred inL'Étudiante (The Student) and the historical adventure filmChouans!. That year, Marceau was named Best Romantic Actress at the International Festival of Romantic Movies for her role inChouans![12]
In 1989, Marceau starred inMy Nights Are More Beautiful Than Your Days, which was directed by her long-time partnerAndrzej Zulawski. In 1990, she starred inPacific Palisades andLa note bleue, her third film directed by her companion. In 1991, she ventured into the theater inEurydice, which earned Marceau theMoliere Award for Best Female Newcomer.[12] Throughout the 1990s, Marceau began making less-dramatic films, such as the comedyFanfan in 1993 andRevenge of the Musketeers (La fille de d'Artagnan) in 1994—both popular in Europe and abroad. That year, she returned to the theatre as Eliza Doolittle inPygmalion.[12]
Since the early 2000s, Marceau has continued to appear in a wide variety of roles, mainly in French films, playing a widowed nurse inNelly (À ce soir) in 2004, an undercover police agent inAnthony Zimmer in 2005, and the troubled daughter of a murdered film star inTrivial in 2007. In 2008, Marceau played a member of the French Resistance movement inFemale Agents, and a struggling single mother inLOL (Laughing Out Loud). In 2009, she teamed up withMonica Bellucci inDon't Look Back about the mysterious connection between two women who have never met. In 2010, Marceau played a successful business executive forced to confront her unhappy childhood inWith Love... from the Age of Reason (L'âge de raison).[citation needed]
In 2012, Marceau played a 40-something career woman who falls in love with a young jazz musician inHappiness Never Comes Alone. In 2013, she appeared inArrêtez-moi (Arrest Me) as a woman who shows up at a police station and confesses to the murder of her abusive husband several years earlier.[13]
In 1996, Marceau published the semi-autobiographical novel,Menteuse (the English translation,Telling Lies, was published in 2001).[16] Marceau's work was described as "an exploration of female identity".[7]
In 2002, Marceau made her directorial debut in the feature filmSpeak to Me of Love, for which she was named Best Director at theMontreal World Film Festival. The film starredJudith Godrèche. It was her second directorial effort, following her nine-minute short filmL'aube à l'envers in 1995, which also starred Godrèche.[17][better source needed] In 2007, she directedTrivial, her second feature film and in 2018Mrs Mills.[citation needed]
In the early stages of her career, she shot around a dozen television commercials and numerous national magazine covers in Japan and South Korea where she is famous sinceLa Boum.[18] Since 2008, Marceau is an international ambassador for high-end jewellerChaumet based in Paris.[19][20] Since 2014, she has been the ambassador of theDS 4,DS 5 andDS 6 cars (2010–2016) of thePSA Group with billboards and television commercials throughout Asia and especially in China.[21]
From 1985 to 2001, Marceau was in a relationship with Polish directorAndrzej Żuławski.[22] They have a son, Vincent, born in July 1995. In 2001, Marceau separated from Żuławski and began a six-year relationship with American producerJim Lemley. They have a daughter, Juliette, born in June 2002.[23]
Marceau also had a relationship with actorChristopher Lambert beginning in 2007, with whom she appeared in the filmsTrivial andCartagena.[24] They separated in July 2014.[25] In 2016, for about 10 months, Marceau was in a relationship with the chef and restaurant ownerCyril Lignac.[26][27]
Marceau is a classically trainedcellist, as seen in the 1999 filmLost and Found. She is bilingual (French and English).[28] She considers herselfsapiosexual.[29][30]
"Female conqueror and ambitious actress. For millions of spectators, you embody freedom and revolt. Your career is part of the tradition of the greatestFrench actors, in the wake ofCatherine Deneuve,Gérard Depardieu,Philippe Noiret orJean-Paul Belmondo. You are arole model in our country and, abroad, you embody the image of the perfect French woman and for that you deserve the gratitude of theRepublic".[32]
Marceau is one of the most well-known Western actors in Asian countries[39][40] such as Japan, South Korea[41][42] and most importantly China,[43][44] owing to her films,[45] her countless local advertising campaigns[46] and her role as acultural ambassador of France[47][48] in these countries since the 1980s.[49] Marceau was invited to sing "La Vie en rose" in China in a duet withLiu Huan for the 2014CCTV'sNew Year gala which was watched by over 700 million people[50] ushering in the nation's week-long holiday.[51][52][53][54] As of 2020[55] and since the 1990s,[56] thecircumlocution "the French people's favourite actress" (French:actrice préférée des Français)[57] became a synonym for Marceau in media and the press as she has regularly topped most annual surveys and opinion polls determining it during that period.[58][59][60]
