She won the Academy Award for Best Actress, BAFTA Award for Best Actress, César for Best Actress and the Golden Globe for Best Actress in Musical or a Comedy for her portrayal of French singer Édith Piaf in La Vie en Rose. She made film history by becoming the first person to win an Academy Award for a French language performance. In 2010 she received a Golden Globe nomination for her performance in the musical Nine.
Cotillard was born in Caen and grew up around Orléans, Loiret, in an artistically inclined, "bustling, creative household". Her father, Jean-Claude Cotillard, is an actor, teacher, former mime, and 2006 Molière Award-winning director of Breton descent(his mother, Léontine Cotillard, was born in March 1909 and still lives in Plémet, Brittany; she recently celebrated her 101st birthday). Cotillard's mother, Niseema Theillaud, is also an actress and drama teacher.She has two younger twin brothers, Quentin and Guillaume. Quentin Cotillard is a sculptor and painter living in San Francisco, United States,with his wife, Elaine O'Malley Cotillard, "a former Dutch National Ballet dancer who grew up in Marin County, and is now a San Francisco fashion designer". Guillaume Cotillard is a screenwriter and director.Cotillard began acting during her childhood, appearing on stage in one of her father's plays.
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Cotillard appeared in Pierre Grimblat's film Lisa as Young Lisa, alongside Jeanne Moreau, Swiss novel-adaptation War drama In The Highlands. She starred in Gilles Paquet-Brenner's film Les jolies choses, adapted from the work of subversive feminist writer Virginie Despentes. In the drama, Cotillard portrayed the characters of two twins of completely opposite characters, Lucie and Marie. She was nominated for a César Award for her performance. In Guillaume Nicloux's thriller Une affaire privée she appeared as Clarisse, friend of the disappeared.
For her role in the musical Nine as Luisa Contini, Time magazine ranked her as the fifth best performance by a female in 2009.
She was ranked just behind Mo'Nique, Carey Mulligan, Saoirse Ronan and Meryl Streep. She was awarded the Desert Palm Achievement Actress Award at the 2010 Palm Springs International Film Festival for the role.
She appeared as the main antagonist "Mal Cobb" in Christopher Nolan's film Inception, alongside Leonardo DiCaprio and Ellen Page, and released on July 16, 2010. She will co-star alongside Gwyneth Paltrow, Jude Law, Kate Winslet and Matt Damon in Steven Soderberg's thriller film Contagion.
She will also in appear in Woody Allen's Midnight in Paris alongside Rachel McAdams and Owen Wilson. On March 15, 2010 Cotillard was made a Chevalier (Knight) of the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres (Order of the Arts and Letters) by the French government for her "contribution to the enrichment of French culture".
On May 11, 2010 Variety confirmed Cotillard will star alongside Colin Farrell in David Cronenberg's film Cosmopolis.
In 2009, Cotillard was chosen as the face for Dior's "Lady Dior" advertising campaign and was featured in an online mini-movie directed by John Cameron Mitchell about the fictional character created by John Galliano. This campaign has also resulted in a musical collaboration with British indie rock band Franz Ferdinand, where Cotillard has provided the vocals for a composition performed by the group, entitled "The Eyes of Mars". Cotillard appeared on the cover of the November 2009 issue of Vogue with Nine co-stars Sophia Loren, Nicole Kidman, Penélope Cruz, Kate Hudson and Fergie and on the July 2010 cover by herself.
Cotillard currently lives with French actor and director Guillaume Canet. Many reports say the couple prefers to live a simple lifestyle, and they are often spotted in cafes and shopping together in Paris. Neither star discusses their relationship with the media, although photos of the couple being affectionate regularly surface in the European tabloids.She is a fan of Radiohead and Canadian singer Hawksley Workman; she has appeared in two of the latter's music videos, most notably "No Reason to Cry Out your Eyes (On the Highway Tonight)".Workman even revealed in interviews about his last album Between The Beautifuls that he worked and wrote songs with Cotillard while they both were in Los Angeles during the movie awards season.
Cotillard won a César Award for Best Supporting Actress for A Very Long Engagement (2004). Cotillard won an Academy Award for Best Actress, a Golden Globe Award for Best Actress - Motion Picture Musical or Comedy, a BAFTA Award for Best Actress in a Leading Role, a Satellite Award for Best Actress – Motion Picture Drama and a César Award for Best Actress for her portrayal of Édith Piaf in La Vie en Rose (2007). Cotillard and her co-stars of Nine won a Satellite Award for Best Cast - Motion Picture for the performance in the film.
Cotillard also has been nominated for numerous awards, including César Award for Most Promising Actress for Taxi (1998) and Les Jolies choses (2001), and a European Film Award for Best Actress for La Vie en Rose (2007). Additionally, Cotillard was nominated for an Golden Globe Award for Best Actress – Motion Picture Musical or Comedy for Nine (2009).