Virginie Ledoyen

Born: 15 November 1976
Where: Aubervilliers, France

Raised in Paris, the French actress and model Virginie Ledoyen took her stage name from her grandmother who had been a stage actress.

She has become familiar with cameras and lights as her life as a model began at the age of two. She attended a school for talented kids, L'Ecole des Enfants du Spectacle in Paris where she studied dance, acting and piano.

At the age of nine Virginie made her stage acting debut in L'affaire du courrier de Lyon which was followed in the same year by her film debut, The Exploits of a Young Don Juan.

From 1991 to 1994 she appeared in many reasonably high profile French movies and in 1994 she collaborated for the first time with Benoit Jacquot in the French TV miniseries La Vie de Marianne.

Her major breakthrough followed with her role in L'Eau froid/Cold Water directed by Olivier Assayas, which led to the title role in Jacquot's La Fille seule/A Single Girl for which she received 1996 Cesar Award nomination as most promising young actress.

Virginie was also nominated for Best Actress at the Paris Film Festival for the film Jeanne et le Garçon Formidable and she won the award with her role in The Young Girls of Rochefort.

The talented actress signed on as a L'Oreal celebrity model in 1999 and still works for them photographically and in the TV adverts.

In 1999 she attended Cannes as a representative of L'Oreal, one of the official partners of the festival and was also a member of the jury to select the best short film.

Virginie raised her profile in the English speaking world of cinema when she starred alongside Leonardo DiCaprio and fellow French cinema star, Guillaume Canet in the box office smash, The Beach.