Isabelle Huppert

Born 16 March 1953, Isabelle Huppert entered French cinema in the mid-seventies and never stopped working. Her first César nomination came for Aloïse in 1975; two years later The Lacemaker won her a BAFTA for Most Promising Newcomer. She collected Cannes Best Actress twice — for Violette Nozière in 1978 and The Piano Teacher in 2001 — and the Venice Volpi Cup twice, for Story of Women and La Cérémonie. That last film also gave her the first of two César wins; the second came twenty-one years later for Elle, the Paul Verhoeven provocation that earned her an Oscar nomination and a Golden Globe.…