Audrey Tautou

Audrey Tautou was born in Beaumont in the French city of Puy-de Domme on August 9 1976 the eldest of four children. The actress was inspired by her parents, a dentist and teacher who both taught her to pursue her passion for acting. This was in contrast her earlier ambition to pursue a career as a primateologist since she adored monkeys. There was an immediate rise in her career to become an internationally renowned young actress. It was only at the age of 1999 after which she began acting professionally. In the years following her studies, Tautou took part in the French television show for talent scouting called Jeunes Premiers. Although she studied at The Institut Catholique de Paris and went to church as a child, Tautou has stayed away from the Catholic tradition, saying that she is not officially Catholic. Apart from her acting profession, she has also pursued modelling. She modelled for L'Oreal Mont Blanc, Chanel and has been referred as "The Chanel Muse". Alongside her acting work, she has an interest in photography. She recently exhibited some of her photographs during the Arles Film Festival, under the name Superficial. The majority of her photographs concern famous people and celebrities. They also feature an assortment of portraits of herself as well. Audrey Tautou shot to stardom as well as international recognition with her first big role, starring as a lead character in Le Fabuleux Destin d'Amelie Poulain. Amelie is undoubtedly a huge box office smash internationally and recognized at many awards events around the globe. It's also the biggest French language film to ever be released on the US. After this huge success, Tautou was later cast in a variety of films, including British dramatics, such as Stephen Knight's Dirty Pretty Things and Jean-Pierre Jeunet's Long Sunday of fiancailles. Tautou also appeared alongside Tom Hanks in Ron Howard's The Da Vinci Code directed by Dan Brown.