Elodie Bouchez

A natural and photogenic performer with the gamine air of a young Leslie Caron, French-born Elodie Bouchez decided early on a career in acting. A model at thirteen, she auditioned for the late Serge Gainsbourg at 16 and two weeks later was working on his "Stan the Flasher" (1990). Her feature debut led to a good role in Christine Lipinska's "Le Cahier vole" (1992), after which her career in essence stalled until Andre Techine's "Les Roseaux sauvages/Wild Reeds" (1994) vaulted her to the front ranks of French actresses. Bringing an extra measure of life to her character of Maite, the platonic best friend of the sensitive gay Francois (Techine's alter ego played by Gael Morel), she richly deserved the Cesar she took home as Most Promising Female. She also acted with Morel that year in "Those Were the Days", appeared in his directorial debut, "A Toute Vitesse" (1996) and performed with him again in Laurent Bouhnik's "Zonzon" (1998).

Erick Zonca's "La Vie revee des anges/The Dreamlife of Angels" (1998) raised her profile further. Its emotionally powerful study of the deterioration of a friendship between two women cast her as the free-spirited, unaffected Isa opposite the turbulent, tragic Marie (Natacha Regnier). Though Regnier was excellent (and shared the Cannes Award for Best Actress with her co-star), it was Bouchez's female drifter who really dominated the picture, a fact finally acknowledged when she beat out the favorite Catherine Deneuve ("Place Vendome") for the Best Actress Cesar. Also shown at Cannes that year was Siegfried's "Louise (Take 2)", in which she played another free spirit, this time drawn to the risks of petty crime until her arrest makes her realize she is not who she is pretending to be. She starred opposite Jean-Marc Barr in Didier Le Pecheur's controversial, fact-based "J'aimerais pas crever un dimanche" (also 1998) playing a presumed deceased woman whom a necrophilic mortician has sex with only to discover she is not dead and the pair begin a relationship. Bouchez reteamed with Barr for his directorial debut, the English-language "Lovers" (1999).

• Also Credited As:
  Elodie
• Born:
  April 5, 1973 in Montreuil, France
• Job Titles:
  Actor, Model, Baby-sitter

Education

• Lycee St-Thomas d Aquin, Paris, France, theater

Milestones

• 1986 Worked as a model
• 1990 Film debut in Serge Gainsbourg s Stan the Flasher
• 1992 Acted in Christine Lipinska s Le Cahier vole
• 1994 Also acted with Morel in Those Were the Days
• 1994 Her Cesar Award-winning role in Andre Techine s Les Roseaux sauvages/Wild Reeds vaulted her to the front ranks of young French talent; co-starred opposite Gael Morel
• 1996 Appeared in Morel s feature directing debut, A Toute vitesse/Full Speed
• 1996 Had a small part as a young girl in Ismail Merchant s The Proprietor
• 1997 First film with director Graham Guit, Le ceil est a nous
• 1997 Served as jury member at the 23rd Deauville Festival of American Cinema; jury president was Sophie Marceau
• 1998 Co-starred with Roschdy Zem, Gerald Thomassin and Antoine du Merle in Siegfried s Louise (Take 2) , a love story set among petty criminals living in rough Paris
• 1998 Portrayed a woman thought to be dead from a drug overdose who receives the attentions of a necrophiliac mortician (Jean-Marc Barr) in Didier Le Pecheur s controversial J aimerais pas crever un dimanche , inspired by a true story
• 1998 Reteamed with Morel in Laurent Bouhnik s Zonzon
• 1998 Second film with Guit, Les Kidnappers , a Tarantino-style adventure about a gang of young safecrackers
• 1998 Widely acclaimed for her role as Isa in Erick Zonca s La Vie revee des anges/The Dreamlife of Angels ; role written especially for her; shared Cannes Film Festival Best Actress Award with co-star Natacha Regnier; also won second Cesar as Best Actress
• 1999 Acted in first English-language film, Jean-Marc Barr s directorial debut Lovers
• 2000 Reteamed with director Morel for French TV-movie Grand Surface/Shopping Mall
• 2005 Co-starred in the independent comedy Shooting Vegetarians
• 2005 Joined the cast of Alias (ABC) as Zoe Rienne, an internationally wanted criminal who had secretly been working with Vaughn (Michael Vartan)
• 2006 Cast in Jeff Stanzler s Sorry, Haters a drama set against the anxieties and fears of post-9/11 America
• At age 16, auditioned for and was cast in first film role
• First schoolgirl appearance on stage at age six convinced her acting was her calling