Charlotte Gainsbourg Biography
Born: July 22, 1971
One of the more compelling French actresses of her generation, Charlotte Gainsbourg initially made her screen name parlaying wayward adolescence into an understated art form. Tall, long-necked, and elegantly gawky, Gainsbourg first impressed critics and audiences with her portrayal of the naive but rebellious protagonist of L'Effrontée (1985), earning a César for Most Promising Young Actress.
The daughter of French singer/songwriter/occasional actor and director Serge_Gainsbourg and English actress Jane_Birkin, Gainsbourg was born into substantial celebrity in London on July 22, 1971. Initially keen on being either an artist or a surgeon, she made her film debut playing Catherine_Deneuve's daughter in the 1984 Paroles et Musique. That same year, she courted notoriety when she starred alongside her ever-irascible father in his controversial "Lemon Incest" music video, which featured the two cuddling on a bed surrounded by feathers. More salubrious attention came the young actress' way the following year, when she earned a César for her performance in Claude_Miller's L'Effrontée.
After another stint acting alongside her father in his poorly received Charlotte_Forever (1986), Gainsbourg again collaborated with director Miller for La_Petite_Voleuse (1988), portraying a sullen teenager experimenting with sex and various illegal pursuits. She reprised her rebellious teen role for Merci_La_Vie (1991), a black comedy that cast her and Anouk_Grinberg as two young women on a rampage against men and just about whomever else crosses their path. Gainsbourg got an opportunity to broaden her range with Jacques_Doillon's Amoureuse (1992), an ensemble piece about a group of young women who come together to discuss life and love, and her uncle Andrew_Birkin's The_Cement_Garden (1994), a drama about extreme familial dysfunction that was the actress' first English language outing.
Gainsbourg made her second English film in 1996, starring as the eponymous heroine of Franco_Zeffirelli's adaptation of Charlotte Bronte's Jane_Eyre. Although the film, which also starred William_Hurt, received very mixed reviews, it did succeed in introducing Gainsbourg to a wider international audience. She further enhanced her good reputation when she won her second César -- this time for Best Supporting Actress -- in 2000 for her work in La_Bûche (1999), a comedy that cast her as an ambitious businesswoman who takes up with a mysterious man lodging at her father's house. Rebecca Flint Marx, Rovi
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