LOS ANGELES, June 15 — She sings, she plays guitar, she’s an ecologist. Oh, and did we mention she’s an Academy Award winning actress?
In 1975, French beauty Marion Cotillard was born in Paris. She grew up in a town near the City of Light and was raised in a household of actors, teachers and entertainers. It seemed only natural for Cotillard to become an actress, after all, her parents are no strangers to the art. She began acting during her childhood, appearing on stage in one of her father’s plays.
At the age of 16, Marion packed her bags and moved to Paris to pursue her dream. In 2001 she bagged her first award and two years later she made her Hollywood debut. However, it took another four years before the Gallic actress got noticed by international audiences. This was when she won an Academy Award for her role of fallen French singer Edith Piaf in the biographical movie ‘La Vie En Rose’. Marion is only the second French woman to win the Best Actress Oscar.
Marion is not only a singer on the big screen, she’s actually a very talented musician and plays a couple of instruments. Growing up, she always believed that she would be a singer and said that her becoming an actress was a fluke. Cotillard often sings under the name Simone and as a matter of fact, she once performed at the Olympia, the place where Edith Piaf used to sing. And being a huge fan of Canadian singer Hawksley Workman, she starred in two of his music videos. Marion also wrote and performed a song called ‘Lily’s Body’ for the Lady Dior web documentary. She not only sang for the French fashion house, since 2008 she has served as the face of the company. From purses to perfume, she’s graced numerous print and film advertisements for the brand.
Throughout her career, Marion has appeared on over 200 magazine covers, including Elle, Marie Claire and Vogue. Most stars are lucky enough to find themselves on a list that rewards their good looks every now and then, but not for 12 years in a row. Between 2002 and 2013 the actress got a spot on the Annual Independent Critics List of the 100 Beautiful Famous Faces From Around The World, and she even earned the top spot in 2013. Even though Marion always looks incredible at events and rocks every red carpet she sets foot on, she doesn’t really feel like she’s all that special.
With all those flattering titles and good looks you might think Marion has to turn down dozens of men every day. In the late 90’s the actress dated French actor Julien Rassam and between 2000 and 2006 she was in a relationship with Stephan Guerin-Tillie. These days Marion has found love in the form of French actor and director Guillaume Canet. The couple started dating in 2007 and welcomed their first child, Marcel Canet, in May 2011. And even though Marion loves motherhood, she also has a great passion for her job. The actress was six months pregnant when she completed filming the movie ‘Contagion’ and went right back to work just one month after giving birth to her son. Marion clearly isn’t one to sit back and relax.
When she’s not working she participates in campaigns for environmental protection. She’s a spokesperson for Greenpeace and is very interested in eco-activism. In 2013, Cotillard joined a group of protesters and caged herself near the Louvre museum in Paris to demand the freeing of 30 Greenpeace activists who were arrested in Russia.
At the end of the day, Marion is a fan of actors and television shows just like the rest of us. She has admitted to loving the British television show ‘Absolutely Fabulous’. Cotillard is also a big fan of actors Kate Winslet, Jonah Hill, Seth Rogen and Will Ferrell. In an interview, she admitted that she would love to work with them in a comedy one day. — Cover Media
