Sylvie Testud
Sylvie Testud was born on January 17, 1971 in Lyon. Her parents separated when she was two years old. She spent her youth in the Lyon district of Croix-Rousse, raised by her mother, an accountant. In high school, she learned Chinese. Very early fascinated by the cinema, the young girl identifies in particular with the complexed teenager character embodied by Charlotte Gainsbourg in L'Effrontée. Having moved to Paris to study history, she soon embarked on acting by joining the free class at Cours Florent and then the Conservatory, where her teachers were Jacques Lassalle and Catherine Hiegel. She made her first screen appearance in 1994 in Couples et amants.
She decided to become an actress during her youth, after having admired actresses in films. She then took acting lessons in Lyon with the actor and director Christian Taponard. In 1989, she moved to Paris to study history, as well as drama lessons in free classes at Cours Florent, then at the National Conservatory of Dramatic Art for three years, with Jacques Lassalle and Catherine Hiegel for teachers.
In the early 1990s, she obtained her first small roles in the cinema, then in feature films such as The Story of the Boy Who Wanted to Be Kissed by Philippe Harel (1994), Le Plus Bel Age..., by Didier Haudepin (1995) or even Love, etc. by Marion Vernoux (1996).
In 1997, Sylvie Testud experienced her first great success at the cinema in Germany with the film Beyond Silence by Caroline Link, for which she learned German, the clarinet and sign language. She is rewarded as best actress by the German Film Prize (the equivalent of the César for best actress). In 1998, she played her first major role in French cinema and enjoyed great success in France with the role of Béa in Karnaval, the first feature film by Thomas Vincent, for which she was nominated for the César for best female hope and received the Michael Simon Prize. She then began an important acting career with a preference for auteur cinema.
In 2000, her performance in La Captive by Chantal Akerman (adaptation of the novel La Prisonnière by Marcel Proust) earned her a nomination as best actress at the European Film Prize. In 2001, she obtained, for her second nomination, the César for best female hope for the remarkable interpretation of Christine Papin, one of the Papin sisters, in Les Blessures assassines by Jean-Pierre Denis, based on a news item from 1933.
She decided to become an actress during her youth, after having admired actresses in films. She then took acting lessons in Lyon with the actor and director Christian Taponard. In 1989, she moved to Paris to study history, as well as drama lessons in free classes at Cours Florent, then at the National Conservatory of Dramatic Art for three years, with Jacques Lassalle and Catherine Hiegel for teachers.
In the early 1990s, she obtained her first small roles in the cinema, then in feature films such as The Story of the Boy Who Wanted to Be Kissed by Philippe Harel (1994), Le Plus Bel Age..., by Didier Haudepin (1995) or even Love, etc. by Marion Vernoux (1996).
In 1997, Sylvie Testud experienced her first great success at the cinema in Germany with the film Beyond Silence by Caroline Link, for which she learned German, the clarinet and sign language. She is rewarded as best actress by the German Film Prize (the equivalent of the César for best actress). In 1998, she played her first major role in French cinema and enjoyed great success in France with the role of Béa in Karnaval, the first feature film by Thomas Vincent, for which she was nominated for the César for best female hope and received the Michael Simon Prize. She then began an important acting career with a preference for auteur cinema.
In 2000, her performance in La Captive by Chantal Akerman (adaptation of the novel La Prisonnière by Marcel Proust) earned her a nomination as best actress at the European Film Prize. In 2001, she obtained, for her second nomination, the César for best female hope for the remarkable interpretation of Christine Papin, one of the Papin sisters, in Les Blessures assassines by Jean-Pierre Denis, based on a news item from 1933.
Known for
Jíkuri. Journey to the Land of the Tarahumara
Knok
Cocorico
Des mains en or
Flair de famille
The Grand Restaurant IV
Club Première
Maman, ne me laisse pas m'endormir
Simone: Woman of the Century
Champagne !
What Pauline Is Not Telling You
Flashback
L'heureux Stratagème
Runaway
The Grand Restaurant III
I Love You Coiffure
Fear by the Lake
Meet the Malawas
Kem's
Disclaimer
Eden
Quand sort la recluse
Wide Load
Defiant Souls
Deutsch-Les-Landes
Suspiria
Deux gouttes d'eau
A New Girl in Paris!
Kings for a Day
Final Portrait
Wedding Unplanned
Maximilian and Marie De Bourgogne
Mörderische Stille
Tamara
The Exchange Student
The Visitors: Bastille Day
Arrête ton cinéma !
Capitaine Marleau
Too Close to the Sun
Thanks to my Friends
Spiderwebhouse
Gad Elmaleh - Le Big Show
Two Women
Ceux qui dansent sur la tête
Papa Was Not a Rolling Stone
French Women
24 Days
96 heures
À votre bon cœur, mesdames
My Name Is Hmmm...
Les déferlantes
For a Woman
A Song For Mama
Roxana's Hands
Max
La Parenthèse inattendue
Another Woman's Life
28 minutes
Rebellion
The Night Clerk
L'Amour, la mort, les fringues
The Rebel, Louise Michel
Mumu
The Round Up
Sentiments provisoires
Sisters
Lucky Luke
Lourdes
C à vous
Can't Say No
Vengeance
A Happy Man
Panique dans l'oreillette
The Idiot
Sagan
The Vanishing Point
Arthur Honegger - Jeanne D'Arc Au Bucher
La France
Eat, for This Is My Body
La Vie en Rose
Legacy
La vie est à nous !
Words in Blue
Rendez-vous in an Unknown Land
Victoire
Cause toujours !
Tout pour l'o$eille
Tomorrow We Move
Labyrinth
Dead Man's Memories
Only Girls
Fear and Trembling
A Loving Father
Life Kills Me
Women or Children First
Un moment de bonheur
Everyman's Feast
Les acteurs anonymes
I’m Going Home
The Château
Murderous Maids
The Captive
Bad Connection
Gigantic
In Heaven
Annaluise & Anton
Karnaval
Marée haute
The Misadventures of Margaret
Sentimental Education
Fire in Paradise
Beyond Silence
Those Were the Days
The Story of a Boy Who Wanted to Be Kissed
Marie's Song